ings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today ha

During a recent trip with my family to Georgia and South Carolina, I had a very interesting day that highlights booth the massive changes and the continuities in our economy as wealth is created and destroyed.

It started on a beautiful spring morning with a visit to Boone Hall, one of America’s oldest working plantations located just outside Charleston. It took us just twenty minutes to reach the plantation from Charleston but in the mid 1800s the journey took nine hours. One can easily imagine life in the 1800s here including a row of brick slave housing which is now a museum to remind visitors of this deplorable institution. A tour gave some insights as to how the economics of the plantation worked. A major product was pecans which believe it or not went for a dollar a pound way back in the 1800s. This was big money then and still sounds expensive today to a cheapskate like me. From the clay creek bed behind the Boone mansion came raw material for making bricks with an annual production of several millions per year. Fort Sumter was built with these bricks.

But it still was a precarious existence as hurricanes eventually wiped out the pecan trees and the brick business became uncompetitive. Capital from the north swept in to purchase the plantation and Boone Hall is now primarily a tourist attraction. Each owner of Boone Hall plantation was an entrepreneur experimenting with different crops and methods and trying to figure out how to make money and deal with changes in the weather and economy.

That afternoon we traveled to a suburb of Atlanta to stay with some friends for the weekend. My first thought upon turning into their wonderful development was that, my gosh, every one of these beautiful homes on streets like Iron Duke was far nicer and larger than the Boone Hall mansion I had visited that very morning. This is certainly progress when so many can live in homes so much better than the handful at the pinnacle of wealth only 150 years ago.

I also thought about what generates the wealth to acquire these mansions. Over brandy and fine Cuban cigars, my friend, who works with a global multinational and I talked it over. First there were professionals, doctors, lawyers with steady, predictable incomes. Next are people like my friend, executives with global corporations. Here life is more unpredictable. Extensive travel, fierce global competition, office politics on a global scale, relocation and the risk of being on the street after a merger or takeover makes life unpredictable – a bit like the challenges faced by the owners of Boone Hall.

The last group is the intrepid entrepreneurs who start and manage small businesses. Here both the upside and downside is stark. Most fail but the successful build wealth and security which would dwarf the dreams of the Boone family.

As investors, we navigate these same options. We can invest in the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO) which offers exposure to the world’s largest 100 multinationals or the Diamond (DIA) which tracks 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But don’t forget to take a stake in the smaller companies which by the way are not all that small. When I started in the business, smallcap stocks meant companies with market values around $100 million. Now the largest companies in smallcap ETF have market values over $3 billion.

Keep in mind that small cap ETFs are not all the same. Let’s compare two of the most popular, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) and the S&P SmallCap 600 (IJR).

The Russell 2000 ETF basket has about 2000 companies with market caps ranging from just $14 million to over $4 billion. Its leading sectors are finance with 24.1% of the basket followed by consumer discretionary companies with 19.6%. It is up 3.4% so far this year and trades at a price to earnings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today hav

rial for making bricks with an annual production of several millions per year. Fort Sumter was built with these bricks.

But it still was a precarious existence as hurricanes eventually wiped out the pecan trees and the brick business became uncompetitive. Capital from the north swept in to purchase the plantation and Boone Hall is now primarily a tourist attraction. Each owner of Boone Hall plantation was an entrepreneur experimenting with different crops and methods and trying to figure out how to make money and deal with changes in the weather and economy.

That afternoon we traveled to a suburb of Atlanta to stay with some friends for the weekend. My first thought upon turning into their wonderful development was that, my gosh, every one of these beautiful homes on streets like Iron Duke was far nicer and larger than the Boone Hall mansion I had visited that very morning. This is certainly progress when so many can live in homes so much better than the handful at the pinnacle of wealth only 150 years ago.

I also thought about what generates the wealth to acquire these mansions. Over brandy and fine Cuban cigars, my friend, who works with a global multinational and I talked it over. First there were professionals, doctors, lawyers with steady, predictable incomes. Next are people like my friend, executives with global corporations. Here life is more unpredictable. Extensive travel, fierce global competition, office politics on a global scale, relocation and the risk of being on the street after a merger or takeover makes life unpredictable – a bit like the challenges faced by the owners of Boone Hall.

The last group is the intrepid entrepreneurs who start and manage small businesses. Here both the upside and downside is stark. Most fail but the successful build wealth and security which would dwarf the dreams of the Boone family.

As investors, we navigate these same options. We can invest in the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO) which offers exposure to the world’s largest 100 multinationals or the Diamond (DIA) which tracks 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But don’t forget to take a stake in the smaller companies which by the way are not all that small. When I started in the business, smallcap stocks meant companies with market values around $100 million. Now the largest companies in smallcap ETF have market values over $3 billion.

Keep in mind that small cap ETFs are not all the same. Let’s compare two of the most popular, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) and the S&P SmallCap 600 (IJR).

The Russell 2000 ETF basket has about 2000 companies with market caps ranging from just $14 million to over $4 billion. Its leading sectors are finance with 24.1% of the basket followed by consumer discretionary companies with 19.6%. It is up 3.4% so far this year and trades at a price to earnings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today ha

much better than the handful at the pinnacle of wealth only 150 years ago.

I also thought about what generates the wealth to acquire these mansions. Over brandy and fine Cuban cigars, my friend, who works with a global multinational and I talked it over. First there were professionals, doctors, lawyers with steady, predictable incomes. Next are people like my friend, executives with global corporations. Here life is more unpredictable. Extensive travel, fierce global competition, office politics on a global scale, relocation and the risk of being on the street after a merger or takeover makes life unpredictable – a bit like the challenges faced by the owners of Boone Hall.

The last group is the intrepid entrepreneurs who start and manage small businesses. Here both the upside and downside is stark. Most fail but the successful build wealth and security which would dwarf the dreams of the Boone family.

As investors, we navigate these same options. We can invest in the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO) which offers exposure to the world’s largest 100 multinationals or the Diamond (DIA) which tracks 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But don’t forget to take a stake in the smaller companies which by the way are not all that small. When I started in the business, smallcap stocks meant companies with market values around $100 million. Now the largest companies in smallcap ETF have market values over $3 billion.

Keep in mind that small cap ETFs are not all the same. Let’s compare two of the most popular, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) and the S&P SmallCap 600 (IJR).

The Russell 2000 ETF basket has about 2000 companies with market caps ranging from just $14 million to over $4 billion. Its leading sectors are finance with 24.1% of the basket followed by consumer discretionary companies with 19.6%. It is up 3.4% so far this year and trades at a price to earnings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today ha

ese same options. We can invest in the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO) which offers exposure to the world’s largest 100 multinationals or the Diamond (DIA) which tracks 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

But don’t forget to take a stake in the smaller companies which by the way are not all that small. When I started in the business, smallcap stocks meant companies with market values around $100 million. Now the largest companies in smallcap ETF have market values over $3 billion.

Keep in mind that small cap ETFs are not all the same. Let’s compare two of the most popular, the iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) and the S&P SmallCap 600 (IJR).

The Russell 2000 ETF basket has about 2000 companies with market caps ranging from just $14 million to over $4 billion. Its leading sectors are finance with 24.1% of the basket followed by consumer discretionary companies with 19.6%. It is up 3.4% so far this year and trades at a price to earnings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today ha

ings ration of just under 30.

The S&P Smallcap 600 ETF has 600 companies with a market cap beginning at $64 million and the largest company in the ETF basket reaches $3.66 billion in market value. Its leading sector allocations are information technology and industrial companies with both accounting for 16.9% of the basket. It is up 4.7% this year and offers better value trading in at 22 times earnings.

I lean towards the S&P SmallCap 600 based on its leading sectors and valuation but either will be a welcome addition to your global ETF portfolio. Another consideration is to how they perform in a bad market. The Russell 2000 was down 20.5% in 2002 while the S&P 600 was down 14.6%.

Another reason I think smaller companies have done so well is that they are at least partially protected from the increasing powerful global competition which has many multinationals fighting a headwind.

My final thought is that investors today have so many more choices as to where to put our capital than the proprietors of Boone Hall. This is a blessing but also a challenge with the risk of making things too complicated. Take some time out and think through where your hard earned money is invested. Keep it simple and global.