Is the Vanguard Russell 2000 Index Fund ETF a Buy Now?

Over the past decade, small-cap stocks have wildly underperformed large caps in the broader benchmark S&P 500. Much of this can be attributed to the boom in technology and artificial intelligence, which has swelled a small group of stocks in the S&P 500 to dizzying, trillion-dollar-plus market capitalizations, far beyond what most could have imagined.But once upon a time -- and perhaps still today -- many investors believed that the highest alpha could be generated by investing in under-the-radar stocks that didn't make the headlines. With small caps recently gaining some momentum, is now the time to buy the Vanguard Russell 2000 Index ETF (NASDAQ: VTWO)?The Russell 2000 is the best-known index for small-cap stocks, with market caps ranging from $250 million to $2 billion. Small-cap companies are less developed but offer higher potential growth rates. The downside is that their balance sheets are typically weaker and more leveraged, which makes them more vulnerable to the economic cycle. Here are the returns from the Vanguard Russell 2000 compared to the S&P 500 over the past decade.Continue readingWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei MotleyFool