Here's the Real Stock Market You Should Be Watching
Stock market investors watch what's happening with major market benchmarks in order to get a sense of what's happening in the overall economy. But it's a mistake to think that every popular index does a good job of tracking the conditions Main Street in America faces right now.
That's why, as much as investors follow the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC), looking more deeply can give you a better sense of what's truly important to you in your daily life. In particular, those who ignore the U.S. small-cap benchmark Russell 2000 Index do so at their own peril, because although it's not perfect, it does well in providing a picture of the smaller companies that are so important to economic prosperity.
The stock market pushed out to early gains on Friday morning, shrugging off nagging concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Health officials are increasingly concerned about the potential for unprecedented outbreaks of the disease as the onset of winter approaches, with some calling for closures of potential hotspots like restaurants and fitness centers. Yet with newly released earnings results having reflected the summer reopenings, investors are focusing on positive numbers that might prove overly optimistic if conditions deteriorate.
Source Fool.com