What Can We Blame For The Interruption In the stock market's recovery this winter? Meager job growth? As the strong March employment figures show, hiring is finally picking up. Soaring oil prices? Oil producers know better than to beggar their customers, so they will probably ease up a bit on the throttle and prices will fall. Terrorism fears? While more attacks may come, the vast U.S. economy is unlikely to be crippled as a result. Well, we have to blame something. Small-cap issues, which tend to do great in a market upturn, had been enjoying a wonderful ride. By January the Russell 2000 (which covers small stocks) had climbed back to the heights it had attained in early 2000. Then the index proceeded to slip 7% through March before nudging back up amid optimism on earnings reports.
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