Weekly Market UpdateWeek of Aug 23, 2026Aug 20, 2026
Equity leadership reversed while commodities retained the lead
Three Things to Know This Week
Year-to-date equity leaders ranked near the bottom during the quarter.
- The measurement describes a rotation in relative leadership, not a broad collapse in equity participation.
Commodity leadership extended across short and long return horizons.
- This is persistent relative strength rather than the cross-horizon reversal measured within equities.
Duration-sensitive bonds remained weak while cash retained a positive return.
- Bond performance did not confirm a conventional defensive rotation alongside the equity leadership reversal.
Cross-asset performance
Total returns across the same market exposures and horizons, shown side by side.
Tip: click any ticker to analyze it.
Sorted by YTD return · strongest to weakest
| Exposure | WTD | MTD | QTD | YTD | 1Y |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broad commoditiesDBC | Broad commodities, Week to date: up 4.5 percent | Broad commodities, Month to date: up 5.6 percent | Broad commodities, Quarter to date: up 16.7 percent | Broad commodities, Year to date: up 39.1 percent | Broad commodities, 1 year: up 47.2 percent |
| Emerging marketsEEM | Emerging markets, Week to date: down 0.1 percent | Emerging markets, Month to date: up 3.9 percent | Emerging markets, Quarter to date: down 2.6 percent | Emerging markets, Year to date: up 21.8 percent | Emerging markets, 1 year: up 37.4 percent |
| U.S. small capIJR | U.S. small cap, Week to date: down 2.2 percent | U.S. small cap, Month to date: up 0.6 percent | U.S. small cap, Quarter to date: down 1.3 percent | U.S. small cap, Year to date: up 21.8 percent | U.S. small cap, 1 year: up 33.7 percent |
| JapanEWJ | Japan, Week to date: down 4.3 percent | Japan, Month to date: up 2.0 percent | Japan, Quarter to date: up 1.1 percent | Japan, Year to date: up 17.4 percent | Japan, 1 year: up 26.2 percent |
| U.S. large cap, equal weightRSP | U.S. large cap, equal weight, Week to date: down 1.1 percent | U.S. large cap, equal weight, Month to date: up 2.5 percent | U.S. large cap, equal weight, Quarter to date: up 3.5 percent | U.S. large cap, equal weight, Year to date: up 15.9 percent | U.S. large cap, equal weight, 1 year: up 22.3 percent |
| U.S. large capIVV | U.S. large cap, Week to date: down 1.9 percent | U.S. large cap, Month to date: up 2.1 percent | U.S. large cap, Quarter to date: up 2.3 percent | U.S. large cap, Year to date: up 11.9 percent | U.S. large cap, 1 year: up 21.1 percent |
| Developed ex-U.S.EFA | Developed ex-U.S., Week to date: down 1.2 percent | Developed ex-U.S., Month to date: up 1.7 percent | Developed ex-U.S., Quarter to date: up 3.3 percent | Developed ex-U.S., Year to date: up 11.8 percent | Developed ex-U.S., 1 year: up 22.9 percent |
| U.S. real estateVNQ | U.S. real estate, Week to date: up 0.0 percent | U.S. real estate, Month to date: down 0.4 percent | U.S. real estate, Quarter to date: up 2.3 percent | U.S. real estate, Year to date: up 11.4 percent | U.S. real estate, 1 year: up 15.0 percent |
| GoldGLD | Gold, Week to date: up 4.1 percent | Gold, Month to date: up 11.8 percent | Gold, Quarter to date: up 12.7 percent | Gold, Year to date: up 4.8 percent | Gold, 1 year: up 32.6 percent |
| Cash / Treasury billsBIL | Cash / Treasury bills, Week to date: up 0.1 percent | Cash / Treasury bills, Month to date: up 0.2 percent | Cash / Treasury bills, Quarter to date: up 0.5 percent | Cash / Treasury bills, Year to date: up 2.3 percent | Cash / Treasury bills, 1 year: up 3.9 percent |
| High yieldHYG | High yield, Week to date: down 0.3 percent | High yield, Month to date: up 0.6 percent | High yield, Quarter to date: down 0.1 percent | High yield, Year to date: down 0.8 percent | High yield, 1 year: up 5.1 percent |
| U.S. aggregate bondsAGG | U.S. aggregate bonds, Week to date: down 0.2 percent | U.S. aggregate bonds, Month to date: up 0.5 percent | U.S. aggregate bonds, Quarter to date: down 1.2 percent | U.S. aggregate bonds, Year to date: down 2.1 percent | U.S. aggregate bonds, 1 year: up 2.5 percent |
| Long TreasuriesTLT | Long Treasuries, Week to date: down 0.3 percent | Long Treasuries, Month to date: up 0.5 percent | Long Treasuries, Quarter to date: down 4.4 percent | Long Treasuries, Year to date: down 5.2 percent | Long Treasuries, 1 year: down 1.3 percent |
| ChinaMCHI | China, Week to date: up 2.0 percent | China, Month to date: down 0.5 percent | China, Quarter to date: up 8.8 percent | China, Year to date: down 7.0 percent | China, 1 year: down 2.8 percent |
Total return, from adjusted closes. Data through Aug 20, 2026. — unavailable · 3Y/5Y/10Y annualised; shorter horizons cumulative.
Explore Broad Betas →
Open the full multi-horizon leadership tool to compare markets, styles, sectors, and time periods.
Chart of the Week
The year's equity leaders are this quarter's laggards
Year-to-date and quarter-to-date total return for the 16 equity exposures in Core Markets. · Data through Aug 20, 2026
Three Things We're Watching
Does the YTD-versus-QTD rank correlation across the 16 equity exposures remain materially negative?
- It measures whether the leadership reversal persists as the quarter lengthens.
Does the gap between S&P 500 participation above the 200-day and 50-day averages widen or narrow?
- The gap separates long-horizon participation from the weaker short-horizon reading.
Do Broad Commodities and Energy retain leadership while Long Treasuries remain weak?
- It tests whether the current cross-asset divergence persists across another session.
Notes & methodology
Weekly from adjusted closes, with WTD, MTD, QTD and YTD anchored to exact period-boundary closes. Each exposure is represented by one investable ETF proxy. The chart uses the 16 equity exposures within the 27-exposure Core Markets lens.
AI assistance. This issue was prepared with AI-assisted research and drafting and reviewed by TrendToWealth before publication.
Explore full cross-asset returns and screening on the Market Map.