We have flipped the calendar to December and are now heading into the homestretch for 2013. What a year it has been — at least in the equity market. Outstanding returns have been logged year-to-date, especially for the US market, and also for the developed global markets. The same can’t be said for other asset classes, especially Commodities. Furthermore, within Commodities it is a remarkable year for Gold, and not in a positive sense.
The performance quilt below goes a long way in displaying the strength in Domestic Equities and weakness in Commodities and Gold, at least for 2013. For example, in using proxies for the six asset classes, and the SPDR Gold Trust [ GLD ] we can see below that the SPDR S&P 500 [ SPY ] is up +26.29% YTD for 2013; this makes it the best performing year — if the returns hold up, in a decade going back to 2003. But going all the way back to 2001, this is the first time that Domestic Equities will finish in the top spot among asset classes, regarding performance. Conversely, Gold is the mirror-opposite. Gold will finish in the red (negative return) for the first time since 2000. And it has been ugly; to date, Gold is down -27.19%, placing it definitively at the bottom of this performance quilt — an unusual spot for Gold going back 13 years. Furthermore, Commodities as an asset class has had its own set of problems, now for several years. For three years in a row now, Commodities as measured by the Greenhaven Commodity Index ETF [ GCC ], will finish in negative territory.