YTD returns & market trends in June
Published on June 7, 2020.
YTD returns of major asset classes in 2020 so far:

Asset | return [%] |
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) | 39.68% |
US 20+ YR Bonds (TLT) | 13.94% |
US Tech stocks – Nasdaq 100 (NDX) | 10.73% |
Gold | 9.99% |
US 7-10 YR Bonds (IEF) | 8.16% |
US Investment Grade Corporate Bonds (LQD) | 3.14% |
US Dollar Index (DXY) | 0.16% |
US stocks – S&P 500 (SPX) | – 1.96% |
Japanese stocks – Nikkei (NI225) | – 3.35% |
German stocks – DAX (DEU30) | – 4.02% |
Chinese stocks – Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) | – 5.00% |
US REITs (VNQ) | – 7.64% |
Copper (XCUUSD) | – 9.46% |
US Small Caps (Russell 2000 – RUT) | – 9.58% |
UK stocks (FTSE 100 – UKX) | – 14.73% |
Indian stocks (India 50) | – 16.52% |
Commodities Index (CMOD) | – 19.54% |
Crude OIL WTI (US OIL) | – 43.54% |
YTD returns range from 39.68% for Bitcoin to -43.54% for Crude Oil. Bonds outperformed stocks. Gold outperformed stocks as well, only beaten by Tech stocks (Nasdaq 100). Large Caps outperformed Small Caps and Emerging Markets underperformed the US and Europe. Commodities are down considerably with the USD Dollar Index (DXY) flat for the year so far.
Market Trends
Inspired by Investor Puru Saxena, who is great follow on twitter, I use the 150 day exponential moving average (150 EMA) for the assessment of the general trend in financial markets.
up trend = price > 150 day EMA
down trend = price < 150 day EMA
Trend in most stock markets is up. The UK and Hong Kong are still in downtrends.
The trend in Gold, Silver, Bitcoin, Ethereum, EURUSD, GBPUSD is up. The trend in the US Dollar Index (DXY) is down.
The trend in Commodities (CMOD), Oil (WTI) is still down, whereas the trend in Copper just turned to the upside.