When 8 Stocks Drive the Market, What Happens When They Fall?

The chart below shows just how extreme the divergence has been. Over the past three years the market cap weighted S&P 500 (SPY) has returned roughly 70.9%, while the equal-weight S&P 500 (EQL) returned 49.4%. This sprawling gap underscores how much investors have been rewarded for crowding into the largest names. Source: Bloomberg, AIM. Data for the period 6/30/2022 through 6/30/2025. Complacency can be dangerous. A market built on AI and the "Magnificent8†. Content continues below advertisement Over th ...