Group 1: S&P 500 Performance - The S&P 500 reached a new record high this week but experienced its first weekly loss in almost a month, posting a loss of 0.3% for the week [1] - The index has been above the 50-day moving average since May 1st and above the 200-day moving average since May 12th, with the 50-day moving average above the 200-day moving average since July 1st [2] Group 2: Historical Context - The S&P 500 reached an all-time high of 1565.15 on October 9, 2007, before dropping approximately 57% to 676.53 by March 9, 2009, marking the Global Financial Crisis [1] - It took over 5 years for the index to reach a new all-time high on March 28, 2013, closing at 1569.19 [1] Group 3: Volatility Insights - The index experienced its largest intraday price volatility of 10.77% on April 9th since December 24th, 2018, which had a volatility of 19.10% [3] - The average percent change from the intraday low to the intraday high over the past 20 days is 0.69% [3] Group 4: Index Comparison - The S&P 500 is up 13.21% year to date, while the S&P Equal Weight Index is up 8.03% year to date [4]

Core Insights - Investors are currently waiting for a significant dip in the stock market, particularly in the S&P 500 Index, which is seen as a cyclical market that may eventually correct itself [1][2] - The Invesco Equal Weight S&P 500 ETF (RSP) is highlighted as a more indicative measure of U.S. large-cap stock market health compared to the more popular Invesco S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which is cap-weighted [3][4] - There is a notable performance gap between SPY and RSP, with SPY significantly outperforming RSP, indicating a concentration of gains among larger companies [4][5] Performance Comparison - SPY has been trading over $40 billion worth of shares daily, while RSP trades under $3 billion, reflecting a disparity in trading volume and market participation [5] - Over the past six months, SPY has shown nearly an 8% advantage over RSP, suggesting a lack of diversification among the largest U.S. stocks and characteristics typical of stock market bubbles [6]

Group 1: Market Index Overview - The S&P 500 is the primary measure of broad stock performance, but there are other indexes and variations that can be confusing for investors [1] - The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flawed as it weights constituents by stock price, leading to a skewed representation of market performance [2] - The S&P 500 uses a market cap-weighting methodology, making it more representative of the U.S. economy compared to the Dow [3] Group 2: Equal Weighting vs. Market Cap Weighting - The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF allows each company to impact performance equally, which has historically outperformed the regular S&P 500 index [4][5] - The Nasdaq-100 index consists of the 100 largest companies in the Nasdaq Composite and is also market cap-weighted, but its construction differs significantly from the S&P 500 [6] - The Direxion NASDAQ-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares has underperformed compared to the market cap-weighted Nasdaq-100 index [7] Group 3: Performance Analysis - Both equal-weighted and market cap-weighted indexes have experienced similar price drawdowns, indicating comparable risk [8] - Investors in the Direxion Nasdaq-100 Equal Weighted Index Shares face less reward with the same level of risk, which is not an advantageous trade-off [9] - Equal weighting benefits the S&P 500 by allowing smaller companies to have equal impact, but this logic does not apply well to the Nasdaq-100, which focuses on the largest companies [10] Group 4: Investment Recommendations - For those looking to invest in the Nasdaq-100, it is advisable to choose a straightforward ETF like the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF, rather than attempting to apply equal weighting [11]