Small-cap stocks, as indicated by the Russell 2000 Index, have lagged their bigger peers so far this year. Small-cap exchange-traded fund (ETF) iShares Russell 2000 (IWM) is up about 3.7% this year compared with gains of about 10% in the S&P 500, 13% in the Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQ)  and 5% in the Dow Jones.And why not? While higher borrowing costs have weighed on the small caps’ capital expenditure, inflationary fears have dampened consumer confidence. After such a lackluster performance, can small caps turn ar ...