Small-cap stocks are up as jobs data reflects healthy 'main street' economy


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The major stock indexes were trading in positive territory during the final hour of trading on Tuesday — but while the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, the Russell 2000 was outpacing the index by


more than double, gaining 1.6%. According to Seth Merrill, chief investment officer at Crewe Advisors, this is because the Russell has more to gain from the positive jobs data that came out


earlier in the day. "U.S. small caps are up twice as much as large caps since small caps are a better proxy for the Main Street economy — employment data is closely linked to the health


of small businesses," Merrill wrote in an email.