It’s been said that what’s comfortable is rarely profitable when it comes to investing. And the past year has been no exception.
Notably, global markets with lackluster performance over the past several years—or “uncomfortable investments”—rebounded sharply in 2016. Among this group of surging performers are gold and silver miners, coal and steel producers, Latin American stocks, and even perennially unpopular Russian stocks.
After hitting all-time highs, the U.S. stock market added frosting to the cake by notching its eighth consecutive yearly gain. Behind the continued rise in domestic stocks has been strong performance in important industry sectors like energy, financial and industrial stocks.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, lagging performers within the global ETP marketplace over the past year include stocks tied to alternative energy like solar, biotechnology and frontier markets. Whether these categories can rebound and become tomorrow’s winners is uncertain, but the truth of popular investments rarely being profitable remains.
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