The distribution of 2018* returns among the stocks in the S&P 500 looks a bit different than it did in 2017. More than two-thirds of the companies were negative for the year, while the year-to-date return of the index through Thursday's close was -7.7%. The larger stocks in the index helped stave off greater declines, as the average return of the 100 largest companies was -3.1% vs. the average -22% return of the 100 smallest companies.
By market cap, the group of equities gave up a total $2.1 trillion in market cap through Thursday.
