NEW YORK — The euphoric "small-cap comeback" that defined the opening weeks of 2026 came to a grinding halt on Thursday. The Russell 2000 index, the primary barometer for American small-cap health, plummeted 1.9% on March 5, 2026, marking its sharpest single-day decline of the year. The sell-off, triggered by
For nearly a decade, the narrative of the American equity market was one of extreme concentration, where a handful of mega-cap technology titans dictated the fortunes of the entire financial system. However, as of February 11, 2026, that narrative has been decisively upended. Small-cap stocks, long the "fallen angels" of
