The Russell 3000 Index closed at a new 52-week high on Monday of 743.49, the company announced Tuesday. This is the highest value for the Russell 3000, a broad-market, U.S. Index, since Sept. 3, 2008.
The Index, which represents approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market, according to the company, has seen a "modest rise since its 5-year low on March 6, 2009, when the Index hit 393.85." As of Dec. 20, the Index has posted a year-to-date return of 15.92%.
One of the reasons for the recovery, according to Steve Wood (left), chief market strategist for Russell, could be regulation.
"The Federal Reserve and European central banks have done a good job restoring capital markets," he said. The Federal Reserve believes in "ABD," or "anything but deflation," according to Wood, and wants the world to believe – and behave – as if we're in an inflationary environment, rather than deflationary.
Also adding to the recovery is investors' access to higher quality information.