Nasdaq Composite a proxy for small-cap sector

The first is to believe that the Nasdaq Composite a proxy for small-cap sector. It is not. A stock's weight in the index is a function of the market close, so the relatively small number of very large Nasdaq-listed companies dominate the index - companies such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT:
Microsoft Corporation
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Last: 18.83 0.94 5.25%
4:00 03/26/2009
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MSFT 18.83, 0.94, 5.3%)
Unfortunately, the index is more representative of small-cap sector does not show any relative strength. Year-to-date, for example, the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Large-Cap Index has lost 6.4%, exactly the same as the return of the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Micro-Cap Index, and even better than the 7.5% loss from the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Small-Cap.
The same story is told by the index maintained by Russell Investments. The Russell Top 200 index of 200 companies with market caps is down 7.2% for the year, while the Russell 2000 Index (Ruth
Russell 2000 Index
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Last: 445.30 18.78 4.40%
4:59 03/26/2009
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Ruth 445.30, 18.78, 4.4%) of small-cap stocks is down 10.5%, and the Russell Micro Cap Index is down 10.8%.