US Small-Cap ETFs to Buy Before Rate Cuts Take Effect
A realistic, unfiltered look at why rate cuts won't magically lift every small cap—and how to separate quality compounders from dangerous debt traps. I still remember staring at a chart of the Russell 2000 back in mid-2024, wondering why on earth smaller companies were getting dragged while mega-cap tech soared to astronomical highs. If you've held small caps over the past few years, you know the frustration: high floating-rate debt wiped out earnings, interest coverage ratios plunged, and every Fed announcement felt like another cold shower. Now, as the Federal Reserve's monetary easing cycle unfolds through 2026, Wall Street is clamoring about a massive "rotation" into small-cap stocks. But here is the hard truth: blindly buying a broad small-cap benchmark like the Russell 2000 is one of the easiest ways to blow up your portfolio. Nearly 40% of the broad Russell 2000 index consists of unprofitable "zombie" companies. When rate cuts arrive, they do...