In the first half of 2018, large-cap stocks in the Standard & Poor's 500 index eked out about a 1% gain, closing Friday at 6% less than January's all-time high.

Small-cap stocks returned 7.6% in the first half while investors who bought into TV ads for gold and silver investments were sorely disappointed with their 4.3% loss in the first six months of the year.

Share prices in consumer discretionary and technology companies far outperformed the 10 industry sector indexes from January 2 through June 22, 2018. Telecommunications and consumer staples took a drubbing.