At the beginning of this year, most of the media and financial commentators agreed that 2006 was to be the year that large-cap growth stocks reclaimed the top-performer position. After all, the bull market had matured, and the economy had stabilized. That's the kind of environment that larger companies with deep pockets can thrive in. It's supposed to be particularly good for growth companies, as that's when capital and R&D investments yield the biggest returns.

The problem is, somebody forgot to tell that to the large-cap growth companies.

Value stocks have continued to dominate side by side with small and mid-cap stocks. The large-cap growth stocks have lagged in one-month and six-month timeframes, failing to make good on the promise.

Of course, the year isn't over yet, and a lot can happen between now and December 31st. However, based on our ongoing research along with simple observation, there really isn't any compelling reason to think that this trend is ready to come to a close. All of the value index charts, regardless of market capitalization, have just been consecutively hitting new highs since November. Almost all of the growth indices, on the other hand, have been struggling. Ironically, the large-cap growth stocks (as measured by the S&P 500 Value Index) have been the weakest of all. Since late March, the S&P 500 Value Index is down almost 2 percent. And more than that, it looks like it's itching to head lower.

On the chart below, all of the major indices are ranked according to their performance over the last month. Other timeframes appear, but it's the one-month rank that has the most relevance. From a longer-term look, the-small caps and mid-caps remain pretty impressive. So as usual, we're biased in favor of the smaller companies, with the best stock ideas being names you've probably never even heard of.

Style and Capitalization Index Performance Rank - One Month