Major Asset Classes: August 2026 Performance Review

James Picerno 7.02K Followers Follow Summary The majority of the major asset classes rose in August, led by commodities for a second straight month, based on a set of ETF proxies. The main theme in markets last month: a broad measure of commodities strengthened its lead in 2026 for the major asset classes. US bonds posted a modest 0.4% gain last month, but this broad measure of investment-grade fixed-income securities is still fractionally lower for the year. ToucanStudios/E+ via Getty Images The majority of the major asset classes rose in August, led by commodities for a second straight month, based on a set of ETF proxies. Only property shares in the US and abroad lost ground. This article was written by James Picerno 7.02K Followers Follow James Picerno is the director of analytics at The Milwaukee Co., a wealth manager that is the adviser to The Brinsmere Funds, a pair of global asset allocation ETFs. He also edits CapitalSpectator.com and The US Business Cycle Research Report (CapitalSpectator.com/premium-research). He is the author of three books, including "Quantitative Investment Portfolio Analytics In R: An Introduction To R For Modeling Portfolio Risk and Return." Previously he was a financial journalist at Bloomberg and before that at Dow Jones.