Stocks have been on a huge winning streak since the March low. Peak tensions in the Middle East seem to have simmered down a bit, and the first-quarter earnings season was a big success. When the S&P 500 index as a whole is able to grow earnings by 27% year over year, it’s much easier for stocks to rally.

But with so much economic, geopolitical and financial market activity happening just in the first half of the year, it’s a good time to reassess whether global stocks are still worth buying. At a high level, current conditions are looking pretty good. Inflation and the Iran war are still concerns, but corporate earnings have been strong.

With that in the background, there are a few Vanguard ETF buys I’d consider making here before the summer.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Why try to pick and choose individual winners when you can just buy the entire U.S. large-cap market? The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO +0.23%) is the biggest exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the world and for good reason. It gives you ultra-cheap access to the biggest U.S. companies and makes a great cornerstone in any portfolio. The case for buying the S&P 500 could be based on everything we’ve seen already this year:

• The rotation starting in January that caused value, small-cap, and defensive stocks to lead.
• The 9% correction triggered by the Iran war.
• The subsequent rally in tech that resulted in a 20% gain in April.

If you tried to keep up with all of this on your own, you probably would have bought and sold at the wrong times and enjoyed only a fraction of the gains.

Instead, you could have just bought the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, stayed fully invested the whole time, and maintained exposure to whatever was working at the time. Tech has the momentum right now, but we have plenty of examples that show conditions can turn on a dime. Remove the headaches and just buy the index.

Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Today’s Change

(0.23%) $1.58

Current Price

$695.49

Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF

The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG +0.33%) could be considered more of a contrarian pick. After all, why would one want to add a defensive equity ETF to their portfolio when tech stocks and the S&P 500 continue to set new all-time highs?

The answer is because it’s actually not that defensive. This ETF selects companies with a 10-plus year track record of annual dividend growth. That’s fair enough, but it gives no consideration to yield and actually eliminates the top 25% of all yields right off the top.

The biggest factor, however, is that the portfolio is market-cap-weighted. This means the largest companies that meet the 10-plus year requirement get the biggest allocations in the fund. Right now, that’s megacap tech.

The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF‘s three top holdings are Broadcom, Apple, and Microsoft. These stocks alone account for 13% of the fund despite having yields of less than 1%. Tech accounts for 26% overall. This is one of the most growth-tilted dividend ETFs you’ll find.

But that can be an advantage in a market where tech is dominating again. It’s a bit of a counterintuitive pick, but one that makes some sense if you don’t want to go all in on tech or growth.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF

Investors are still mostly focused on the big artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. What keeps sliding under the radar is that international stocks are still outperforming the S&P 500. And by a lot. Since the beginning of 2025, the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS +0.08%) has outperformed the S&P 500 by a 45% to 27% margin. And it’s been delivering this performance without taking on any unusual volatility.

Even though they’ve underperformed the S&P 500 for years, there’s always been an investment case for international stocks. Their composition tends to be much different from that of U.S. stocks. While there’s a 15% allocation to tech in this ETF, it’s only the third largest sector holding. Financials (23%) and industrials (16%) have larger allocations, which generally make international stocks more cyclically sensitive. And they usually come with cheaper valuations. That means they offer strong diversification benefits and can enhance the risk-adjusted returns of a U.S.-only stock portfolio.

All three of these funds fit different portfolio needs. But they all have catalysts that can make them outperformers heading into the second half of the year.