Stock Index, S&P Sector & Bond Index performance numbers, week ending 02/01/2008

[A HERETIC I AM]

STOCK INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week      YTD      12-mo.   2007     5-yr.
DOW JONES 30 (12743)               4.41%   -3.78%     2.85%    8.88%   12.12%
S&P 500 (1395)                     4.90%   -4.85%    -1.67%    5.49%   12.29%
NASDAQ 100 (1855)                  3.70%  -11.01%     4.06%   19.24%   13.95%
S&P 500/Citigroup Growth           3.43%   -7.57%    -0.81%    9.25%    9.78%
S&P 500/Citigroup Value            6.41%   -1.97%    -2.27%    2.03%   14.92%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth    5.85%   -5.08%     2.84%   13.55%   14.66%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Value     7.55%   -2.87%    -4.34%    2.84%   17.22%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Growth   5.75%   -3.65%    -1.49%    5.66%   16.20%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Value    7.93%   -1.40%    -9.31%   -5.19%   16.45%
MSCI EAFE                          1.85%   -7.79%     1.02%   11.76%   21.23%
MSCI World (ex US)                 2.02%   -7.52%     2.54%   13.04%   21.74%
MSCI World                         3.40%   -6.27%     0.65%    9.69%   16.77%
MSCI Emerging Markets              0.80%  -10.02%    25.20%   39.23%   33.69%
Source: Bloomberg. Returns are total returns. The 5-yr. return is an average annual.
One-week,YTD, 12-mo. and 5-yr. performance returns calculated through 02/01/08.


S&P SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Index                     Week     YTD     12-mo.    2007     5-yr.
Consumer Discretionary    6.70%    0.17%  -15.75%   -13.21%   9.21%
Consumer Staples          2.97%   -4.34%    6.61%    14.36%  10.17%
Energy                    2.92%  -10.31%   21.48%    34.41%  27.22%
Financials                8.58%    1.57%  -18.48%   -18.52%   9.19%
Health Care               2.96%   -3.85%   -0.72%     7.32%   6.76%
Industrials               5.56%   -2.93%    6.07%    12.04%  15.62%
Information Technology    2.73%  -11.75%    1.44%    16.30%  11.52%
Materials                 6.28%   -1.82%   14.24%    22.53%  19.77%
Telecom Services          6.87%   -9.35%   -2.26%    11.88%  12.46%
Utilities                 5.49%   -5.36%   12.31%    19.38%  20.90%
Source: Bloomberg. Returns are total returns. The 5-yr. return is an average annual.
One-week,YTD, 12-mo. and 5-yr. performance returns calculated through 02/01/08.



BOND INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                                 Week      YTD     12-mo.    2007    5-yr.
U.S. Treasury: Intermediate          0.19%    2.75%    11.87%    8.83%   4.19%
GNMA 30 Year                         0.14%    1.82%     8.90%    6.97%   4.73%
U.S. Aggregate                       0.03%    1.89%     9.06%    6.97%   4.79%
U.S. Corporate High Yield            0.55%   -1.18%    -0.57%    1.88%   9.91%
U.S. Corporate Investment Grade     -0.04%    1.39%     6.04%    4.56%   5.01%
Municipal Bond: Long Bond (22+)     -0.17%    0.48%     1.19%    0.46%   5.52%
Global Aggregate                     0.72%    2.95%    13.62%    9.48%   6.89%
Source: Lehman Bros. Returns include reinvested interest.The 5-yr.return is an average annual.
One-week,YTD, 12-mo. and 5-yr. performance returns calculated through 02/01/08.


KEY RATES

As of 02/01
Fed Funds             3.00%    5-YR CD         3.39%
LIBOR (1-month)       3.27%    2-YR Note       2.06%
CPI - Headline        4.10%    5-YR Note       2.73%
CPI - Core            2.40%    10-YR Note      3.58%
Money Market Accts.   2.79%    30-YR T-Bond    4.30%
Money Market Funds    3.78%    30-YR Mortgage  5.50%
6-mo. CD              3.33%    Prime Rate      6.00%     
1-YR CD               3.37%    Bond Buyer 40   4.81%
Sources: Bankrate.com, iMoneyNet.com and Bloomberg

The above was gathered by and posted from a subscription service provided by First Trust Advisors, LP
Approved for public use 02/04/08

[flashl]

1. Thanks for posting.

Please explain the Consumer Discretionary info.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Consumer Discretionary is also known as the Consumer Cyclicals sector

Includes companies whose main product or service is that which is not required for day-to-day living, but purchased with "discretionary" income.

The Dow 30 includes 4 such companies, McDonalds, Disney, GM and Home Depot.

Investopedia defines the sector thusly;

A category of stocks that rely heavily on the business cycle and economic conditions. Consumer cyclicals include industries such as automotive, housing, entertainment and retail. The category can be further divided into durable and non-durable sections. Durable cyclicals include physical goods such as hardware or vehicles, while non-durables represent items like movies or hotel services.

The performance of consumer cyclicals is highly related to the state of the economy. They represent goods and services that are not considered necessities, but luxurious purchases. During contractions or recessions, people have less disposable income to spend on consumer cyclicals. When the economy is expanding or booming, the sales of these goods rise as retail and leisure spending increase.

In an economic downturn, Discretionary is underweighted in most allocation models.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Hmmm... the stock market was slightly up this week...

So you're going to post this on Tuesday... right? RIGHT??

Otherwise, someone might accuse you of only posting this data when it supports your opinion of the economy... that would be bad. For instance, I've noticed that you only post this data during the weeks that the stock market is up... (admittedly rare, lately).

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. I agree, FinnFan...I've been contemplating how often I should put them up....

I get the email with this info every Monday, usually it hits my inbox in the early afternoon. If there is sufficient interest, I'm happy to put it up every Monday. I was definitely going to continue with it once a month.

I have no agenda in posting these numbers at all. They are what they are. But if you look at the last few times I've posted this, there is no intentional pattern of posting them only when the market was positive for the week. The post for the week ending http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x33066">January 18 bears this out. The Dow was down 3.98% that week. If I have inadvertently begun such a pattern, then I apologize and I'll put them up every Monday afternoon.

I'm happy to do it. I should have it up by 4:00 Eastern on Monday.

On edit to add that I admit I have refrained from doing this every week because of what I perceive as a lack of interest, but that is not an objective reason for not posting the numbers. Again, I apologize if it has appeared that I am trying to bolster a particular bullish point of view. Accurate information is important, be it good or bad.

[bain_sidhe]

5. Hey, I'm interested!

I just don't have anything to say about it. I mean, the numbers are what they are. But I like seeing the numbers for the week as a whole like that. I check in to the Stock Market Watch thread most days, but unless you go back (and back and back) you don't get a sense of the week as a whole from that.

Yes, I know there are other places to get that info. But I'm lazy. ;-) Besides... I only check a few sites a day--I have to limit myself, or I'd never get anything *else* done.

Need to fix the formating though. Since they stopped letting us do tables here, I have no idea how, though. Maybe use a mono-spaced font?

**edited for clarity. Maybe**

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. They stopped letting us do tables?

You mean if I use the same code that I used before, the format won't look the same?
It was basically starting the entire post with < then the letters "pre" then > and ending the same way but with a forward slash (/) before pre. That code apparently allows you to space columns manually and then they stay that way when the post is put up.

That won't work anymore?

( where < = the lower case of { )

[raccoon]

8. Here's one who would be interested if you post the numbers weekly. nt

[Common Sense Party]

7. Small Cap Value looks sort of attractive right now.

I wonder what the average P/E is of the small cap value index currently.

Thanks for posting this.

I do hope people pay attention to the longer-term numbers (5 year). It's not propaganda, it's perspective. There are people here that think the market has been crappy for the past five years, and it simply isn't so.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. S&P SmallCap 600 P/E as of Jan. 31, 2008 = 21.68

Unless I am reading this wrong.

[Common Sense Party]

10. Ouch! Nope, you are reading it just right.

Wow, I had no idea they were so overvalued still. I guess that sector has to correct a bit more before I start buying. I'm too cheap.