Stock Index, S&P Sector & Bond Index performance numbers, week ending 03/07/2008

[A HERETIC I AM]

                       STOCK INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week     YTD     12-mo.     2007    5-yr.
DOW JONES 30 (11894)              -2.96%   -9.86%   -0.13%    8.88%   11.47%
S&P 500 (1293)                    -2.73%  -11.54%   -5.27%    5.49%   11.32%
NASDAQ 100 (1707)                 -2.16%  -18.01%   -1.16%   19.24%   12.00%
S&P 500/Citigroup Growth          -2.42%  -11.75%   -1.78%    9.25%    9.12%
S&P 500/Citigroup Value           -3.06%  -11.32%   -8.46%    2.03%   13.61%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth   -3.75%  -11.10%   -1.61%   13.55%   14.13%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Value    -3.22%  -11.12%  -11.09%    2.84%   16.20%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Growth  -3.17%  -11.02%   -6.05%    5.66%   15.46%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Value   -3.11%  -10.31%  -14.06%   -5.19%   15.73%
MSCI EAFE                         -3.09%  -10.70%   -0.26%   11.76%   21.70%
MSCI World (ex US)                -3.07%  -10.13%    1.56%   13.04%   22.18%
MSCI World                        -2.91%  -10.76%   -1.59%    9.69%   16.48%
MSCI Emerging Markets             -4.28%  -10.16%   31.60%   39.23%   35.14%

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 03/07/08.

                      S&P SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Index                     Week     YTD     12-mo.     2007    5-yr.
Consumer Discretionary   -3.15%   -8.12%  -19.19%   -13.21%   8.02%
Consumer Staples         -0.42%   -5.78%    8.46%    14.36%  11.11%
Energy                   -3.32%   -7.85%   27.84%    34.41%  27.00%
Financials               -5.76%  -16.65%  -29.64%   -18.52%   5.91%
Health Care              -3.12%   -9.86%   -3.24%     7.32%   5.67%
Industrials              -2.25%   -9.05%    2.66%    12.04%  14.81%
Information Technology   -1.21%  -17.01%   -1.01%    16.30%  10.18%
Materials                -3.18%   -5.05%   10.94%    22.53%  20.42%
Telecom Services         -1.07%  -18.71%   -9.11%    11.88%  12.64%
Utilities                 0.21%  -11.23%    2.13%    19.38%  20.27%

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 03/07/08.

                           BOND INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                            Week     YTD     12-mo.     2007   5-yr.
U S Treasury: Intermediate       0.27%   4.15%    11.54%    8.83%   4.17%
GNMA 30 Year                    -1.23%   0.91%     6.39%    6.97%   4.41%
U S Aggregate                   -1.08%   0.72%     5.83%    6.97%   4.21%
US Corporate High Yield         -0.51%  -3.17%    -3.61%    1.88%   9.11%
US Corporate Investment Grade   -1.29%  -0.17%     2.03%    4.56%   4.21%
Municipal Bond: Long Bond (22+)  4.52%  -3.58%    -4.61%    0.46%   4.25%
Global Aggregate                 0.19%   4.70%    13.16%    9.48%   6.66%

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 03/07/08.

                            KEY RATES

                           As of 03/07                       
Fed Funds                3.00%             5-YR CD        3.39%
LIBOR (1-month)          3.08%             2-YR Note      1.52%
CPI - Headline           4.30%             5-YR Note      2.43%
CPI - Core               2.50%            10-YR Note      3.54%
Money Market Accts.      2.64%            30-YR T-Bond    4.45%
Money Market Funds       2.96%            30-YR Mortgage  5.87%
6-mo. CD                 3.03%            Prime Rate      6.00%
1-YR CD                  3.10%            Bond Buyer 40   5.08%

Sources: Bankrate.com, iMoneyNet.com and Bloomberg

                            WEEKLY FUND FLOWS

                           Week of 03/05           Previous             
Equity Funds                 -$1.8 B                $2 B
Including ETF activity, Domestic funds reporting net outflows of -$1.100 B
and Non-domestic funds reporting net outflows of -$671 M.
Bond Funds                    $2.9 B                $1.8 B
Municipal Bond Funds         -$338 M                $170 M
Money Markets              $16.758 B              $9.313 B
Total net assets in the sector are $3.4 Trillion.

Source: AMG Data Services

FACTOIDS FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 3RD - MARCH 7TH

Monday, March 3, 2008 — Non-financial multinational companies
The top 150 non-financial multinational companies in the S&P 1500 Index
account for 84% of total reported foreign sales, according to BusinessWeek.
These companies held over $500 billion in cash and equivalents at the end
of 2007.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 — Dividend-payers vs. Non-payers
In February, the dividend-payers (388) in the S&P 500 (equal weight)
posted a total return of -3.12%, vs. -2.42% for the non-payers (112),
according to Standard & Poor's. Year-to-date, the payers declined 7.06%,
vs. a loss of 8.25% for the non-payers. For the 12-month period ended
February ’08, payers fell 8.32%, vs. a decline of 10.53% for the nonpayers.
The number of dividend increases (S&P 500) year-to-date totaled
77. That lagged the 81 increases over the same period in 2007 and the 91
increases registered in 2006.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008 — Mortgage Foreclosures
RealtyTrac data shows that mortgage foreclosures increased 79% in 2007,
but only to a national rate of 1.033%, according to MSN.com. So 99% of
homes in the U.S. are not in foreclosure. While the problem could
potentially expand, the data indicates that it is very much a regional
problem at this point. Foreclosures are up in those markets that have either
appreciated well above the national average over the past 5 years, such as
California, or have been economically challenged, such as Michigan. Home
prices in several markets in California rose by more than 100% over the
last 5 years - over double the national average of 46.92%.

Thursday, March 6, 2008 — “Middle-class millionaires”
A new class of millionaire has been created and these individuals will be
referred to as “middle-class millionaires.” The term was coined by Russ
Alan Prince and Lewis Schiff during a recent study that will be the
foundation for a new book, according to MarketWatch.com. Middle-class
millionaires have a net worth between $1 million and $10 million, but the
catch is the wealth has to have been earned rather than inherited. Their
study found that there are approximately 8.4 million households that fit this
definition. The average middle-class millionaire works 70 hours a week and
feels they need a net worth of $24 million to feel wealthy.

Friday, March 7, 2008 — Nasdaq Composite
This coming Monday marks the eighth anniversary of the all-time high in
the Nasdaq Composite (5,048.62). In the 135 weeks following its peak, the
index declined approximately 78% before bottoming. At the start of today’s
trading session, the Nasdaq Composite stood at 2,220.50, still 56% below
its all-time high. While history shows that the process of recovering losses
sustained during bear markets can take 2-4 years that has not been the
case for the Nasdaq. According to MarketWatch.com, the reason may have
to do with the fact that the Nasdaq Composite is less diversified (techoriented)
than other market indices and its constituents tend to not pay
dividends, which have accounted for roughly 42% of the average annual
return posted by the S&P 500 since 1926.

The above was gathered by and posted from a subscription service provided by
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P. • APPROVED FOR PUBLIC USE • 03/10/08

[swag]

1. Wow, the year-over-year for the S&P 500 isn't terrible

(probably about what you'd get with a diversified bond fund), and the five-year is pretty tasty.

We'll see where things go from here. Me, I don't expect stocks to go anywhere but sideways or down from here for a while, so I'm directing all of my monthly IRA and 401k contributions into both US and international stocks for the next few months, at least, and maybe for the next many months. As a buyer, I prefer stocks when they're cheap, and I don't need to sell anything for a couple of decades yet.

I'm aware the doom and gloomers may have a point, but this may just be a great buying period like July - Oct 2002, when everyone was convinced that the world was ending after Enron and Worldcom turned out to be big ol' shitpiles. And if the doom and gloomers are right, I expect we'll be worrying about more than just our stock portfolios.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. Yup.

If the world had ended or a depression had occurred each time it had been predicted since I started paying attention - 30 years now - we would have had at least 4 great depressions and the world would have ended about 6 times! I ran a Hypothetical this morning on a Mutual Fund I was given as a gift by my Father in 1971. He gave me, my two brothers and my sis each a $1000 position in the Growth Fund of America. With no further investment and reinvesting Cap. gains, interest and dividends, it would have grown to over $123,000 by the end of January! If that isn't an argument for taking a long term perspective, I don't know what is. Of course, being kids, we all cashed it out within 5 or 10 years of getting it!

Now that we're two full months into 2008, It's clear that 2007, while not a banner year, was pretty decent. I also find it interesting how much the last 4 months have pulled down the 12-MO figures.

Another thing that popped out at me with this report was the MSCI Emerging Markets numbers. Even though it is down better than 10% YTD, the 12-MO figure is still a whopping 31.60% annual rate of return. Investors that ignore the rest of the world these days, do so at their own peril.

If nothing else, these figures show how a portion of the various asset classes and sleeves perform over time, albeit with this information, the time reference is only the last 5 years.

[swag]

3. Oh, oops, I read the 2007 column as y-o-y instead of the 12 mo.

Well, what I said anyway, except that stocks did a lot worse than bonds over the past 12 months. That's why some of us hold some bonds.

Thanks for continuing to post the tables.

[Common Sense Party]

4. Ouch! That Opportunity Cost is pretty steep, eh?

I hate it when hindsight comes around and kicks me in the butt. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

I wish my dad would've given me a great fund like GFA 37 years ago. But I would've cashed the thing in, too.