Stock Index, S&P Sector & Bond Index performance numbers, week ending 10/17/2008

[A HERETIC I AM]

                              STOCK INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                               Week      YTD      12-mo.    2007     5-yr.
DOW JONES 30 (8852)                 4.78%   -31.85%   -34.57%    8.88%    0.45%
S&P 500 (941)                       4.61%   -34.84%   -37.65%    5.49%   -0.11%
NASDAQ 100 (1312)                   3.30%   -36.86%   -39.50%   19.24%   -0.81%
S&P 500/Citigroup Growth            4.72%   -33.92%   -35.59%    9.25%   -1.27%
S&P 500/Citigroup Value             4.50%   -35.79%   -39.71%    2.03%    1.05%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth     1.68%   -35.62%   -37.39%   13.55%    1.03%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Value      0.34%   -33.45%   -37.21%    2.84%    2.85%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Growth   -0.31%   -29.20%   -34.58%    5.66%    3.27%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Value     0.35%   -26.72%   -32.32%   -5.19%    3.47%
MSCI EAFE                           4.21%   -42.30%   -43.99%   11.76%    4.32%
MSCI World (ex US)                  4.34%   -42.11%   -43.81%   13.04%    4.70%
MSCI World                          4.45%   -38.74%   -40.88%    9.69%    2.21%
MSCI Emerging Markets              -3.95%   -53.49%   -54.54%   39.23%    9.08%

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 10/17/08.

                           S&P SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Index                      Week      YTD      12-mo.     2007     5-yr.
Consumer Discretionary     1.81%   -33.68%   -40.83%   -13.21%   -4.85%
Consumer Staples           3.67%   -16.01%   -13.19%    14.36%    5.15%
Energy                     7.28%   -39.08%   -38.37%    34.41%   14.32%
Financials                 5.92%   -45.22%   -52.73%   -18.52%   -7.87%
Health Care                8.77%   -23.70%   -24.10%     7.32%    0.59%
Industrials               -1.48%   -38.16%   -40.70%    12.04%    1.09%
Information Technology     4.02%   -36.68%   -38.80%    16.30%   -2.75%
Materials                  0.01%   -39.87%   -39.94%    22.53%    3.96%
Telecom Services           8.21%   -38.46%   -41.53%    11.88%    3.58%
Utilities                  7.99%   -33.31%   -29.81%    19.38%    8.46%

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 10/17/08.

                             BOND INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week       YTD     12-mo.   2007    5-yr.
U.S. Treasury: Intermediate       -0.20%     4.99%     8.45%   8.83%   4.38%
GNMA 30 Year                       0.34%     2.64%     5.38%   6.97%   4.74%
U.S. Aggregate                    -0.62%    -1.35%     1.10%   6.97%   3.69%
U.S. Corporate High Yield         -2.24%   -24.40%   -26.10%   1.88%   0.47%
U.S. Corporate Investment Grade   -2.53%   -14.38%   -13.58%   4.56%   0.48%
Municipal Bond: Long Bond (22+)   -4.02%   -20.16%   -20.33%   0.46%   0.30%
Global Aggregate                  -0.81%    -2.59%     0.60%   9.48%   4.48%

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 10/17/08.

                          KEY RATES

                         As of 10/17                  
Fed Funds              1.50%     5-YR CD         3.96%
LIBOR (1-month)        4.47%     2-YR Note       1.60%
CPI - Headline         4.90%     5-YR Note       2.81%
CPI - Core             2.50%    10-YR T-Bond     3.92%
Money Market Accts.    2.47%    30-YR T-Bond     4.31%
Money Market Funds     1.62%    30-YR Mortgage   6.44%
6-mo. CD               3.10%    Prime Rate       4.50%
1-YR CD                3.60%    Bond Buyer 40    6.69%

Sources: Bankrate.com, iMoneyNet.com and Bloomberg

                            WEEKLY FUND FLOWS

                        Week of 10/15      Previous  
Equity Funds                -$9.9 B        -$2.4 B
Including ETF activity, Domestic funds reporting net outflows of
-$4.447 B and Non-domestic funds reporting net outflows of -$5.452 B.
Bond Funds                 -$12.6 B         $7.0 B
Municipal Bond Funds      -$2.285 B       $5.195 M
This is the largest net outflow from the sector on record.
Money Markets             $58.240 B     -$44.350 B
General Money Market funds report net inflows totaling $27.568 B and
Government Money Market funds report net inflows of $30.672 B.

Source: AMG Data Services

Data appearing for the first time this week;

                        MARKET INDICATORS

                          As of 10/17                              
TED Spread:     Investment Grade Spread:     High Yield Spread (BB):
   318.5                557 bps                     876 bps        

Sources: Bloomberg and Merrill Lynch via Bloomberg.

FACTOIDS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 13TH - OCTOBER 17TH

Monday, October 13, 2008
The S&P 500 has lost 41.3% of its value since last year’s peak of 1,565.15 on
October 9. Only 13 constituents out of the 500 posted positive returns over that
span, according to Forbes. Volatility has been extremely high of late. The VIX
set an all-time high on 10/10/08 with a reading of 69.95. The high for the VIX
back in the 2000-2003 bear market was 45.08 on 8/5/02, according to
Bloomberg. That was approximately two months before the S&P 500
bottomed. The S&P 500 gained or lost at least two percentage points on
one-third of all trading days in Q3’08 and on 46 of the 254 trading days over
the past year, according to Forbes.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008
A survey by American Express in October found that 63% of small business
owners have been negatively impacted by the credit crunch, up from 50% in
August, according to MarketWatch.com. Of those surveyed, 12% said they
were forced to lay off workers, while 7% were unable to make payroll. Of those
claiming to be hurt by the crunch, 79% said sales are decreasing and 51% said
they had to tap personal assets to cover business expenses. Overall, 18% of
owners feeling the pinch believe their company risks going out of business in
the next six months due to the state of the economy, up from 9% in August.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Vickers Weekly Insider Report noted that insiders bought nearly two
shares of their companies' stock last week for every one sold, according to
MarketWatch.com. Historically, the norm is for executives to sell more shares
than they purchase, even in bull markets. Insiders sold just 0.59 shares last
week for every one they bought. The ratio was 0.37 to 1 for insiders whose
shares are listed on the NYSE or AMEX. Both ratios are the best readings in
nearly a decade. A year ago, the ratio was 4-to-1 for all companies and
1.89-to-1 for exchange-listed stocks.

Thursday, October 16, 2008
Worldwide PC shipments reached 80.6 million units in Q3’08, a 15% increase
from Q3’07, according Gartner, Inc. Sales were strongest in the mini-notebook
segment, led by robust growth in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The top
companies based on market share were Hewlett-Packard (18.4%); Dell
(13.6%); Acer (12.5%); Lenovo (7.3%); and Toshiba (4.6%).

Friday, October 17, 2008
Social Security benefits will increase 5.8% next year for 50 million people due
to an annual cost of living adjustment (COLA), according to the Associated
Press. The average retiree’s monthly check will increase by $63 to $1,153,
while the average couple, both receiving benefits, will see their monthly take
rise by $103 to $1,876. The 5.8% bump is the highest since the 7.4% increase
in 1982. The biggest adjustment on record was 14.3% in 1980. Over the past
15 years, only three COLA increases have topped 3%.

The above was gathered by and posted from
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P. • APPROVED FOR PUBLIC USE • 10/20/08

Web link to this and all previous weekly information is here

[Common Sense Party]

1. When's the last time the S&P was down 35 in a year?

The worst year since 1950 was 1974, when it was down 29.56%.

[flamingdem]

2. It could have been down that much in 2002?

We're getting close to those lows now.

[Common Sense Party]

3. No, it was down 23.37% in 2002. n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. January of 2000 to October of 2002 was a 35% drop.

Roughly 11,500 to 7,500.

[Common Sense Party]

5. Right. I was wondering about a 35% drop in one calendar year.

I'm guessing we'd have to go back to 1930 or so. Or maybe 1936.