2007 Charts of the Week
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- Investment Resolutions for 2008
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted December 28, 2007
- It's a popular time of the year to start thinking about New Year's resolutions. Along with the other goals you set for yourself in 2008, it's important to think about your financial well-being and retirement. Here at ICMA-RC, we offer you our top ideas for 2008 resolutions:
- Finished Goods Producer Price Index
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted December 14, 2007
- The Finished Goods Producer Price Index ("PPI") measures the average change in wholesale prices across the domestic economy and is a closely watched indicator of inflationary pressure. Finished goods are final stage products that are ready for the consumer to buy and therefore include all production line price changes. Economists measure finished goods PPI in terms of headline (all products) and core (excluding oil and food).
- Morningstar Bond Categories1 Performance Year to Date
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted December 14, 2007
- This year's equity market volatility, unsettling economic indicators, and persistent credit market strain have caused many investors to reevaluate risk. The apparent risk reevaluation is evident within the fixed income market as year to date bond fund returns have favored treasury bond funds while sectors with more risk-such as high yield funds have lagged.
- The True Cost of the "Twelve Days of Christmas"
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 30, 2007
- For twenty-three years, PNC Advisors has charted the cost of the goods and services given as gifts in the classic "Twelve Days of Christmas" holiday song. This year it would cost $78,100 to give "that special someone" all of the gifts, including the repeats, as detailed in the verses of the song. This is an increase of 4% from the total price tag in 2006.
- Winter Holiday Retail Sales
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 30, 2007
- November 23rd marked "Black Friday", the start of the holiday shopping season and traditionally the day retail stores turn profitable for the year. The shopping spree that stretches into the weekend is considered a bellwether for holiday spending and influences retail product demands for the coming year. According to the National Retail Federation ("NRF"), Black Friday and the following weekend traffic was up 4.8% over last year as 147 million shoppers hit the stores. Expanded hours may have contributed as 14.3% of consumers were shopping before 4:00 AM on Friday.
- S&P 500 Sectors — Foreign Revenue as a Percentage of Total Revenue
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 16, 2007
- As companies extend operations across the globe, the traditional idea of U.S. domestic investing also may be changing. Global expansion is beginning to represent a material portion of U.S. domestic company total revenue.
- Foreign and Domestic Equity Mutual Fund Flows
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 16, 2007
- In recent years, the amount of investor money going into international equity funds has been increasing.
- Global Interest Rates
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 9, 2007
- The U.S. Federal Reserve cut the Fed Funds Rate in September 2007 by 0.50% and in October 2007 by 0.25%. The Fed Funds Rate is a key interest rate which the US Central Bank (the Federal Reserve) uses as a tool to help implement monetary policy in the US. If the Fed believes that the economy is growing too quickly they may implement a tightening policy by raising interest rates, which makes borrowing more expensive and hopefully slows the pace of economic growth.
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 2, 2007
- A country’s gross domestic product (GDP) measures the size of its economy. GDP is generally defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. Many economists follow movements in GDP growth rates to assess how quickly or slowly an economy is growing or contracting. GDP is measured with inflation (nominal) and without inflation (real).
- Market Volatility
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 26, 2007
- Volatility in the stock market, as measured by the Chicago Board of Options Exchange VIX Index, fell 26% over the last two months since the index reached a multiyear high on August 16, 2007. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 3% this past Friday, the VIX index closed at 22.96, nearly 8 points below the index's highest value for 2007. The VIX Index is a commonly used measure of the market's expectation of volatility and risk over the next 30-day period. A high VIX Index level is generally associated with a period of increased volatility and uncertainty in the market, while a lower level corresponds to less volatility and stress in the market.
- Top Ten Countries in the MSCI EAFE Index
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 19, 2007
- The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, and the Far East (EAFE) Index is a representative benchmark used to measure the performance of the international stock market as a whole, in U.S. dollar terms. The graph above shows the performance of the top 10 countries by weighting in the index as of September 30, 2007, with the United Kingdom having the highest weighting, Japan having the second highest, and so forth.
- S&P 500 Sector Performance (as of 9/30/07)
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 12, 2007
- As highlighted by the August 10th, 2007 Chart of the Week, individual sectors of the stock market can post good and bad years for investors. A sector can outperform over an extended period and then underperform in subsequent periods, trailing all other sectors. The graph above compares the performance of the S&P 500 Index to its ten underlying industry sectors.
- 3rd Quarter Market Review (as of 9/30/07)
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 5, 2007
- Capital markets earned postive returns for investors in the third quarter of 2007. Bonds, as measured by the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index, rose 2.84% for the quarter and 5.14% for the trailing 1-year period. U.S. equities, represented by the S&P 500 Index and the Russell 3000 Index, posted positive returns for both the third quarter and the 1-year period. International equity markets, which are often benchmarked relative to the MSCI EAFE Index, earned the largest returns for investors over the trailing 1-year period, returning 25.57%.
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 28, 2007
- A country’s gross domestic product (GDP) measures the size of its economy. GDP is generally defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.
- Federal Funds Target Rate
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 21, 2007
- Banks in the United States are legally obligated to keep a portion of deposits with the Federal Reserve or on hand in cash. This amount is held as the reserve amount and represents a percentage of total bank deposits. If banks fall below the reserve requirements they are required to borrow money from other banks, or the Federal Reserve in order to meet the minimum reserve value.
- An Increasing Dividend, but Lower Dividend Yield?
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 07, 2007
- A comparison of the annual cash dividend per share for all of the S&P 500 companies to their dividend yield since 1960 shows that while companies increased their cash dividends per share over time their dividend yield fell. The fall in the dividend yield could be due to rising stock prices or to companies retaining and reinvesting more of their profits and thereby reducing their dividend payouts.
- How Has The Dow Performed?
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 07, 2007
- The Wall Street Journal recently speculated that several conditions could send The Dow higher including, but not limited to Fed interest-rate cuts, tame inflation news, the settling of the bond markets and strong economic growth.
- Value Versus Growth
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 24, 2007
- It is often debated whether higher stock market returns can be achieved by investing in stocks labeled as “growth” or “value”. This weeks chart show the relative performance of value over growth. As of July 31, 2007, value stocks, as represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index, underperformed growth stocks, represented by the Russell 1000 Growth Index, for the year-to-date and trailing one-year time periods. the chart shows that these relative returns change over time and diversification is an important strategy in long term investing.
- Adding Liquidity to the Financial Markets
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 24, 2007
- Last Friday, the Federal Reserve Board (Fed) surprised most investors by lowering its target Discount Rate from 6.25% to 5.75% in an effort to calm higher than normal volatility in the financial markets.
- Market Volatility
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 17, 2007
- Volatility, as measured by the Chicago Board of Options Exchange VIX Index, increased significantly last week.
- S&P 500 Sector Performance
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 10, 2007
- This graph compares the performance of the S&P 500 Index to its ten underlying industry sectors.
- S&P 500 Quarterly Operating Earnings
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 3, 2007
- This chart illustrates the operating earnings of companies in the S&P 500 Index on a quarterly basis.
- Will Gas Prices Continue to Fall
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 27, 2007
- In the last six weeks, the national average price of gasoine fell 8%. This decline is possibly due to increasing domestic gasoline supplies, increased operating capacity for U.S. refiners and indications that OPEC may increase oil production.
- Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 20, 2007
- As of June 30, the year-over-year Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.7%, the same as in May.
- Start Saving Early
- MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 13, 2007
- Contributing to your retirement account early can accelerate progress toward your retirement goals.
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