2008 Charts of the Week

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S&P 500 Earnings Per Share: Operating vs. Reported: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 14, 2008; The portion of total earnings allocated to each share of common stock is an important indicator of a company's earning power or profitability. This is commonly referred to as Earnings per Share ("EPS"). EPS can be calculated several ways, two of which are: Reported Earnings per Share ("Reported EPS") and Operating Earnings per Share ("Operating EPS"). Operating EPS excludes one-time costs, or costs that are not related to the company's core business. Investors and analysts use Operating EPS to: (1) smooth the affects of one-time charges on company earnings and (2) gauge the health of a company's core business.
U.S. Home Sales: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted November 7, 2008; The U.S. Census Bureau and the National Association of Realtors recently released figures on new and existing home sales. The figures illustrate what is an oddly bifurcated housing market. Home Sales have historically moved in similar directions as most people that buy a new home have to sell an existing home. Recently, the sales of existing homes increased as those of new homes have decreased. The chart above illustrates this trend by comparing existing home sales and new home sales over the last year. The sales of existing homes are up 1.37% from September 2007, while sales of new homes are down 33% from September of 2007.
U.S. Treasury Yield Curve: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 31, 2008; The U.S. Treasury yield curve plots the relationship between interest rates and bonds' maturity dates. The graph above compares the yield curve for U.S. Treasury debt on October 28, 2008 with the yield curve on October 29, 2007.
AAA National Average Gas Prices: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 24, 2008; According to the American Automobile Association ("AAA"), the national average price for regular gasoline has declined 5.25% on a year-to-date basis. From its recent peak of $4.11 on July 17, 2008 to $2.89 on October 20, 2008, the price has dropped 30%. Factors influencing the falling price of gasoline are decreasing crude oil prices, revived gulf coast refinery production, and lower demand for gasoline. The long-term price of gasoline is uncertain as the decrease in gasoline prices may spur demand.
Top Ten Countries in the MSCI EAFE Index: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 17, 2008; The Morgan Stanley Capital International ("MSCI") Europe, Australasia, and the Far East Index ("EAFE") is a benchmark used to measure non-U.S. developed country equity stock market performance. The bar chart above shows the performance in U.S. Dollars of the top 10 countries by weighting in the index as of September 30, 2008, with Japan having the highest weighting listed first and Sweden having the lowest weighting listed last. Also included is the gross return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, an index that measures the equity stock market performance of 25 emerging market countries, which are not included in the EAFE index.
Global Interest Rates: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 10, 2008; While the U.S. Federal Reserve ("the Fed") cut the Federal Funds Target Rate in the 4th quarter of 2007 and 1st quarter of 2008, other key interest rates around the world held steady or declined only modestly over the same time period. However, on October 8, 2008, the central banks of several countries cut interest rates in an effort to increase the flow of money across the global economic system. The coordinated reduction reflects the recognition by the central banks of the intertwined nature of the global economic system.
3rd Quarter Market Review (as of 09/30/2008): MarketView Chart of the Week, posted October 3, 2008; Generally, capital markets were down in the third quarter of 2008. Bonds, as measured by the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index, posted a negative return of -0.49% (just under one half of one percent) for the most recent quarter but the trailing 1-year return was still a positive 3.65%. U.S. equities, represented by the S&P 500 Index and the Russell 3000 Index, posted negative returns for the third quarter and for the trailing 1-year period. International equity markets, which are often benchmarked relative to the MSCI EAFE Index, also posted negative returns of -20.50% and -30.13% over the quarter and 1-year period, respectively. For the equity and bond markets September's negative returns were a significant contibutor to the quarterly declines.
Market Volatility: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 26, 2008; Expected volatility in the stock market, as measured by the Chicago Board of Options Exchange Volatility Index ("VIX"), has risen 45% from January 1, 2008 to September 23, 2008. Over the same time period, the S&P 500 Index has dropped 16%. Between August 22, 2008 and September 23, 2008, the VIX has moved up 78%. The VIX is a commonly used measure of the market's expectation of volatility risk over the next 30-day period. A high VIX 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. The S&P 500 Index consists of 500 companies representing larger capitalization stocks traded in the U.S.
Stocks, Bonds, and a Balanced Portfolio Over Twenty Years: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 19, 2008; Returns on stocks, bonds, and other assets can go up or down unpredictably. This unpredictability is a fundamental risk of investing. Managing risk in volatile markets can be especially challenging. For many investors, over the long-term, investing in a well-diversified portfolio may allow an investor to better manage risk and to seek their return objectives.
Average Interest Rate for U.S. 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 12, 2008; The average U.S. interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgages has experienced a sharp decline over the last week. Mortgage rates are important because they contribute to the overall cost of home ownership and are one of many factors that possibly indicate the direction of the housing market. Lower rates usually mean good news for the housing market; while higher rates usually mean bad news.
Ownership of Mutual Funds: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted September 05, 2008; An annual survey conducted by the Investment Company Institute ("ICI") found that nearly 51 million U.S. households, 44 percent of all U.S. households, owned mutual funds in 2007. This represents an estimated 88 million individual investors who hold approximately 86 percent of all mutual fund assets.
S&P 500 Quarterly Operating Earnings: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 29, 2008; One of the factors that influence stock prices is the earnings or profits of companies. Rising earnings generally lead to higher stock prices. As such, many investors and analysts track earnings to gauge trends in earnings power and to estimate future earnings providing an indication of possible future stock prices. The above chart illustrates recent actual and estimated quarterly operating earnings of companies in the Standard & Poor's ("S&P") 500 Index. The data through the 1st quarter 2008 reflect actual results. Starting with the 2nd quarter 2008, estimates are provided. However, the 2nd quarter estimate is based on the actual reported results of 96% of companies in the index.
S&P 500 Index Average Annual Returns by Year in the Presidential Cycle from 1932-2007: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 22, 2008; As the election cycle enters the home stretch, we thought it would be interesting to look at the average annual S&P 500 Index returns each year of a president's term. The chart above illustrates these returns from 1932 to 2007, and the third year of a presidential term appears to perform significantly better than all other years. Although it could be random, some commentators have suggested that the third year results reflect stimulus being added to the economy as Election Day approaches. In the example above the fourth year is an election year.
Conference Board Leading Economic Indicators: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 15, 2008; The chart above represents the monthly percentage change in the index from November 2006 to June 2008 (most recent data available). June's 0.1% drop was buoyed by a jump in NY City housing permits and a positively sloped yield curve (10 yr treasury/fed funds spread). Four of the ten indicators that comprise the leading index were positive in June. The top negative contributor was M2 money supply. After five consecutive monthly decreases the index stabilized in March and April and then fell in May and June. The index now sits at its lowest level since November 2004.
S&P 500 Price Index / Historical Trailing 12-Month Price/Earnings Ratio: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 8, 2008; Chart detailing the change in the S&P 500 Index Historical Trailing 12-Month P/E ratio and the price of the S&P 500 Index.
Investment Returns in Retirement: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted August 1, 2008; Chart illustrating the hypothetical lifespan of a retirement account and the importance of investing returns after retirement.
Value Versus Growth Monthly Returns: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 25, 2008; The chart illustrates that Value stocks, as represented by the Russell 1000 Value Index, have underperformed growth stocks, represented by the Russell 1000 Growth Index. The bars above the 0% mark represent the months that value stocks have outperformed growth stocks, while the bars below the 0% show the months that value stocks have underperformed growth stocks.
Top Ten Countries in the MSCI EAFE Index: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 18, 2008; The Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, and the Far East (EAFE) Index is a representative benchmark used to measure developed country, international equity, stock market performance. The graph above shows the performance in U.S. Dollars of the top 10 countries by weighting in the index as of June 30, 2008, with the United Kingdom having the highest weighting, Japan having the second highest, and so forth. Also included is the gross return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which measures the equity stock market performance of 25 emerging market countries.
S&P 500 Sector Performance (as of 06/30/08): MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 11, 2008; 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. The graph above compares the performance of the S&P 500 Index to its ten underlying industry sectors for the last two 12 month periods ended June 30.
2nd Quarter Market Review (as of 06/30/2008): MarketView Chart of the Week, posted July 3, 2008; Capital markets were down modestly in the second quarter of 2008. Bonds, as measured by the Lehman Brothers Aggregate Bond Index, posted a negative return of -1.02% for the most recent quarter but the trailing 1-year return was still a positive 7.12%. U.S. equities, represented by the S&P 500 Index and the Russell 3000 Index, posted negative returns for the second quarter and for the trailing 1-year period. International equity markets, which are often benchmarked relative to the MSCI EAFE Index, also posted negative returns of -1.93% and -10.15% over the quarter and 1-year period, respectively. For the equity markets, positive returns in the months of April and May were overshadowed by steep declines in June reflecting investors concerns over weakness in the overall economy and rising inflation.
Home Sales: New & Existing: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted June 27, 2008; Two good measures of housing market health are existing and new homes sales. New homes sales are published monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau and represent a national sampling of new building activity. Existing home sales are published monthly by the National Association of Realtors and represent existing single-family home sales. The drop in home sales has been significant over the last year as existing home sales have dropped over 10% and new home sales by 40%. While both home sale groups have struggled since 2006, recent existing home sales appear to have stabilized in the near term.
Global Interest Rates: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted June 20, 2008; While the U.S. Federal Reserve ("the Fed") aggressively cut the Federal Funds Target Rate in the 4th quarter of 2007 and 1st quarter of 2008, it is interesting to see that other key interest rates around the world held steady or only declined modestly over the same time period. For the 2nd quarter of 2008, these same rates have remained relatively stable. The Federal Funds Target Rate is the key interest rate used to help the Fed implement monetary policy in the U.S. If the Fed believes the economy is growing or inflation is rising too quickly they may implement a tightening policy by raising interest rates. This tightening tends to make borrowing more expensive and hopefully slows the pace of economic growth and inflation. Analysts believe world central banks are seeking further evidence on the affects of inflation concerns (e.g. record oil prices and higher food costs) before making any changes.
Gas Prices and the Annual Costs to Consumers: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted June 13, 2008; The price of gasoline has risen steadily over the last few years with a significant increase in the last few months. According to motorist group AAA, the U.S. national average price of gasoline reached $4 a gallon on June 8, 2008. This increase is illustrated in the chart above with the average annual price of gasoline and the annual cost of fueling a car1. The average annual cost of fueling a car has risen over 200% since 1991 and over 20% in the last year. Note that the average annual price of gasoline for 2008 is only $3.34 which is below the current price.
Changes to Morningstar Star Ratings Over Time: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted June 6, 2008; When selecting investments, it is important not to overemphasize only one factor such as the Morningstar star rating1, which focuses on past performance. Selecting investments is about future expectations rather than the past. How did today's top Morningstar rated mutual funds rate in the past? To examine this question, we researched how mutual funds rated 4 and 5 stars, as of May 31, 2008 by Morningstar, were rated five years ago (May 2003) and included only the oldest share class of funds with at least 5 years of performance in the Morningstar Large-Cap Value, Growth, and Blend categories.
Sector Changes in the S&P 500: MarketView Chart of the Week, posted May 30, 2008; The S&P 500 Index is considered a proxy for the U.S. equities market. The companies that comprise the index are from different sectors and are weighted by their market capitalizations ("market cap"). Market cap is generally calculated by multiplying outstanding shares by market price. Hence the larger the company's market cap, the greater weighting or influence on the index. As specific companies or sectors of the market grow faster than the overall market, their weighting or influence on the index grows. Weighting can be measured as a percentage of the market capitalization of the entire index. The chart above compares the change in weighting of the companies within the financials and energy sectors.

Displaying stories 1–25 of 46

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2008 Charts of the Week

Chart of the Week

Quarter in Review