Financial Statistics of Note

ONE RECORD, ANOTHER WAY OFF - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 12,962 last Friday (4/20/07), setting an all-time closing high for the 111-year old index. On the same day that the Dow was setting a new record close (its 12th record high in 2006), the NASDAQ Composite closed at 2526, just over half of its 5049 all-time closing high set on 3/10/00. Thus, all the NASDAQ has to do is double in value to get back to its record setting level of 7-years ago (source: BTN Research).
2. SMALL-CAP RECORD - The small-cap Russell 2000 closed at 831 last Monday (4/16/07), setting an all-time record close. As of the end of that day, the Russell 2000 was up +12% on a trailing 1-year basis, +14% per year on a trailing 3-year basis, and +11% per year on a trailing 5-year basis. The Russell 2000 was introduced in 1988 (source: Russell).
3. STAYING POWER - Of the 10 largest capitalized stocks in the S&P 500 as of 12/31/96, 4 of the stocks were still ranked in the top 10 a decade later as of 12/31/06 (source: S&P).
4. MORE THAN INFLATION - The S&P 500 was up +11.8% for the year ending 3/31/07 while the Lehman Brothers Aggregate bond index was up +6.6%, both results greater than the +2.8% rate of inflation the country experienced over the 12-month period. The Lehman Brothers Aggregate bond index is calculated using 6,000 publicly traded government and corporate bonds with an average maturity of 10 years. The consumer price index is the measure of inflation that was used and is compiled by the US Bureau of Labor Studies (source: S&P, Lehman Brothers, and Department of Labor).
5. A GLOBAL MARKETPLACE - Just under 50% of the revenues from the 30 Dow stocks is generated from the foreign operations of the companies in the index (source: AP, Boston Globe).
6. CURRENCY TRIVIA - The global financial markets may be forecasting rising interest rates in Europe and flat to falling interest rates in the USA. This conclusion can be reached as a result of a rising euro and falling dollar. The euro finished at its highest closing value vs. the dollar last Thursday ($1.3603) since 12/30/04 (source: BTN Research).
7. MORE WORKERS - The unemployment rate in the USA was 4.4% as of 3/31/07, down 0.3% in the last 12 months, equal to 287,000 fewer idled workers today when compared to figures from a year ago (source: DOL).
8. SLOWING DOWN - The drop in the nation's jobless rate to 4.4% last month, its lowest level in 6 years, occurring while our economy is slowing, suggests that our nation's growth in productivity (i.e., output per hour of work) has waned. Over the 2 decades from 1976-1995, productivity grew by +1.5% per year, almost half of the +2.8% annual growth in productivity from 1996-2005. Last year (2006), productivity growth was only +1.6% (source: DOL).
9. WHO SELLS THE MOST? - The # 1 exporter in the world is Germany, ranked ahead of # 2, China and # 3, the United States (source: Financial Times).
10. SOME PROGRESS - China's $233 billion trade deficit with the USA last year (i.e., their exports to us exceeding our exports to them) has been a source of tension between the two economic superpowers. China however is expected to conduct a 4-city tour (Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C.) in May 2007 where purchases of $12 billion of American goods will be announced (source: Financial Times).
11. IT'S NOT AGE 65? - More than 4 out of every 5 Americans (82%) do not know the age at which they qualify for full retirement benefits from Social Security (source: Employee Benefit Research Institute).
12. THIRTYSOMETHING - 58% of Americans began saving for their future retirement before age 30 (source: Transamerica Retirement Services).
13. WHERE THE MONEY IS - The top 1% of US taxpayers (based upon adjusted gross income) pays 37% of all federal income tax. Twenty years ago (1987), this top income group paid 25% of all taxes (source: IRS).
14. HOME SWEET HOME - A single-family home went on the market for sale at $125 million early this month in Los Angeles. The 45,000 square-foot home is owned by a 46-year old woman (source: Wall Street Journal).
15. FUTURE OLYMPICS - The city of Chicago has been selected by the US Olympic committee as the American city that will submit a bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Chicago has 2 ½ years to put its bid together (the winning city will be selected in October 2009), expected to contain an operating budget of $5 billion. The 2008 Summer Games will be held in Beijing and the 2012 games are in London (source: Financial Times).