Bears were roaming the countryside... actually make that the whole planet because no one was spared...
The year started off on a bearish note and the stock exchanges ended up with one of their worst months in at least 5 years. I'll bet all of you are going to be surprised to see what sectors did well this month (probably due to short-covering). Here are the total returns for some key indices:
Dow Jones Global Total Market TR: -8.3%
S&P 500 Total Return: -7.6%
Best Sectors (S&P): Financials (-3.21%), Consumer Discretionary (-4.55%), Materials (-5.34%)
Worst Sectors (S&P): Info Tech (-13.67%), Telecom (-11.94%), Energy (-11.22%)
Only 18 of 39 contestants beat the S&P 500. Congratulations to kxtoh for taking the early lead with a +6.1% return in a brutal month. Sasol (+5.1%) and JudyKen (4.6%) round out the top 3.
| 1 | kxtoh | 6.1 |
| 2 | sasol | 5.1 |
| 3 | judyken | 4.6 |
| 4 | jcimasi | 3.5 |
| 5 | sand04 | 2.9 |
| 6 | Guzzo11 | 1.8 |
| 7 | EagleTed | -1.2 |
| 8 | Santa Cruz | -1.3 |
| 9 | KoalaBear33 | -1.7 |
| 10 | HerbDeno | -2.3 |
| 11 | 0Brian0 | -4.4 |
| 12 | chipmunk | -4.7 |
| 13 | NickDrake | -5.9 |
| 14 | Blooskye66 | -6.2 |
| 15 | DRiP Guy | -6.3 |
| 16 | rascfw | -6.5 |
| 17 | asi12 | -7.2 |
| 18 | JohnDough | -7.4 |
| 19 | ashen | -7.9 |
| 20 | HarveyinFL | -7.9 |
| 21 | ogadeni | -7.9 |
| 22 | snowape | -8.0 |
| 23 | oppeg | -8.4 |
| 24 | bobbinm | -9.2 |
| 25 | topaz2250 | -10.1 |
| 26 | WAR1209 | -10.4 |
| 27 | gladiator05 | -10.9 |
| 28 | carfau | -11.3 |
| 29 | gbushue | -13.1 |
| 30 | frogfan | -13.8 |
| 31 | SiskiU | -14.0 |
| 32 | WERman | -14.7 |
| 33 | TheOne | -14.9 |
| 34 | BrassTax | -16.2 |
| 35 | Boliche | -18.8 |
| 36 | bevandmichael | -18.8 |
| 37 | strider | -23.1 |
| 38 | Hombre Munchkin | -23.4 |
| 39 | fredP | -25.9 |
Top 10 Gainers in January
| 1 | PHM | Pulte Homes | KoalaBear36 | 55.1 |
| 2 | WM | Washington Mutual | judyken & sasol | 46.0 |
| 3 | DHI | DR Horton | jcimasi | 31.1 |
| 4 | TMA | Thornburg Mortgage | kxtoh | 20.7 |
| 5 | CHS | Chico's | judyken | 19.5 |
| 6 | CORS | Corus | sasol | 19.2 |
| 7 | BBT | BB&T | Guzzo11 | 18.1 |
| 8 | ZMH | Zimmer | HerbDeno | 18.1 |
| 9 | LOW | Lowes | kxtoh | 16.8 |
| 10 | SPN | Superior Energy | WAR1209 | 16.5 |
Top 10 Losers in January
| 1 | STAN | Standard Parking | SiskiU | -60.1 |
| 2 | ABK | Ambac | KoalaBear33 | -54.8 |
| 3 | YGE | Yingli Green Energy | strider | -47.5 |
| 4 | CY | Cypress Semiconductor | fredP | -41.0 |
| 5 | HNSN | Hansen Medical | gladiator08 | -40.3 |
| 6 | SNCR | Synchronoss Tech | WAR1212 | -39.9 |
| 7 | URRE | Uranium Resources | Hombre Munchkin | -35.0 |
| 8 | CXZ | Crosshair Exploration | Hombre Munchkin | -33.9 |
| 9 | STP | Suntech Power | Boliche | -33.6 |
| 10 | CPSL | China Precision Steel | rascfw | -32.1 |
Dividends credited (ex-div since start of contest and payment in January): SYY, WFMI, BBY
If anyone sees anything questionable, let me know. In particular dividends are one thing to watch out for in the future. Also provide suggestions on layout, benchmarks to compare against, or other ideas. I still have to get the hang of spacing in the messages...
