Stock Index, S&P Sector & Bond Index performance numbers, week ending 08/22/2008

[A HERETIC I AM]

                               STOCK INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week      YTD      12-mo.    2007     5-yr.
DOW JONES 30 (11628)              -0.20%   -10.80%    -9.88%    8.88%    6.88%
S&P 500 (1292)                    -0.42%   -10.78%    -9.88%    5.49%    7.39%
NASDAQ 100 (1932)                 -1.31%    -7.07%     0.22%   19.24%    8.60%
S&P 500/Citigroup Growth           0.25%    -7.91%    -3.73%    9.25%    6.50%
S&P 500/Citigroup Value           -1.19%   -13.86%   -15.90%    2.03%    8.20%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth   -0.41%    -3.02%     0.65%   13.55%   10.61%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Value    -1.23%    -5.15%    -7.41%    2.84%   11.90%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Growth  -1.89%    -0.89%    -4.45%    5.66%   11.66%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Value   -2.25%    -1.50%    -8.51%   -5.19%   10.93%
MSCI EAFE                         -0.77%   -18.41%   -12.76%   11.76%   13.98%
MSCI World (ex US)                -0.30%   -17.40%   -11.37%   13.04%   14.62%
MSCI World                        -0.35%   -14.10%   -10.29%    9.69%   10.85%
MSCI Emerging Markets             -1.57%   -21.98%    -3.81%   39.23%   23.28%

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 08/22/08.

                            S&P SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Index                      Week      YTD      12-mo.     2007     5-yr.
Consumer Discretionary    -1.87%    -6.12%   -14.91%   -13.21%    2.66%
Consumer Staples          -1.04%     0.22%     9.10%    14.36%   10.06%
Energy                     5.19%    -6.21%     9.46%    34.41%   25.52%
Financials                -3.03%   -27.77%   -38.12%   -18.52%   -1.16%
Health Care               -1.01%    -4.49%    -0.75%     7.32%    5.62%
Industrials               -1.25%   -10.10%    -9.75%    12.04%    9.17%
Information Technology    -1.08%    -9.59%    -3.15%    16.30%    6.25%
Materials                  1.36%    -4.84%     3.54%    22.53%   14.38%
Telecom Services          -0.99%   -20.05%   -20.18%    11.88%    8.67%
Utilities                  2.14%    -9.63%    -0.93%    19.38%   16.73%

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 08/22/08.

                            BOND INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week     YTD     12-mo.   2007   5-yr.
U.S. Treasury: Intermediate       -0.01%    3.61%    8.20%   8.83%  4.27%
GNMA 30 Year                       0.16%    2.29%    6.60%   6.97%  4.85%
U.S. Aggregate                     0.07%    1.48%    5.76%   6.97%  4.54%
U.S. Corporate High Yield         -0.43%   -2.70%   -1.12%   1.88%  6.82%
U.S. Corporate Investment Grade   -0.33%   -1.17%    2.01%   4.56%  3.83%
Municipal Bond: Long Bond (22+)   -0.38%   -2.11%    2.29%   0.46%  4.92%
Global Aggregate                   0.30%    1.73%    7.94%   9.48%  6.32%

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 08/22/08.

                           KEY RATES

                          As of 08/22                   
Fed Funds                2.00%     5-YR CD         4.16%
LIBOR (1-month)          2.47%     2-YR Note       2.40%
CPI - Headline           5.60%     5-YR Note       3.13%
CPI - Core               2.50%    10-YR T-Bond     3.86%
Money Market Accts.      2.50%    30-YR T-Bond     4.46%
Money Market Funds       1.86%    30-YR Mortgage   6.33%
6-mo. CD                 3.13%    Prime Rate       5.00%
1-YR CD                  3.63%    Bond Buyer 40    5.30%

Sources: Bankrate.com, iMoneyNet.com and Bloomberg

                       WEEKLY FUND FLOWS

                      Week of 08/20      Previous 
Equity Funds            -$1.2 B           $3.9 B
Including ETF activity, Domestic funds reporting net inflows of
$132 M and Non-domestic funds reporting net outflows of -$1.293 B.
Bond Funds              -$125 M           $1.4 B
Municipal Bond Funds     $338 M           $237 M
Money Markets          $2.443 B         $9.862 B
Assets (in Money Markets) now stand at a record $3.5 T.

Source: AMG Data Services

FACTOIDS FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 18TH - AUGUST 22ND

Monday, August 18, 2008
Standard & Poor’s stated last Thursday that it is no longer reviewing its ratings
on the insurance arms of MBIA and Ambac Financial for potential downgrade,
though it maintained a negative outlook on both, according to BusinessWeek.
Both were downgraded in June from AAA to AA. So far in August, only 8% of
newly issued bonds carried insurance, compared to an average of 25% during
the first half of 2008 and nearly 50% in prior years, according to Ying Chen Li,
municipal strategist at JPMorgan Chase. The yield ratio of 5-year AAA munis
to 5-year T-Notes has averaged 80% over the past 10 years, according to Li.
That yield ratio is currently closer to 90%, which suggests tax-frees remain
cheap compared to Treasuries.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Federal Reserve released its senior loan officer survey for Q2’08 and it
confirmed that banks have tightened lending standards, particularly for
consumer loans and commercial mortgages, according to J.P. Morgan
Securities Inc. The survey, however, also reported a 9% increase in bank loans
from June 30, 2007, through August 8, 2008. So while the intent is to curb
lending, the data to date indicates otherwise. One theory suggests those
banks willing to lend are courting new customers while other banks are cutting
back. Plus, loan margins have risen making lending more profitable.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Moody’s reported that the U.S. speculative-grade default rate stood at 2.5% in
July, up from 1.5% in July 2007, according to Bloomberg. It sees the default
rate rising to as high as 6.3% by July 2009. The default rate on senior loans
stood at 2.92% in July, up from 0.42% in July 2007 and just shy of its historical
average of 3.00%, according to Standard & Poor's LCD.

Thursday, August 21, 2008
U.S. broadband penetration in urban and suburban areas currently stands at
57% and 60%, respectively, while only 38% of rural households utilize highspeed
connections, according to a report from the Communications Workers
of America. On average, broadband connections cost about $40 per month.
The U.S. ranks 15th among industrialized countries in average Internet speed.
Download speed (megabits per second) in Japan is 63.60 (similar cost as
U.S.), compared to just 2.35 in the U.S. It takes approximately two minutes to
download a movie in Japan, versus up to 2 hours in the U.S.

Friday, August 22, 2008
The credit crunch has negatively impacted the return on equity (after-tax profit
divided by total equity) being generated by banking institutions, according to
the International Herald Tribune. In 2006, the top 10 banking returns on equity
ranged from 23.9% to 35.5%, but the average return for all banks was 13.6%,
according to the Boston Consulting Group. In 2007, the average fell to 13%,
but it was bolstered by emerging markets institutions and a prosperous first
half (subprime mortgage meltdown started in July). Over the past 12 months,
U.S. banks and securities firms have eliminated 76,000 jobs and taken close
to $240 billion in losses and write-downs.

The above was gathered by and posted from
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P. • APPROVED FOR PUBLIC USE • 08/25/08

Web link to this and all previous weekly information is here

I apologize to the interested parties for neglecting to post these numbers last week. We had a Tropical Storm come ashore in my area a week ago tonight. Needless to say, I was a bit distracted and this thread slipped my mind. Last weeks report, in .pdf form can be found here