Stock Index, S&P Sector & Bond Index performance numbers, week ending 09/12/2008

[A HERETIC I AM]

** Needless to say, this data does not include today's (9/15/2008) market activity**

                                 STOCK INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                               Week      YTD      12-mo.    2007     5-yr.
DOW JONES 30 (11422)                1.83%   -12.24%   -11.83%    8.88%    6.24%
S&P 500 (1252)                      0.81%   -13.44%   -13.14%    5.49%    6.17%
NASDAQ 100 (1767)                  -0.06%   -14.95%   -10.71%   19.24%    5.85%
S&P 500/Citigroup Growth            0.98%   -12.12%    -9.83%    9.25%    4.75%
S&P 500/Citigroup Value             0.63%   -14.84%   -16.44%    2.03%    7.59%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Growth    -0.15%    -7.49%    -5.09%   13.55%    9.06%
S&P MidCap 400/Citigroup Value      0.95%    -6.77%    -8.20%    2.84%   10.88%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Growth    0.03%    -4.01%    -6.74%    5.66%   10.24%
S&P SmallCap600/Citigroup Value     1.85%    -1.67%    -5.89%   -5.19%   10.28%
MSCI EAFE                           1.67%   -22.10%   -19.10%   11.76%   12.22%
MSCI World (ex US)                  1.54%   -21.27%   -18.03%   13.04%   12.78%
MSCI World                          1.13%   -17.50%   -15.47%    9.69%    9.35%
MSCI Emerging Markets              -1.96%   -30.08%   -19.65%   39.23%   19.91%

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 09/12/08.

                             S&P SECTOR PERFORMANCE

Index                       Week      YTD      12-mo.     2007     5-yr.
Consumer Discretionary      2.49%    -4.85%   -12.70%   -13.21%    2.93%
Consumer Staples            3.11%     2.24%     9.89%    14.36%    9.99%
Energy                      0.69%   -13.11%    -4.89%    34.41%   23.10%
Financials                 -2.48%   -26.09%   -34.29%   -18.52%   -0.98%
Health Care                 1.67%    -7.39%    -5.49%     7.32%    3.90%
Industrials                 0.67%   -13.31%   -13.15%    12.04%    8.14%
Information Technology      0.47%   -17.58%   -14.25%    16.30%    3.22%
Materials                   2.17%    -8.97%    -0.53%    22.53%   12.98%
Telecom Services           -0.16%   -21.55%   -21.48%    11.88%    7.87%
Utilities                   2.67%   -13.05%    -5.12%    19.38%   14.82%

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 09/12/08.

                               BOND INDEX PERFORMANCE

Index                              Week      YTD     12-mo.  2007    5-yr.
U.S. Treasury: Intermediate       -0.13%    4.41%    7.96%   8.83%   4.20%
GNMA 30 Year                       0.77%    4.47%    7.68%   6.97%   5.09%
U.S. Aggregate                     0.28%    2.91%    5.94%   6.97%   4.57%
U.S. Corporate High Yield          0.10%   -2.32%   -1.55%   1.88%   6.36%
U.S. Corporate Investment Grade   -1.06%   -1.34%    0.81%   4.56%   3.47%
Municipal Bond: Long Bond (22+)    0.26%   -0.78%   -0.81%   0.46%   4.90%
Global Aggregate                  -0.56%    0.89%    4.81%   9.48%   5.71%

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 09/12/08.

                            KEY RATES

                           As of 09/12                  
Fed Funds               2.00%     5-YR CD          4.19%
LIBOR (1-month)         2.49%     2-YR Note        2.20%
CPI - Headline          5.60%     5-YR Note        2.94%
CPI - Core              2.50%    10-YR T-Bond      3.71%
Money Market Accts.     2.39%    30-YR T-Bond      4.31%
Money Market Funds      1.87%    30-YR Mortgage    5.60%
6-mo. CD                3.17%    Prime Rate        5.00%
1-YR CD                 3.69%    Bond Buyer 40     5.37%

Sources: Bankrate.com, iMoneyNet.com and Bloomberg

                         WEEKLY FUND FLOWS

                      Week of 09/11     Previous  
Equity Funds             $410 M          $4.7 B
Including ETF activity, Domestic funds reporting net inflows of
$7.823 B and Non-domestic funds reporting net outflows of -$7.413 B.
Bond Funds              $10.4 B          $1.7 B
Municipal Bond Funds   $3.163 B          $252 M
This is the eighth consecutive month of inflows to the sector.
Money Markets         $44.443 B       $19.323 B
This brings assets in the sector to $3.5 T.

Source: AMG Data Services

FACTOIDS FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8TH - SEPTEMBER 12TH

Monday, September 8, 2008
Real Capital Analytics estimates that commercial real estate transactions
worldwide totaled $306 billion in the first half of 2008, down 60% from the first
half of 2007, according to BusinessWeek. The value of office building
transactions declined the most in the U.S. and Europe. Sales in Germany, the
U.S., Britain, and France were down 80%, 69%, 64%, and 51%, respectively.
In London, only 3 of the 19 major office projects announced since 2004 have
progressed as planned.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The global speculative-grade default rate stood at 2.7% in August, up from
2.5% in July, according to Moody's. The rate was 1.4% a year ago. Moody's
is now forecasting the rate will rise to 7.4% by August 2009. The U.S.
speculative-grade default rate stood at 3.3% in August, up from 3.0% in July.
The rate was 1.4% a year ago. The default rate on senior loans rose from
2.92% in July to a five-year high of 3.27% in August, according to Standard
& Poor's LCD. The rate was 0.26% (record-low) at the end of 2007.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Brazil’s economy grew by an annualized 6.1% (y-o-y) in the second quarter,
topping market expectations calling for a GDP growth rate of 5.5%,
according to the Brazilian Statistics Institute. The GDP growth rate was 5.9%
in the first quarter. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega commented
that economic growth is sustainable and there is no concern over inflation
heating up. Investments in Brazil are growing at a rate of 15%. Mantega
estimates that revenues from the newly-discovered pre-salt layer oil fields
could double or triple Brazil’s foreign exchange reserves, which currently
stand at 206.5 billion U.S. dollars.

Thursday, September 11, 2008
The price of gold is trading at $743.00 per ounce this morning, down $17
from yesterday’s closing price, according to Bloomberg. This is the cheapest
gold has been since October 9, 2007, which just so happens be the same
day the 5-year bull market in the S&P 500 ended. The high for gold was
$1,004.30 an ounce on March 18, 2008. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of
19 raw materials has declined for nine consecutive trading sessions and is
off roughly 24% from its peak in July. With commodity prices falling and
inflation fears easing somewhat, both hedge funds and ETFs that buy bullion
have been big sellers of late, according to Bloomberg.

Friday, September 12, 2008
Companies that initiate stock buybacks in theory do so in an attempt to reduce
outstanding share count in order to boost earnings-per-share and share price.
A new study out by Standard & Poor’s analysts Stewart Glickman and Todd
Rosenbluth found that this strategy did not prove that effective from January
2006 through June 2007, according to John Waggoner at USA TODAY. The
study noted that 33% of all companies that bought stock back sustained
losses, while 75% that did lagged the S&P 500 over that span.

The above was gathered by and posted from
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P. • APPROVED FOR PUBLIC USE • 09/15/08

Web link to this and all previous weekly information is here