Across My Desk: How The Major Indices Ended 2007
One of last year's biggest lessons: One, don't count your eggs before the year's end.
To help you out on that front, here's a performance look at how the major indices ended 2007:
The Dow Jones industrial average ended up 6.4 percent in a year that saw 34 record-high closes.
Standard & Poor's 500 was up 3.5 percent.
NASDAQ was up 9.81 percent--it's best performance since 2003.
The Russell 2000 ended the year down 2.75 percent.
The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 gained 3.94 percent.
Around the world, Brazil's stock market, the Sao Paulo Bovespa, gained the most- up 43.6 percent. And Venezuela's IBC General lost the most, down 27.4 percent.
According to one source, the major U.S. stock market indices experienced their worst pre-Presidential election year since 1987. Another suggested that if the economy were to sink into a recession, a bear market (a decline of 20 percent or more from the market's previous high) would be a virtual certainty in 2008.
While most pros seem to agree that 2008 has the makings for a lousy performance year, that's not necessarily so. As always, January 1 always marks the beginning of a new year in which anything can happen. Yahoo! And, Good Luck!
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