Investment Figures of the Week

Investment Figures of the Week

COMMENTARYThe stock market passed the tenth anniversary of the crash uneventfully. Stockswere little changed for the week, as were interest rates. Third-quarterearnings reports set the pace for each day's trading. On Oct. 21, IBM reportedstronger-than-expected profits, and that triggered a 139-point gain in the Dowindustrials. The next day, disappointments from AlliedSignal and Boeing clipped26 points off the Dow. The real disaster was in the Hong Kong stock market,where the Hang Seng Index slid another 13% atop the previous week's 10% fall.

% change

U.S. MARKETS Latest Week Year

Dow Jones Industrials 8034.7 -0.3 32.5

NASDAQ Combined Composite 1708.1 -0.9 40.0

S&P MidCap 400 338.0 -0.2 39.2

S&P SmallCap 600 189.3 -1.1 37.6

S&P SuperComposite 1500 209.1 0.2 37.3

% change

SECTORS Latest Week Year

Bloomberg Information Age 301.7 -0.8 42.5

S&P Financials 116.1 0.8 54.3

S&P Utilities 211.1 2.0 8.6

PSE Technology 332.7 -3.0 51.4

% change

FOREIGN MARKETS Latest Week Year

London (FT-SE 100) 5148.8 -2.2 26.9

Frankfurt (DAX) 4171.5 -0.5 53.4

Tokyo (NIKKEI 225) 17,687.6 2.1 -16.3

Hong Kong (Hang Seng) 11,637.8 -13.0 -6.5

Toronto (TSE 300) 7163.8 0.5 29.5

Mexico City (IPC) 5299.2 -0.9 62.5

Week Year

FUNDAMENTALS Latest ago ago

S&P 500 Dividend Yield 1.56 % 1.56 % 2.04 %

S&P 500 P/E Ratio (Last 12 mos.) 24.3 24.5 19.9

S&P 500 P/E Ratio (Next 12 mos.)* 19.2 19.2 NA

First Call Earnings Surprise* 2.42 % 3.41 % NA

Week

TECHNICAL INDICATORS Latest ago Reading

S&P 500 200-day average 857.9 852.6 Positive

Stocks above 200-day average 82.0 % 84.0 % Negative

Options: Put/call ratio 0.60 0.49 Neutral

Insiders: Vickers Sell/buy ratio 3.39 3.36 Negative

BEST-PERFORMING Last Last 12

GROUPS month% months%

Broadcasting 17.0 Trucking 218.8

Trucking 15.8 Invest. Banking/Brkrge. 99.4

Gold Mining 13.1 Savings & Loans 92.0

Toys 12.8 Computer Systems 77.9

Oil & Gas Drilling 12.8 Homebuilding 73.5

WORST-PERFORMING Last Last 12

GROUPS month% months%

Shoes -12.7 Photography/Imaging -20.4

Semiconductors -11.1 Shoes -15.0

Pollution Control -10.6 Engineering & Constr. -11.7

Genl. Merchandise Chains -10.1 Gold Mining -9.8

Department Stores -7.8 Manufactured Housing -6.3

BLOOMBERG MONEY FLOW ANALYSIS

Rebound ahead? Stocks with most 1-month

significant buying on price weakness Price change

Texas Instruments 127 3/4 -11 7/8

Merck 97 1/8 -5 3/4

HFS 71 1/4 -2 1/2

Micron Technology 33 1/4 -7 1/4

Lockheed Martin 103 3/4 -6 1/4

Apple Computer 19 1/16 -3 3/4

Decline ahead? Stocks with most 1-month

significant selling on price strength Price change

Dell Computer 100 3/16

Cisco Systems 84 5/16 9 1/8

Boeing 54 1 3/16

Ciena 59 1/8 11 3/8

Travelers Group 75 3/16 2 7/8

L. M. Ericsson-ADR 48 1/2 2 1/4

Data: Bloomberg Financial Markets; *First Call Corp.

Latest Week Year

KEY RATES week% ago% ago%

MONEY MARKET FUNDS 5.13 5.14 5.03

90-DAY TREASURY BILLS 5.14 5.06 5.16

6-MONTH BANK CDS 5.19 5.18 4.96

1-YEAR TREASURY BILLS 5.56 5.52 5.57

10-YEAR TREASURY NOTES 6.12 6.10 6.56

30-YEAR TREASURY BONDS 6.42 6.39 6.85

LONG-TERM AA INDUSTRIALS 6.89 6.86 7.35

LONG-TERM BBB INDUSTRIALS 7.26 7.23 7.76

LONG-TERM AA TELEPHONES 7.22 7.19 7.58

BLOOMBERG MUNI YIELD EQUIVALENTS

Taxable equivalent yields on AAA-rated, tax-exempt municipal bonds,

assuming a 31% federal tax rate.

10-yr. bond 30-yr. bond

Latest Last Latest Last

week week week week

GENERAL OBLIGATIONS 4.69 4.64 5.27 5.22

PERCENT OF TREASURIES 76.59 76.01 82.08 81.61

TAXABLE EQUIVALENT 6.80 6.72 7.64 7.57

INSURED REVENUE BONDS 4.83 4.79 5.49 5.45

PERCENT OF TREASURIES 78.88 78.50 85.51 85.20

TAXABLE EQUIVALENT 7.00 6.94 7.96 7.90

EQUITY FUND CATEGORIES

Leaders Laggards

Four-week total return % Four-week total return %

Lexington Strategic Invmts. 11.0 Morgan Stan. Asian Grth. B -18.4

Fidelity Sel. Energy Service 10.5 Eaton Vance Grtr. China C -18.4

Fidelity Sel. Prec. Metals 10.2 Morg. Stan. Instl. Asia Eq. A -18.2

Keystone Precious Metals 9.7 Montgomery Emerg. Asia R -18.1

Blanchard Precious Metals 9.7 Pilgrim Amer. Asia-Pac. B -16.3

Leaders Laggards

52-week total return % 52-week total return %

Lexington Troika Russia 151.6 DFA Japanese Small Co. -47.4

Fidelity Sel. Energy Service 88.0 Bull & Bear Gold Investors -43.1

Hartford Cap. Apprec. A 87.5 United Svcs. Gold Shares -42.2

Fidelity Sel. Brokerage 78.6 Matthews Korea -38.1

American Heritage 77.4 Fontaine Global Growth -37.4

Leaders Laggards

Four-week total return % Four-week total return %

Precious Metals 7.2 Pacific/Asia ex-Japan -11.7

Latin America 4.5 Diversified Pacific/Asia -6.0

Financial 4.1 Technology -3.0

Communications 3.9 Japan -1.7

Natural Resources 3.7 Diversified Emerging Markets 0.5

Leaders Laggards

52-week total return % 52-week total return %

Financial 50.7 Precious Metals -23.8

Latin America 48.0 Pacific/Asia ex-Japan -15.3

Small-cap Value 41.2 Diversified Pacific/Asia -12.1

Real Estate 38.7 Japan -11.7

Small-cap Blend 37.2 International Hybrid 12.4

All data are as of market close Wednesday, Oct. 22, 1997, unless otherwise

indicated. Industry groups include S&P 500 companies only. Fundamentals,

technical indicators, Bloomberg money flow analysis, and mutual fund returns

are as of Oct. 21. For a more detailed explanation, write to us or E-mail

figures@businessweek.com. NA=Not available **Vanguard Index 500 Fund

Data: Morningstar, Inc.

Return to top