Stocks
Stock market crawls to year-end finish line.
(MONEY Magazine) - The November rally in all major stock indexes slowed in December, as the Fed increased rates for the 13th straight time and investors engaged in year-end selling. The energy sector--up 35% in 2005--managed to notch an 8% gain even as gasoline prices dropped. Shares of automaker General Motors plunged 20% for the month and 49% for the year (as of late December), in part because of a slump in car sales. The yield is 9%--and rising. But don't bet on that payout. S&P 500 SECTOR AVERAGES TOP-PERFORMING STOCKS BENCHMARKS S&P 500 RATIOS P/E 19.1 DIVIDEND YIELD 1.82% HIGHEST-YIELDING DOW STOCKS MOST WIDELY HELD STOCKS NOTES AND SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, data as of Dec. 15 from Lipper, New York; 877-955-4773. Index levels from Bloomberg. Bond index data from Lehman Brothers. Stock data from Thomson/Baseline. Monthly S&P 500 ratios from Standard & Poor's. Ratios are based on previous four quarters of earnings. Top-Performing Stocks are limited to companies with market capitalization of at least $500 million. Most Widely Held Stocks are ranked by largest accounts at Merrill Lynch. [1] Annualized. [2] Price change only. |
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