(MONEY Magazine) – December wrapped up the best year for the stock market since 2003. Helped by a falling dollar, foreign stocks represented by EAFE returned 26.3% for the year. The Dow, which set yet another record in the last week of trading, posted a 19.1% gain. The telecom sector, up 31.3% in 2006, topped the S&P 500, thanks in part to AT&T's turnaround. Shares of the company, whose takeover of BellSouth was approved in December, rose 51.4% in 2006.

S&P 500 SECTOR AVERAGES

TOP-PERFORMING STOCKS

BENCHMARKS

S&P 500 RATIOS

P/E 18.2 DIVIDEND YIELD 1.80%

HIGHEST-YIELDING DOW STOCKS

MOST WIDELY HELD STOCKS

NOTES AND SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, data as of Dec. 29 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 limited to companies with market capitalization of at least $500 million. Most Widely Held Stocks ranked by largest accounts at Merrill Lynch. N.A.: Not applicable or not available. ¹Annualized. ²Price change only.