01/03/2008

2007, please de-sash!

Hello:

The past year was, for the most part, good for energy stocks, and bad for companies with holdings related to sub-prime mortgage situation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 6.43%, the Standard and Poors 500 ended up 3.82%, and the Nasdaq Composite ended up 9.81%. The key word here is "up".

The international stock markets had some big winners and some big losers, but were in general, "up" also.

Now it is time to focus on 2008. So (drumroll, please) in the latest reality TV parlance, 2007, please de-sash!

Some themes that we like for 2008, as we continue into a maturing bull market, are large cap growth, Europe, health care, alternative energy and selective emerging growth. We are overall bullish in the U.S. economy because, in our opinion, the cheap dollar has made many domestic assets very attractive to global investors. However, we do not believe our economy is completely out of the sub-prime woods, yet, and so we like the theme of high-quality domestic bonds as well.

May you and your family have a prosperous, healthy and safe 2008!


It's a new year, so perhaps suggest to your donors that they might prefer an automatic monthly giving program as opposed to waiting to the last week of December to support your organization's mission!

Terri G. Millson, CIMA, CIMC President

Ray Dicius, CSA, GEPC LPL Branch Manager