Its not just the NYT that has a great graphics department — the WSJ has put out their fair share of terrific charts (as this blog has long since demonstrated).
"U.S. stocks took a backseat in 2005. Big gains in oil and gold drove commodities prices to a second-straight banner year, while the Fed’s faithful campaign to raise interest rates made bond yields the talk of Wall Street. Here is a scorecard for major financial-market indicators:"
The graphs are actually too wide for my layout, so they require a 2nd click . . .
Stocks
It was a muddle-through year for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which finished in the red for the first time since 2002 after several failed attempts to break through 11000. Other major stock gauges were held in check by scorching oil prices and higher interest rates.
Dec. 31, 2004
Dec. 30, 2005
CHANGE
Dow Industrials
10783.01
10717.50
-0.61%
Nasdaq Composite
2175.44
2205.32
1.37%
S&P 500
1211.92
1248.29
3.00%
Russell 2000
651.57
673.22
3.32%
Global Stocks
The Japanese stock market surged 40% in 2005 on signs that the country’s long-suffering economy is finally moving forward on the road to recovery. But the Nikkei 225 remains far below its all-time high of 38915.87 on 1989.
Dec. 31, 2004
Dec. 30, 2005
CHANGE
Nikkei 225 Stock Average
11488.76
16111.43
40.24%
FTSE 100 stock index
4814.30
5618.80
16.71%
DJ Stoxx
251.02
310.03
23.51%
DJ Euro Stoxx
267.38
328.92
23.02%
Interest Rates
The infamous "conundrum" made the bond market the place to watch. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s term for the failure of long-term bond yields to rise in sync with short-term rates still puzzles investors, who watched the yield curve "invert" this week — a rare event that in the past has signaled an economic slowdown or even a recession is on the way.
Dec. 31, 2004
Dec. 30, 2005
CHANGE
10-year Treasury yield
4.222
4.393
4.05%
30-year fixed mortgage rate
5.81%
6.22%
7.06%
Fed-funds rate
2.25
4.25
88.89%
DJ Corporate Bond Index
185.8778
188.3553
1.33%
Currencies
Many Wall Street wizards — including Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett — believed the dollar would slump again in 2005. But their big bets turned sour when the greenback strengthened as the Fed raised rates, making the U.S. assets more attractive to foreigners.
Dec. 31, 2004
Dec. 30, 2005
CHANGE
J.P. Morgan Dollar Index
87.6
91.7
4.68%
Euro [in dollars]
1.3567
1.184
-12.73%
Yen [per dollar]
102.4066
117.9384
15.17%
Pound [in dollars]
1.9185
1.7205
-10.32%
Commodities
Gold and oil surged in 2005 — an unusual combination, since the two tend to move inversely to one another. Credit in part emerging economies such as India and China, where demand for both oil and gold-based jewelry is on the rise.
Dec. 31, 2004
Dec. 30, 2005
CHANGE
Nymex oil (front-month contract)
43.45
61.04
40.48%
Comex gold (front-month contract)
437.50
517.10
18.19%
DJ-AIG Spot Index
145.604
171.149
17.98%
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Global scorecard for 40 equity markets – top performer in 2005 was Columbia (up almost 1219%). The US (S&P 500)? 37th out of 40 (+3.0%), beating out Chile, Malaysia, and Venezuela. We’ve got a long way to go yet – about 3 more years at least.
Here’s another graphic I noticed in yesterday’s edition:
http://heydudewhoa.blogspot.com/2006/01/stocks.html
Global scorecard for 40 equity markets – top performer in 2005 was Columbia (up almost 1219%). The US (S&P 500)? 37th out of 40 (+3.0%), beating out Chile, Malaysia, and Venezuela. We’ve got a long way to go yet – about 3 more years at least.