Retirement Rescue - Annuities (from Bankrate.com)

Check annuities for retirement rescue

By Melissa M. Ezarik • Bankrate.com


In a crowd of average Joes and Janes, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows a lot about annuities, but you'll likely find plenty with a generally negative feeling about them.

That connotation may be well-deserved, yet in today's volatile investment climate annuities might represent a safe haven.

Tom Warschauer, professor of finance at San Diego State University, says, "The insurance industry has not done a very good job recommending products that specifically fit their clients' needs. They look at what they want to sell and find a place for them in everyone's portfolio."

One big issue has been the lack of transparency about charges embedded in annuity products, and since it's difficult to decipher those costs, "There's a lot of room for abuse," says Warschauer, who's also a professor of finance and director of the Center for the Study of Personal Financial Planning at the university.

Beth Almeida, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security agrees. "The costs associated with the purchase of individual annuities eat away at the overall retirement nest egg. So a retiree may get a regular check, but their overall retirement income is diminished."

But in today's uncertain and volatile market, "retirees and near-retirees are likely seeking safe haven," says Almeida. And Warschauer agrees, annuities "have some very valuable uses in retirement planning" in this economic climate.

During your working years, return on investment is generally the primary focus. But in retirement, "the new ROI is 'reliability of income,'" says Robert E. Sollmann Jr., senior vice president of MetLife's Retirement Strategies Group.

"The painful lesson we are learning from today's market is that the conventional wisdom -- 'diversify' -- isn't cutting it. International, commodities, U.S. stocks are all down. The guarantees provided by annuities that can deliver regardless of market performance" are needed to balance a retirement plan, Sollmann says.

Think annuities may be worth a look? With so many annuity types, it's easy to get overwhelmed by possibilities. Here are some directions that experts say pre-retirees and retirees should consider.

Let's start with some basic definitions: Annuities are life insurance contracts sold by insurance companies, brokers and other financial institutions that provide a regular periodic payment to a policyholder for a specified period of time. They are paid for before retirement in exchange for lifetime payments after retirement and are intended to provide a regular level of retirement income to meet day-to-day living expenses.


They come in two general categories:


• Fixed annuity. The insurance company guarantees the principal pays a minimum rate of interest. As long as the company is financially sound, money in a fixed annuity will grow -- and not drop -- in value. The growth in value or benefits paid may be fixed at a dollar amount, at an interest rate, or by a specified formula. The interest rate usually starts out as a fixed percentage and is adjusted annually.
• Variable annuity. Your money is invested in a fund similar to a mutual fund -- but one open only to that insurance company's investors. The amount paid out depends on the performance of that fund.

"I'm a real advocate of fixed annuities," says Warschauer, who compares it to a fixed vs. variable mortgage rate. "It's obvious with a fixed mortgage you're more secure. When you're in your retirement years, you really want to be able to count on the cash in-flow, and the fixed annuity does that." Of course, the fact that it's fixed means it doesn't go up with inflation. His recommendation: Package a growth element within your IRA or 401(k), and then shift money out into immediate fixed annuities for daily living expenses.

On the variable annuity route, consider products that come with bonuses or guarantees such as living benefit riders, says Bayne Northern, a national sales manager for Penn Mutual Life's Annuity Distribution System. Variable annuities that include bonuses "may actually 'replace' what you have just lost in the market."

But guarantees as part of a variable annuity come at an added expense, cautions Peter Miralles, president of Atlanta Wealth Consultants. In addition, he says, "Generally the guarantees are diminished when withdrawals are made while the market value is down."

Shaun Golden of Golden Wealth Management in Riverhead, N.Y., concurs about living benefit riders, which can be found in today's variable annuity contracts, offering a "lifetime of guaranteed income regardless of financial market conditions." Golden, who has positioned a portion of his clients' assets into these types of annuities, says he's getting expressions of appreciation for protecting "the income which we count on each month."

Sollmann says variable annuities with an income rider are worth considering for those who are still saving for retirement who want the potential to grow assets along with income protection, even in down markets.






More annuity choices
Among the many other annuities available:

Immediate (or income) annuity. Available as fixed, variable or a combination of both, the immediate annuity is designed to produce a stream of income soon after its purchase. This option would generally appeal to someone age 60 or older. Deferred annuities can be annuitized to become immediate annuities. Warschauer believes fixed immediate annuities are what near-retirees and retirees should consider first.

Deferred annuity. You give the company a large sum upfront or make monthly payments until you reach retirement age. The money grows tax-free until you retire. This works best for someone who has a big chunk of change to put down and at least 20 years for the money to grow tax-free before setting up a schedule of lifetime payments that would start after retirement.

Lifetime income annuity. This product provides income for the remaining life of a person (or people, if a two-life annuity is purchased), according to the Insurance Information Institute. The amount paid depends on age, the amount paid into the annuity, and (if it's a fixed annuity) an interest rate set by the company. David F. Babbel, professor of insurance and finance at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, says lifetime income annuities should play a substantial role -- 40 percent to 80 percent of retirement assets -- in the retirement arrangements of most people.

Inflation-adjusted annuity. This feature is one that is added to lifetime income annuities that protects one's purchasing power, regardless of whether inflation or deflation occurs, Babbel says, adding that only a handful of insurers offer this feature. He also suggests seeking an annuity with a preset annual rate of increase, such as 1 percent to 6 percent per year. As an alternative to the inflation-adjusted annuity, he suggests having a fixed immediate annuity with a deferred, flexible premium annuity as a supplement. The flexible premium annuity can be activated as needed, "and if inflation really takes off, you can use the flexible premium feature to increase the size of your annuity," he says.

Seek stability
A final word of wisdom that's especially important in today's market: Be careful whom you do business with. "An insurance company can go out of business," points out Warschauer. "There is no guarantee that if a company goes out of business, they won't take the variable annuity or fixed annuity holders with them."

That's why it's worth taking the time to do some research to find out how solid a company you're thinking of buying from. Check out:

A.M. Best WWW.AMBEST.COM
Moody's Investors Service WWW.MOODYS.COM
Standard & Poor's WWW.STANDARDANDPOORS.COM
TheStreet.com Ratings (formerly Weiss Ratings) WWW.WEISSRATINGS.COM


According to Warschauer, Weiss has had a reputation for doing the best job in predicting failure in insurance companies, although users have to pay to access information. With national firms, he adds, a company being licensed in the State of New York is a good sign of stability, since their insurance commissioner's department is "probably the best known with being careful with regulations."

Regarding worries over financial stability, Warschauer points out that ordinarily the industry purchases each other's customers when a company goes under. "They will buy that package of annuities and take them over. But there have been cases where the annuities have simply failed." Conclusion: Annuities can be a rescue vehicle for many retirees -- just proceed with caution.

Melissa Ezarik is a Connecticut-based freelance writer.

From Smartmoney.com - favorite coupon websites

5 Best Coupon-Clipping Web Sites
Updated on December 11, 2008.

THESE DAYS, IT'S safe to assume that most consumers are looking to save a buck or two. And for a whole host of Internet entrepreneurs, that spells an opportunity.

A slew of new web sites offering coupons and online promotions are flooding the Internet. And while these sites offer a wide breadth of discounts, they're also causing a lot of confusion among shoppers, making it more difficult to weed out the really good deals from the duds. "There are hundreds, if not thousands of coupon sites out there offering the exact same thing," says Edgar Dworsky, founder of consumer advocacy site Consumer World1.

The proliferation of these sites isn't just about about saving shoppers money. As part of so-called affiliate marketing programs, retailers offer cash to these web entrepreneurs each time they get a consumer to make a purchase on their store's site. The enticement these sites use: coupons and other discounts. Each site uses a unique promotional code so the retailers know where the customer is coming from. Usually, though, that's the only differentiating factor among these discount sites. Most of the underlying deals are identical.

While choosing among hundreds of discounts may not seem like a bad thing at first, it's the relative sameness of these sites that makes it hard for shoppers to find the best deals and discern whether the offers they see are legit or not, notes Mary Hunt, founder of money management site Debt Proof Living2. Some have more extensive retailer partnerships and therefore offer a broader range of deals. Others are more diligent about updating offers and weeding out expired coupons.

We asked Dworsky, Hunt and other consumer advocates and deal hunters to point out the free coupon sites they turn to purchase after purchase. Here are five worth bookmarking:

Coupons.com3
Why the experts like it: Coupons.com offers as wide a variety of timely coupons as you'd find in the grocery shoppers' gold standard: the Sunday paper, says Dworsky. Phil Lempert, founder of news site Supermarket Guru4, praises the site's simple layout, which makes it easy to browse available coupons, and then print them out for in-store use. Enter your zip code for area-specific deals. There's just one minor drawback: "There are still some retailers that will not accept Internet coupons," cautions Lempert. Check that your supermarket does so before downloading the site's coupon-printing software.

Sample deal: Save $2 on two jumbo packs of Huggies Supreme diapers.

CouponCabin.com5
Why the experts like it: CouponCabin.com keeps its discount fare fresh, says Linda Sherry, a spokeswoman for Consumer Action6, a consumer advocate. Staffers update deals three times a day, and frequently check each coupon code to ensure it works. Sections for "most-used coupons" and "favorite deals" point shoppers toward the best ongoing promotions at online retailers. An added bonus: A weekly email newsletter alerts consumers to the latest deals every Monday.

Sample deal: Link to Eddie Bauer's (EBHI7) web site through CouponCabin.com and use coupon code "Perfect" at checkout to save 30% and receive free shipping. Offer expires Dec. 31.

CouponMom.com8
Why the experts like it: CouponMom.com covers a lot of ground, listing online coupon codes, printout coupons and free samples, among other types of discounts. And while other sites are riddled with offers and banner ads, CouponMom.com's simple design makes finding discounts easy, says Garen Daly, host of Massachusetts-based radio show "Frugal Yankee." Deals are reliably accurate, too, adds Tawra Kellam, founder of frugal living newsletter Living on a Dime9. Members can find all available coupons from several sources using the virtual coupon organizer. Sign up for email alerts on sales at favorite retailers, or on a shopping-list staple like the kids' favorite brand of peanut butter.

Sample deal: Link to discount gift certificate site Restaurants.com through CouponMom.com and save an added 40% on any restaurant gift certificate order. (Shoppers pay $6 for a $25 gift certificate, instead of the regular — already discounted — rate of $10.) Ongoing deal.

RetailMeNot.com10
Why the experts like it: RetailMeNot.com's dedicated community is what makes this site stand out. Users indicate whether a discount code worked for them or not, helping shoppers quickly filter out bad deals, says Hunt. They also add comments, pointing out when a code last worked, or any strings attached. "It's pretty darn reliable," she says. Email alerts notify you when new codes are posted for your favorite retailers.

Sample deal: Save 20% off neighborhood car rentals from Enterprise using code "ETC7HC." Offer expires Dec. 20.

SmartSource.com11
Why the experts like it: SmartSource.com merges local store sales and a wide array of printout coupons and online deals to help consumers maximize savings, says Lisa Lee Freeman, editor in chief of Consumer Reports' ShopSmart magazine. The selection is great, and entering your zip code yields even more deals specific to your area. (As with Coupons.com, check that the supermarket accepts printout web coupons before downloading the software.)

Sample deal: Save $3 on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ12) Red Cross first aid products.

Also See:
5 New Ways to Clip Coupons13
How to Save on (Almost) Everything14
5 Ways to Save on Online Shipping Fees15

1http://www.consumerworld.org
2http://www.debtproofliving.com
3http://www.coupons.com
4http://www.supermarketguru.com
5http://www.couponcabin.com
6http://www.consumer-action.org
7http://www.smartmoney.com/quote/EBHI/
8http://CouponMom.com
9http://www.livingonadime.com
10http://www.retailmenot.com/
11http://www.smartsource.com
12http://www.smartmoney.com/quote/JNJ/
13http://www.smartmoney.com/deal-of-the-day/index.cfm?story=20080602-five-new-ways-to-clip-coupons
14http://www.smartmoney.com/deal-of-the-day/index.cfm?story=20080625-how-to-save-on-everything
15http://www.smartmoney.com/deal-of-the-day/index.cfm?story=20080715-save-on-online-shipping

URL for this article:
http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/5-best-coupon-clipping-web-sites-23634/












Comments
Story Comments
5 Best Coupon-Clipping Web Sites
Coupon sites are everywhere. Here's where you'll find the best, most reliable deals.


User Comments

Posted 1:31 AM EST December 07, 2008Posted by: coupons
Nice list for those victims of the sotck market collapse. To save money I will also add http://www.allfreecoupons.com which has online promos and coupons as well.

Posted 3:41 PM EST November 07, 2008Posted by: mardomania
http://www.retailmenot.com is excellent. http://www.dealalert.com is another great coupon website as well.

Posted 11:47 PM EST November 03, 2008Posted by: kar3nm
You list some nice sites, however when I am looking for a coupon code I usually check out http://www.mrdealfinder.com first.

Posted 1:43 PM EST October 16, 2008Posted by: Momof6Boys
Without a doubt www.thecouponcupboard.com and www.grocerypricebooks.com. the second one just opened up a blog with freebies and giveaways! (i am pretty sure you can get there from the home page) currently she is giving away coupons for Free franks Hotsauce! How awesome is that!

Posted 1:39 PM EST October 16, 2008Posted by: pullshot
Thats a nice list of sites! Thanks! My fav has got to be http://www.dealstop.com .

Posted 1:38 PM EST October 14, 2008Posted by: betyboop5386
Thanks for all the great sites. But I allways check 'NaughtyCodes.com' whenever I order anything online. I have found numerous codes on there for discounts that are not on web pages.

Posted 6:06 AM EST October 03, 2008Posted by: Gospelgal
I have been trying now for a very long time to print online coupons. My mom is a huge user of coupons when she can find them especially if it's for a brand that she uses. Herein lies the problem, all of the software is geared for PC users only. No one has taken into consideration that some of us are Mac users. I have tried with one site to download the software that they said worked on Macs using Safari browser. I tried several times downloading, opening and trying to install-no use. If more of them would make a universal software that would allow me to print coupons directly off the internet, that would be my one high point of the day. My mom thinks I made all this up. NO mom, just can't anything to print!

Posted 2:53 PM EST September 28, 2008Posted by: kitty626
I'd like to also say that www.afullcup.com has saved me hundreds of dollars on my grocery and drug store purchases. The people there are so friendly and always willing to share in their great deals. If you're trying to save money, that's the place to be!

Posted 10:22 AM EST September 28, 2008Posted by: shadowchasy
Momof6boys......just which two sites are you referring too? you said that but didnt bother to give the names of the two sites you claim are bad.

Posted 11:04 AM EST September 27, 2008Posted by: Momof6Boys
I see 2 people here trying to plug the 2 worst coupon forums on the net. Both of them are over garbage in my opinion. They both are jam packed with so much advertising and 9 million forums you can't find where to put anything! Their users go off topic so much you have to scroll through 20 pages just to find what the damn thread is even about! the owner of one of those boards is just a sell out and the other is so stupid she has no idea how to market her board. The users are nasty snotty people and they both already have a click. So if your thinking of joining, don't bother, they won't even notice you unless your in the 'in group'. Yes like high school.

Posted 10:55 AM EST September 27, 2008Posted by: shadowchasy
These sites are nice, but if you haven't visited www.hotcouponworld.com you really need to try it out.

Posted 12:23 PM EST September 25, 2008Posted by: MelTravler
Many of these coupons sites are great, but i'm not a fan of using coupons. i especially don't like printing them out. one site texts to your phone which is cool. someone posted about Cityskoop.com which is not a coupon site but tells you which stores are having sales and other local business deals. i've been using that a lot because i don't have to print anything out

Posted 8:28 AM EST September 17, 2008Posted by: discounts
I have found that there is quite a few new coupon websites in the last year. One of my favorites is BargainCat.com, they have a lot of exclusive ones there and often before other sites get them.

Mike

Posted 3:10 PM EST September 16, 2008Posted by: sunbare40a
CouponMom.com DOES TOO have tons of popups. I registered and after 15 min of clicking on Skip and other popups I gave up finding any coupons!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted 10:36 AM EST September 16, 2008Posted by: kmchamplin
I happen to favor AFullCup.com for all the UP TO DATE deals and coupon match-ups to the store sales. I have talked to many people who use to pay for the Grocerygame and then found Afullcup.com. They quit their membership since it is on Afullcup.com for free. Plus there are many times that a deal comes out later in the week and the GG site won't have it. AFC also has a place to print your own manufactuer coupons. The site is friendly and up to date. Check it out!

Posted 7:51 AM EST August 18, 2008Posted by: frugalshopper
I have most of these sites bookmarked and I agree they are very good. Another site I like which has a forum for coupon clippers and they are very helpful is fishingfordeals.com - Their members are very friendly and offer a lot of good advice about coupon clipping, how to make the most out of CVS Extra Care Bucks, etc...

Posted 11:02 AM EST August 13, 2008Posted by: couponer
Nice sites. Another good site is www.shoppinggenius.org. It is relatively new but I have honestly saved alot of money this month.

Posted 3:38 PM EST August 11, 2008Posted by: edgemyster
Great suggestions. I would also strongly recommend using Savings.com for online coupons because they allow their visitors to rate the coupons, thereby sending the best deals to the top, front and center.

WSJ - Ratings Lowered on 11 banks

BUSINESS DECEMBER 20, 2008
S&P Lowers Ratings of 11 Banks

Citigroup, Goldman Among Banks Affected; Agency Gives HSBC Negative Outlook

By LIZ RAPPAPORT
Credit-quality watchman Standard & Poor's slashed the credit ratings of 11 global banks Friday, but the moves were largely ignored by the bond market, which has begun to look positively on the governments' efforts to save these institutions.
The agency reduced the debt ratings on Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., and on European banks Barclays PLC, UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Deutsche Bank AG.

RBS was among 11 global banks whose credit ratings were cut Friday by S&P.
S&P left HSBC Holdings PLC's rating pat, but gave the bank a negative outlook. The agency also warned that investors in the hybrid debt offerings sold by several banks may find their payouts cut if the economy and the financial markets remain tumultuous.
The actions "reflect our view of the significant pressure on large complex financial institutions' future performance due to increasing bank industry risk and the deepening global economic slowdown," says S&P in its report. The ratings agency now offers its analysis on the banks with and without the filter of current and expected government support, which it notes will eventually disappear.
Banks continue to feel the pinch from high levels of illiquid and hard-to-value assets stuck on their balance sheets, big appetites for risk, relatively weaker risk-management practices and pressure from regulatory bodies to deleverage, says the agency.
"The market has been viewing the ratings as too high and the ratings agencies wanted to bring them in line with that reality," said David Havens, a credit desk analyst at UBS Securities. "No one is surprised by this."
So some of the corporate bonds of the downgraded banks, including J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs, even rallied modestly Friday as investors continue to dip back into this market seeking some safe -- and higher yielding -- investments than U.S. Treasury bonds, whose yields have hit record lows.
The stock market was less positive, as shares of Citigroup fell 5.5% and Bank of America fell 1.2% Friday.
In more normal times, the lower credit ratings would mean that these institutions would pay higher rates to borrow money in the debt markets. But this negative is overshadowed by the government's many programs to give banks access to liquidity and to cheap funding. This means banks are able to issue debt at exceptionally low rates despite their deteriorating credit quality.
That won't last forever, and certainly lower credit ratings are damaging for a bank when dealing with counterparties in contracts and for funding in short- and long-term debt markets once the government programs go away.

For now, several firms, including Citigroup, J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and others have issued tens of billions of debt backed with the "full faith and credit" of the U.S. Treasury through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s temporary program, which expires in spring 2009.
The FDIC's effort, combined with Federal Reserve liquidity programs and capital injections from the Treasury, is intended to help banks restore their balance sheets to health by stimulating their fundamental business model of borrowing at low rates and lending at higher rates. The market expects eligible issuers to borrow more than $400 billion of these bonds -- money they are required to use to lend to borrowers throughout the economy.
The S&P cuts also come a day after Moody's Investors Service slashed Citigroup's rating two notches Thursday night to A2, from Aa3.

Write to Liz Rappaport at liz.rappaport@wsj.com

FDIC info on the new higher deposit insurance coverage

Multiple Certificates of Deposit (CDs), each with a different bank, can be held within your brokerage account. Each CD is covered by its own separate FDIC guarantee ($250,000 for each).

Rating the Credit Unions - from South Florida Business Journal

Thursday, December 18, 2008, 11:45am EST
Bauer Financial ranks credit unions

South Florida Business Journal - by Brian Bandell

After evaluating third quarter financial reports, Coral Gables-based Bauer Financial gave strong ratings to nine of the 10 largest credit unions in South Florida.

The company uses federal regulatory data to rate credit unions based on capital ratio, profit/loss trend, delinquent loans and other factors.

All of the top 10 local credit unions, based on assets, maintained the same star ratings from the second to the third quarter.

The large credit unions Bauer rated five stars (superior) were:


IBM Southeast Employees Credit Union
South Florida Educational Federal Credit Union
Power Financial Credit Union
Dade County Federal Credit Union
Brightstar Credit Union
City County Credit Union of Fort Lauderdale
Velocity Community Credit Union
University Credit Union

The most profitable local credit union in the third quarter was South Florida Educational, with $961,000 in income.

South Florida’s second-largest credit union, Tropical Financial Credit Union, maintained its four-star (excellent) rating. However, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union, the largest credit union in South Florida with assets of $1.8 billion, received no stars. No other credit union in Florida ranked that low.

Eastern Financial had the lowest capital ratio in the state, and its $18.2 million third quarter loss was the second largest in the state.

Florida’s largest credit union with $6 billion in assets, Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union in Tampa, received a two-star (problematic) rating. Its $25.7 million third quarter loss was the largest among Florida credit unions.





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Websites for Job Hunters - from WSJ

WALL STREET JOURNAL
TECHNOLOGY NOVEMBER 25, 2008, 8:44 A.M. ET

For the Jobless, Web Sites Offer More Options

By PUI-WING TAM

Unemployment in the U.S. has hit a 14-year high as companies cut back. That has sent masses of laid-off workers flocking to the Web in search of opportunities -- and job sites have been stepping up to meet the challenge.
New job sites with names like MarketVendorJobs.com have sprung up to take advantage of growing user interest amid the economic downturn. Established sites, such as CareerBuilder.com, have also started rolling out new features to improve the relevance of job listings for candidates and make their résumés stand out, among other things. And some sites, such as Vault.com, are providing career counseling and other new services.

Business-networking site LinkedIn last month began offering online outplacement services to companies so that laid-off workers can more easily find their next gigs. It also has introduced technology that better matches its members with appropriate jobs. Using an algorithm, the site searches words within a job posting and then matches up members who list skills that fit the job. In January, the company plans to debut a feature that makes it easier for users to notify members in their online network that they're searching for a job.
Meanwhile, Glassdoor.com, a salary-review and employee-review Web site, this month retooled its home page so that jobs listed near the users' hometown and relevant job categories immediately pop up when an individual logs on. Vault.com has created a $999 service for job seekers to get two 45-minute career-coaching sessions over the phone to help them land a new job.
But some consumers may be overwhelmed by the number of job-search sites and all their new features. Scores of career sites are competing for clicks, so users must master multiple search tools -- only to discover that sometimes there is redundancy in the listings. Career counselors advise job seekers to learn advanced search strategies on several sites so that only relevant results are displayed. They're also told to find niche sites that focus on an industry or region to further narrow their search.
Alice Ziroli, 46, began looking for new jobs online earlier this year when the pharmaceutical company she worked for shut down its local sales division. But when she trolled sites such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, she says she found their offerings too vast.
"I didn't find them user-friendly," says Ms. Ziroli. She eventually found a job-search engine called Indeed.com, which has a simple Google-like home page and allowed her to narrowly specify her job-search criteria. Last month, Ms. Ziroli started a new $65,000-a-year job -- slightly more than what she made before -- as a sales representative for a hospice-and-health-care company just 18 miles from her Diamond Bar, Calif., home.

Adding New Features

A CareerBuilder.com spokesman says that, in this environment, the more features that a site offers the better for a job candidate. Monster says it is rolling out improvements to its site early next year with features that will make it easier to upload résumés and apply for a job online.

CareerBuilder.com and other sites are adding features to improve the relevance of online job searches.
Still, job-search sites are experiencing a dramatic spike in usage. The total number of minutes that Internet users spent on such Web sites jumped 13% in October from a year earlier, while the total number of job-site pages viewed rose 20% in the same period, according to comScore Inc., a market-research company based in Reston, Va. Overall, the number of unique visitors to job-search sites is up 12% in the past year, more than the 5% increase for the Internet as a whole.
"Engagement with these job sites is a lot higher now," says Andrew Lipsman, a comScore spokesman. "It's not just how many people are on these sites but how much time overall they're spending on them."
Job-oriented sites are capitalizing -- literally -- on the newfound interest. Glassdoor.com late last month got $6.5 million in new venture-capital funding, just four months after its June launch. LinkedIn also announced last month that it had received $22.7 million in new funding from strategic investors such as Goldman Sachs Inc. and McGraw-Hill Co.
Niche Job Sites
Some job-search sites cater to certain industries. Dice.com, for instance, is targeted at technology professionals. Its sister Web site, eFinancialCareers.com, is tailored for finance-industry workers -- an area that has been particularly hard hit. In September, eFinancialCareers.com launched an emergency toolkit that bundles tips and articles on how finance workers can network, customize their résumés and interview better in order to land a new job.
Other sites try to stand out by providing more career-improvement data and features apart from just job listings. With numbers submitted by users, Glassdoor.com offers salary data for positions at numerous companies. So based on nine submissions, individuals searching for engineering-manager positions at Google Inc. would see that total compensation for such a job might add up to $241,000, including salary and bonuses.
And some sites are now emulating features found on social-networking sites: CareerBuilder.com in February launched BrightFuse.com, where professionals can network and interact with one another. A CareerBuilder.com spokesman says BrightFuse.com will add new features next year to highlight each member's skills, such as allowing writers to upload samples of their work.
One thing career sites haven't been able to perk up for job seekers is the total number of job listings. As of earlier this month, the number of job listings on Dice.com was down 9% for the year so far, compared with the same period in 2007, says a spokeswoman, who declined to reveal underlying numbers. At Indeed.com, the number of open positions has stayed flat at about five million jobs over the past year, says Indeed.com Chief Executive Paul Forster.

'A Mixed Picture'

"It's very much a mixed picture" out there jobwise, says Mr. Forster. "There's a lot of weakness in certain areas, such as in the mortgage, retail, financial, construction and hospitality industries. But some areas like defense and health care are strong."
Marc Hirsch, who started looking for a new job six months ago, says many features on the job sites helped him. The Roanoke, Va., resident, who has a background as a chemist, used LinkedIn, CareerBuilder.com and Indeed.com to get job alerts sent to him and liked how many of the listings came with salary information and estimates. "There was a lot of garbage that came back" through the online searches "but some quality opportunities too," says the 52-year-old.
Ultimately, though, the job sites proved to be just a starting point for him. Through one job listing he found on a career Web site earlier this year, Mr. Hirsch got his résumé sent to General Electric Co. While the company didn't have anything suitable at the time, GE kept his name on file.
When a position as an applications engineer came open, GE contacted him and he got the post, he says.
Write to Pui-Wing Tam at pui-wing.tam@wsj.com
Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Sectors to Short (from Morningstar)

Stock Strategist


Four Sectors to Avoid, Sell, or Short with ETFs
By Paul Justice, CFA | 11-21-08 | 12:00 PM

Unless you've been on the sidelines or have been shorting the market since the summer, chances are that you have more than a few double-digit losers in your portfolio. You are not alone. I have my fair share of losers, and so do most of yesteryear's "top" money managers. Now, we could all get together and have a big kumbaya party, but that would simply treat the symptoms while ignoring the disease. We would be better served by taking our feelings out of the equation, reviewing our investment strategy, reassessing our tactical investment decisions, and learning from any mistakes that we've made. Once the errors have been identified, rectify them by either determining whether they merit staying in your portfolio or by selling them regardless of how much they have lost.


An interesting bit from the annals of behavioral finance theory is Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory, which suggests that individuals are more upset by losses than they are pleased by equivalent gains. The pain is so great that investors in stocks avoid selling losers and often take even greater risks in the hope of simply breaking even. The same research also suggests that investors avoid making short sales (bets that an investment will go down) simply because they are afraid of having to cover their short positions at a loss sometime down the road.

Admittedly, short-selling is not for everyone. Don't do it without a sound thesis, considerable research, and a tough stomach. Over the long haul, stocks tend to go up (at least the past says so--let's hope that is still true). But no investor should avoid selling an investment that is down 50% simply in the hope that it will rebound. Here's a fact: An investment that fell 50% from where you purchased it can still go down 100% from where it is today. Reallocating those funds to a better prospect is a good idea, especially if you can use those realized losses to offset taxable gains.

With selling in mind, we've outlined five ETFs that investors should consider selling today. Where appropriate, we've tried to give investors a viable alternative to either purchase outright or with which to establish a pair trade.

High-Yield Corporate Bonds

In September and October, the credit spreads on high-yield bonds shot to never-before-seen levels. As of this writing, the high-water mark was roughly somewhere around 1,550 basis points over Treasury bonds, which translates to yields of nearly 20%. Still, we recommend that investors avoid high-yield ETFs such as iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond (HYG) and SPDR Lehman High Yield Bond (JNK) for the simple reason that we think things are going to get worse for high-yield issuers before they get better. Loose lending was not limited to residential mortgages during the past five years. Buyout firms and companies drank their fill from the cheap and easy debt trough. Now we have a host of companies that were overleveraged during the best of economic times staring a prolonged recession in the face. When a company has a weak balance sheet, its borrowing costs are rising, and its profits are dropping, the likelihood of bankruptcy increases exponentially. Many forecasters are projecting the default rates on these bonds will rise to anywhere between 8% and 12%. We fear that number could go much higher as the shutdown in the capital markets will preclude these firms from selling assets, raising equity, or even rolling over existing debt, thus exacerbating the impact of an economic recession.

Investors looking to capitalize on the high credit spreads that exist throughout the market would be much better served considering an investment in investment grade corporate bonds like those represented by iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD). Even this is not without risk, given that both Lehman and Washington Mutual were still rated investment grade when they went under. Still, the diversification of risk offered by the index structure will minimize the impact of one-off collapses keeping investors from suffering the permanent capital impairment that would have come from holding just a single bond issue.


Emerging Market Large-Caps
Large-cap emerging-markets equities are facing a Category 5 storm of bad market conditions. The global recession continues to drive down commodity prices, which will decimate the earnings of companies like Petrobras (PZE), Gazprom, and Posco (PKX)). National champion banks such as HDFC (HDB), China Construction Bank, and Banco Santander-Chile lent the billions of dollars of credit that funded the recent boom, and their future now holds higher default rates, few profitable loan opportunities, and even the possibility of governments forcing new credit to be supplied at artificially low rates. The advanced technology conglomerates like Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) face the worst global environment for consumer discretionary spending in decades. Finally, emerging-markets currencies are plummeting against the dollar, which further exacerbates the losses for U.S. shareholders. The most positive thing we can say about emerging-markets large caps is that they have already been beaten up, having dropped nearly 60% for the year to date, but that hardly precludes further losses given the potential for currency crises and the still-forthcoming bad earnings news from banks and commodities producers. Investors with stakes in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index (EEM) or BLDRs Emerging Markets 50 ADR Index (ADRE) should consider selling out or even shorting.

A naked bet on further falls may seem too risky. After all, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index trades around a P/E ratio of 8.5 and a price/cash flow ratio of 5.5. Clearly these stock prices already anticipate a deep recession and poor future earnings, so how much further could they fall? To offset the potential risk that emerging markets have hit bottom, we suggest a long position in emerging-markets small caps using WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend (DGS). Relative to emerging-markets large caps, this fund has far less exposure to commodities producers or telecoms while concentrating instead in local consumer and business services, which should hold up relatively well as growth in emerging economies merely slows rather than halting. WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap also has far smaller investments in the vulnerable Chinese, Mexican, Indian, and Russian markets than its rival large-cap funds, which should help its relative performance. Finally, emerging-markets small caps are likely to outperform because they will start from an even cheaper basis. Although these stocks did not fully participate in the gigantic emerging-markets rally of 2003-07, they have suffered alongside large caps in the fall. For that reason and the general value tilt from WisdomTree's dividend-weighting methodology, the stocks in WisdomTree Emerging Markets SmallCap Dividend are currently trading at a P/E ratio of 7 and a stunningly low price/cash flow ratio of 4.7 despite their brighter future! Shorting emerging-markets large caps and investing in their smaller cousins provides a tempting relative-value trade for intrepid investors.


Coal Producers
Few sectors were impacted as greatly as the energy sector by the proliferation of new ETFs over the past two years. Nuclear, natural gas, oil, and alternative energy all have several different funds from which to choose, and most of those include inverse and leveraged bets for both long investments and shorting. Included in that lineup was Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL), an ETF frequently purchased by individual investors in the face of rising coal prices. What many investors failed to consider when spot coal prices were soaring is the fact that over 90% of the trading of this commodity is conducted via direct contracts. Thus, the spot market is only a proxy for a small fraction of the actual sales. Not all coal producers were realizing triple-digit prices for their goods, and those that were have seen the spot market evaporate with the recent pullback in global economic activity. While our equity analysts see only a modest contraction in the volume of coal consumed for electricity production over the next few years, the same cannot be said for coal used by industrial consumers. Thus, the good times for coal producers will not likely reach the levels seen in 2007 and 2008 until robust world economic growth returns. Throw in the sweeping victory by Democrats, and the appointment of Henry Waxman as chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee replacing John Dingell, and it appears the federal government's attitude toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions is becoming more determined. Given coal's distinct disadvantage in this space, times indeed look more pessimistic for America's most abundant fuel.


REITs
The residential real estate market sits at the epicenter of the current crisis. Chances are that if you've picked up a newspaper or turned on the television over the past few months then you've already been briefed on just how ugly it's getting out there. However, we'd also like to highlight some cracks we see in the commercial real estate market. We want to caution investors about a potential parade of dividend cuts that seem to be on the horizon for the REIT industry. Avoiding the sector altogether is probably a wise choice, but the most daring and risk-seeking investors might even consider selling the sector short.

The REIT market has benefited over the past several years from loose credit terms, low interest rates, and rising property values. Strong and consistent historical performances over this period led many investors to believe that REITs could be considered a safe haven with healthy dividend income streams. Surprise! The party is now over. The tail winds that benefited the industry over the past several years are turning into strong head winds. Many firms in the industry took on unsustainable levels of debt to expand their asset bases. Now, those same assets are falling precipitously in value. We should also expect to see rental rates come down as vacancy rates increase. This should in turn depress cash flows and possibly impair some firms' ability to meet the debt obligations they assumed when the economic outlook was rosy. The long lead times that are typical for commercial real estate projects brings up another issue. Many projects that were undertaken a few years ago may have been economically attractive at the time. However, things have changed drastically and many projects may turn out to be value destroyers. But, because many projects are already so close to completion, there's no turning back.

So, how can investors apply this sector thesis? UltraShort Real Estate ProShares (SRS
SRS) is the easiest way to gain leveraged short exposure to the industry. Barclays' iShares family of ETFs has also sliced the REIT market every which way, so we'd take a look at getting short the retail and hotel subsectors of the REIT industry there (iShares FTSE NAREIT Retail (RTL) and iShares FTSE NAREIT Industrial/Office (FIO)). The most popular REIT ETFs, in terms of assets under management, that investors may wish to keep an eye on include Vanguard REIT Index ETF (VNQ), iShares Dow Jones US Real Estate (IYR), and SPDR DJ Wilshire REIT (RWR).
John Gabriel









Paul Justice is a senior stock analyst with Morningstar.

Make Money in Down Markets with Inverse ETFs

This blog, crashmarketstocks.com, has a good description of the inverse ETFs (like SDS and QID) that you can use to make money in down markets and hedge the long positions in your portfolio.

Winners & (Mostly) Losers - Year To Date Performance of S&P 500 Stocks

November 19, 2008
Year-to-Date Performance Ranking of S&P 500 Stocks (11/19/2008)


Below is the Year-to-Date Performance Ranking of stocks in S&P 500 index.
Rank Company (Stock Symbol) Year-to-Date Change Current Price End of 2007
1 Family Dollar Stores, Inc. (NYSE:FDO) 37.7% 26.48 19.23
2 Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE:ROH) 35.1% 71.71 53.07
3 Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. (NYSE:BUD) 31.0% 68.58 52.34
4 UST Inc. (NYSE:UST) 24.9% 68.47 54.80
5 Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:BRL) 21.1% 64.29 53.10
6 Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ:CELG) 20.7% 55.76 46.21
7 Amgen, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) 15.5% 53.64 46.44
8 General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) 9.3% 62.31 57.00
9 Southwestern Energy Company (NYSE:SWN) 9.0% 30.38 27.86
10 Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK) 7.6% 16.16 15.02
11 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) 7.3% 51.00 47.53
12 Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) 3.4% 36.94 35.73
13 The Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR) -0.4% 26.60 26.71
14 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) -2.9% 54.52 56.15
15 McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) -5.9% 55.44 58.91
16 Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:APOL) -6.0% 65.97 70.15
17 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) -6.1% 43.20 46.01
18 Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) -8.1% 53.37 58.05
19 Genzyme Corporation (NASDAQ:GENZ) -8.6% 68.00 74.44
20 The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) -8.8% 59.42 65.17
21 Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WMI) -9.0% 29.73 32.67
22 Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) -9.7% 23.10 25.58
23 Nicor Inc. (NYSE:GAS) -10.1% 38.08 42.35
24 Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) -10.1% 45.33 50.44
25 Allied Waste Industries, Inc. (NYSE:AW) -10.2% 9.90 11.02
26 Aon Corporation (NYSE:AOC) -10.4% 42.74 47.69
27 H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) -10.6% 16.61 18.57
28 Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) -11.0% 51.68 58.04
29 The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) -11.0% 34.47 38.75
30 Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE:BNI) -11.4% 73.73 83.23
31 C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHRW) -12.7% 47.25 54.12
32 Pactiv Corporation (NYSE:PTV) -12.8% 23.23 26.63
33 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) -12.9% 58.12 66.70
34 H.J. Heinz Company (NYSE:HNZ) -13.4% 40.43 46.68
35 EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) -13.4% 77.28 89.25
36 Big Lots, Inc. (NYSE:BIG) -13.6% 13.81 15.99
37 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) -14.3% 33.78 39.40
38 King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:KG) -14.7% 8.73 10.24
39 PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) -15.1% 36.59 43.09
40 The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) -15.2% 62.27 73.42
41 Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) -15.2% 43.76 51.62
42 Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE:ACS) -15.6% 38.07 45.10
43 Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) -15.8% 22.30 26.47
44 Applied Biosystems Inc. (NYSE:ABI) -15.8% 28.55 33.92
45 Kellogg Company (NYSE:K) -15.8% 44.12 52.43
46 DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA) -16.5% 47.03 56.35
47 C.R. Bard, Inc. (NYSE:BCR) -16.6% 79.08 94.80
48 Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE:DGX) -16.9% 43.94 52.90
49 Integrys Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:TEG) -17.9% 42.42 51.69
50 The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:DTV) -17.9% 18.97 23.12
51 Bemis Company, Inc. (NYSE:BMS) -18.3% 22.36 27.38
52 Pulte Homes, Inc. (NYSE:PHM) -18.4% 8.60 10.54
53 Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE:WPI) -18.4% 22.14 27.14
54 Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) -18.9% 50.97 62.81
55 Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NYSE:KMB) -19.1% 56.08 69.34
56 Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) -19.2% 24.40 30.19
57 Colgate-Palmolive Company (NYSE:CL) -19.2% 62.99 77.96
58 The Chubb Corporation (NYSE:CB) -19.9% 43.74 54.58
59 DTE Energy Company (NYSE:DTE) -19.9% 35.20 43.96
60 Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (NYSE:LH) -20.1% 60.36 75.53
61 Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW) -20.2% 18.04 22.62
62 Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) -20.3% 25.99 32.63
63 Covidien Ltd. (NYSE:COV) -20.4% 35.27 44.29
64 Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED) -21.1% 38.52 48.85
65 McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) -21.2% 29.87 37.91
66 AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) -21.4% 94.25 119.91
67 Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) -21.6% 73.42 93.69
68 Genuine Parts Company (NYSE:GPC) -21.7% 36.25 46.30
69 Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) -21.7% 57.47 73.41
70 Progress Energy, Inc. (NYSE:PGN) -22.0% 37.79 48.43
71 Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE:XEL) -22.3% 17.53 22.57
72 Leggett & Platt, Inc. (NYSE:LEG) -22.7% 13.48 17.44
73 Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE:DVN) -22.9% 68.57 88.91
74 BB&T Corporation (NYSE:BBT) -23.1% 23.57 30.67
75 Automatic Data Processing (NYSE:ADP) -23.4% 34.11 44.53
76 Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) -23.6% 20.27 26.52
77 QUALCOMM, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) -23.7% 30.01 39.35
78 PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC) -24.1% 49.83 65.65
79 Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) -24.3% 70.61 93.33
80 Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) -24.5% 45.85 60.70
81 Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) -24.6% 33.34 44.19
82 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) -24.6% 13.77 18.26
83 Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC) -25.0% 38.53 51.36
84 Medco Health Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MHS) -25.2% 37.91 50.70
85 CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) -25.5% 32.76 43.98
86 U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) -25.6% 23.62 31.74
87 Becton, Dickinson and Co. (NYSE:BDX) -25.9% 61.92 83.58
88 Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) -26.1% 14.91 20.17
89 Dominion Resources, Inc. (NYSE:D) -26.3% 34.95 47.45
90 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) -26.6% 53.12 72.34
91 The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) -26.7% 19.76 26.94
92 Express Scripts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESRX) -27.3% 53.06 73.00
93 United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) -27.4% 51.36 70.72
94 SYSCO Corporation (NYSE:SYY) -27.8% 22.52 31.21
95 Biogen Idec Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) -27.9% 41.06 56.92
96 Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) -28.9% 8.67 12.20
97 Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) -29.1% 16.00 22.58
98 Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) -29.2% 16.50 23.31
99 Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) -29.7% 13.59 19.32
100 International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) -29.7% 75.97 108.10
101 CVS Caremark Corporation (NYSE:CVS) -30.0% 27.84 39.75
102 Sigma-Aldrich Corporation (NASDAQ:SIAL) -30.1% 38.17 54.60
103 3M Company (NYSE:MMM) -30.3% 58.77 84.32
104 Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ:SYMC) -30.4% 11.24 16.14
105 Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR) -30.5% 36.27 52.16
106 QLogic Corporation (NASDAQ:QLGC) -30.5% 9.87 14.20
107 The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TRV) -30.7% 37.29 53.80
108 The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) -31.1% 42.27 61.37
109 M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) -31.2% 56.14 81.57
110 PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE:PEP) -31.4% 52.10 75.90
111 The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) -31.4% 13.15 19.16
112 Plum Creek Timber Co. Inc. (NYSE:PCL) -31.4% 31.58 46.04
113 W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) -31.5% 59.92 87.52
114 Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) -31.5% 15.56 22.73
115 St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) -31.6% 27.80 40.64
116 Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE:LXK) -31.8% 23.79 34.86
117 NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) -31.8% 43.84 64.24
118 Ball Corporation (NYSE:BLL) -32.0% 30.60 45.00
119 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) -32.0% 24.62 36.22
120 FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) -32.1% 60.58 89.17
121 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE:CNP) -32.7% 11.52 17.13
122 Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) -32.9% 72.19 107.54
123 Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) -32.9% 14.67 21.87
124 Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE:PNW) -32.9% 28.44 42.41
125 Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE:RAI) -33.0% 44.19 65.96
126 BMC Software, Inc. (NYSE:BMC) -33.2% 23.82 35.64
127 Staples, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPLS) -33.9% 15.26 23.07
128 AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC) -34.0% 29.61 44.87
129 FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE:FPL) -34.1% 44.67 67.78
130 Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) -34.1% 69.33 105.26
131 Millipore Corporation (NYSE:MIL) -34.5% 47.94 73.18
132 Entergy Corporation (NYSE:ETR) -34.5% 78.26 119.52
133 Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) -34.6% 33.03 50.48
134 JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) -34.8% 28.47 43.65
135 Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ:INTU) -35.0% 20.55 31.61
136 Snap-on Incorporated (NYSE:SNA) -35.1% 31.32 48.24
137 Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) -35.1% 45.27 69.76
138 Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI) -35.1% 17.54 27.04
139 Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) -35.3% 40.03 61.88
140 TECO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:TE) -35.5% 11.10 17.21
141 Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) -35.5% 30.31 47.01
142 The TJX Companies, Inc. (NYSE:TJX) -35.9% 18.42 28.73
143 The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE:EL) -36.0% 27.92 43.61
144 XTO Energy Inc. (NYSE:XTO) -36.0% 32.86 51.36
145 Cincinnati Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:CINF) -36.1% 25.28 39.54
146 Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE:YUM) -36.1% 24.46 38.27
147 Hospira, Inc. (NYSE:HSP) -36.2% 27.19 42.64
148 Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR) -36.4% 23.21 36.47
149 Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation (NYSE:COG) -36.5% 25.64 40.37
150 American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NYSE:AEP) -36.9% 29.37 46.56
151 Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BF.B) -37.0% 46.67 74.11
152 ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) -37.0% 14.98 23.79
153 Expeditors International of Washington (NASDAQ:EXPD) -37.1% 28.11 44.68
154 PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI) -37.2% 16.35 26.02
155 Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON) -37.3% 70.07 111.69
156 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) -37.5% 32.01 51.21
157 Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS) -37.7% 14.44 23.17
158 Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE:MDT) -37.9% 31.20 50.27
159 Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) -38.1% 26.94 43.49
160 The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) -38.2% 19.94 32.28
161 L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LLL) -38.5% 65.16 105.94
162 Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) -38.5% 18.07 29.39
163 CA, Inc. (NASDAQ:CA) -38.7% 15.30 24.95
164 Linear Technology Corporation (NASDAQ:LLTC) -39.0% 19.43 31.83
165 Sealed Air Corp. (NYSE:SEE) -39.3% 14.05 23.14
166 AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) -39.3% 25.23 41.56
167 Compuware Corporation (NASDAQ:CPWR) -39.3% 5.39 8.88
168 Praxair, Inc. (NYSE:PX) -39.3% 53.84 88.71
169 Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS) -39.4% 20.36 33.62
170 PPL Corporation (NYSE:PPL) -39.4% 31.54 52.09
171 Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT) -39.5% 11.51 19.04
172 Walgreen Company (NYSE:WAG) -39.6% 23.01 38.08
173 Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) -39.7% 49.23 81.64
174 Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) -39.8% 21.89 36.36
175 MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) -39.8% 129.54 215.19
176 Frontier Communications Corp (NYSE:FTR) -39.8% 7.66 12.73
177 United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) -39.9% 45.99 76.54
178 Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) -40.1% 46.12 76.99
179 Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE:PBI) -40.3% 22.72 38.04
180 Ameren Corporation (NYSE:AEE) -40.3% 32.35 54.21
181 Windstream Corporation (NYSE:WIN) -40.4% 7.76 13.02
182 Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) -40.9% 27.57 46.69
183 Edison International (NYSE:EIX) -41.0% 31.49 53.37
184 Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:FRX) -41.0% 21.49 36.45
185 Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) -41.2% 31.41 53.39
186 NiSource Inc. (NYSE:NI) -41.3% 11.08 18.89
187 PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) -41.4% 41.19 70.23
188 Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) -41.4% 51.45 87.74
189 Safeway Inc. (NYSE:SWY) -41.5% 20.01 34.21
190 V.F. Corporation (NYSE:VFC) -41.9% 39.88 68.66
191 Noble Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NBL) -42.0% 46.10 79.52
192 Patterson Companies, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDCO) -42.1% 19.67 33.95
193 Illinois Tool Works Inc. (NYSE:ITW) -42.1% 31.01 53.54
194 Spectra Energy Corp. (NYSE:SE) -42.1% 14.95 25.82
195 Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE:SGP) -42.4% 15.35 26.64
196 Kohl's Corporation (NYSE:KSS) -42.4% 26.39 45.80
197 ITT Corporation (NYSE:ITT) -42.4% 38.04 66.04
198 CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE:CTL) -42.4% 23.86 41.46
199 Dover Corporation (NYSE:DOV) -42.5% 26.51 46.09
200 Pall Corporation (NYSE:PLL) -42.6% 23.15 40.32
201 The Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHW) -42.7% 14.65 25.55
202 AFLAC Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) -42.7% 35.91 62.63
203 Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) -42.7% 21.79 38.01
204 Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POM) -42.8% 16.77 29.33
205 Vulcan Materials Company (NYSE:VMC) -42.9% 45.18 79.09
206 Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (NYSE:PEG) -43.3% 27.84 49.12
207 Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ZMH) -43.4% 37.47 66.15
208 The Stanley Works (NYSE:SWK) -43.4% 27.43 48.48
209 Embarq Corporation (NYSE:EQ) -43.5% 27.99 49.53
210 Mylan Inc. (NYSE:MYL) -43.6% 7.93 14.06
211 CMS Energy Corporation (NYSE:CMS) -43.6% 9.80 17.38
212 Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) -43.7% 6.55 11.63
213 Capital One Financial Corp. (NYSE:COF) -43.9% 26.50 47.26
214 Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR) -44.2% 31.63 56.66
215 Microchip Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MCHP) -44.3% 17.51 31.42
216 Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) -44.3% 15.08 27.07
217 Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ:NOVL) -44.4% 3.82 6.87
218 General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD) -44.7% 49.25 88.99
219 Analog Devices, Inc. (NYSE:ADI) -44.7% 17.53 31.70
220 Cardinal Health, Inc. (NYSE:CAH) -44.7% 31.92 57.75
221 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) -45.0% 31.75 57.68
222 E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (NYSE:DD) -45.0% 24.26 44.09
223 Sara Lee Corp. (NYSE:SLE) -45.1% 8.82 16.06
224 Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV) -45.2% 30.42 55.49
225 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) -45.3% 35.96 65.69
226 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) -45.6% 26.17 48.13
227 Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) -46.1% 26.96 50.00
228 Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) -46.1% 14.94 27.71
229 Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE:VNO) -46.4% 47.17 87.95
230 Tellabs, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLAB) -46.5% 3.50 6.54
231 Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) -46.9% 34.11 64.24
232 Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) -46.9% 32.80 61.79
233 Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE:CSC) -47.0% 26.21 49.47
234 EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC) -47.1% 9.80 18.53
235 Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE:AVP) -47.2% 20.88 39.53
236 The Black & Decker Corporation (NYSE:BDK) -47.2% 36.78 69.65
237 Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ:BRCM) -47.4% 13.76 26.14
238 Unum Group (NYSE:UNM) -47.5% 12.50 23.79
239 ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) -47.5% 46.34 88.30
240 Avery Dennison Corporation (NYSE:AVY) -47.8% 27.72 53.14
241 The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:BK) -47.9% 25.39 48.76
242 Stryker Corporation (NYSE:SYK) -48.0% 38.83 74.72
243 First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE:FHN) -48.2% 9.41 18.15
244 Dean Foods Company (NYSE:DF) -48.4% 13.34 25.86
245 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) -48.6% 18.29 35.60
246 Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) -48.6% 43.58 84.84
247 Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) -49.3% 31.00 61.09
248 American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) -49.3% 21.58 42.60
249 Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ:ADBE) -49.4% 21.63 42.73
250 HCP, Inc. (NYSE:HCP) -49.4% 17.60 34.78
251 Northern Trust Corporation (NASDAQ:NTRS) -49.5% 38.65 76.58
252 Torchmark Corporation (NYSE:TMK) -49.6% 30.49 60.53
253 Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) -49.7% 11.88 23.64
254 RadioShack Corporation (NYSE:RSH) -49.8% 8.46 16.86
255 ENSCO International Incorporated (NYSE:ESV) -49.9% 29.85 59.62
256 Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (NYSE:MI) -50.2% 13.19 26.48
257 Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) -50.4% 26.84 54.10
258 Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) -50.7% 8.14 16.51
259 Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) -50.8% 19.30 39.20
260 Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) -50.9% 7.41 15.08
261 McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) -51.2% 31.99 65.51
262 The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) -51.4% 19.16 39.42
263 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB) -51.4% 45.75 94.14
264 Verisign, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSN) -51.5% 18.24 37.61
265 Cooper Industries, Ltd. (NYSE:CBE) -51.6% 25.59 52.88
266 Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO) -51.7% 17.25 35.70
267 Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) -51.9% 47.30 98.37
268 LSI Corporation (NYSE:LSI) -52.0% 2.55 5.31
269 Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) -52.0% 17.64 36.74
270 Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) -52.1% 28.34 59.22
271 Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE:OMC) -52.3% 22.68 47.53
272 Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO) -52.3% 34.52 72.36
273 Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE:ADM) -52.3% 22.14 46.43
274 Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) -52.3% 47.01 98.63
275 Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) -52.5% 43.60 91.81
276 The Gap Inc. (NYSE:GPS) -52.6% 10.09 21.28
277 Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) -52.6% 8.42 17.76
278 Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE:SPG) -52.7% 41.07 86.86
279 Loews Corporation (NYSE:L) -52.9% 23.70 50.34
280 Nabors Industries Ltd. (NYSE:NBR) -52.9% 12.89 27.39
281 The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) -53.0% 11.42 24.28
282 NetApp Inc. (NASDAQ:NTAP) -53.0% 11.72 24.96
283 Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) -53.2% 12.49 26.66
284 The Washington Post Company (NYSE:WPO) -53.2% 370.50 791.40
285 Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) -53.2% 36.80 78.64
286 Transocean Inc. (NYSE:RIG) -53.2% 66.97 143.15
287 Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) -53.3% 33.87 72.56
288 IMS Health, Inc. (NYSE:RX) -53.4% 10.73 23.04
289 Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. (NASDAQ:CTSH) -53.8% 15.68 33.94
290 Hess Corp. (NYSE:HES) -53.9% 46.47 100.86
291 Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE:NEM) -54.1% 22.40 48.83
292 Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE:SUN) -54.2% 33.20 72.44
293 The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (NYSE:PBG) -54.2% 18.07 39.46
294 Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) -54.2% 36.18 79.07
295 Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ:HBAN) -54.3% 6.75 14.76
296 Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH) -54.5% 13.91 30.58
297 KB Home (NYSE:KBH) -54.7% 9.78 21.60
298 SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE:STI) -54.7% 28.29 62.49
299 Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) -55.0% 19.58 43.53
300 Parker-Hannifin Corporation (NYSE:PH) -55.1% 33.80 75.31
301 Allegheny Energy, Inc. (NYSE:AYE) -55.4% 28.40 63.61
302 Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN) -55.4% 50.98 114.43
303 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MHP) -55.6% 19.45 43.81
304 National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE:NSM) -55.7% 10.04 22.64
305 Noble Corporation (NYSE:NE) -55.8% 24.95 56.51
306 Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE:TXN) -56.2% 14.63 33.40
307 Fluor Corporation (NEW) (NYSE:FLR) -56.2% 31.91 72.86
308 PACCAR Inc (NASDAQ:PCAR) -56.4% 23.76 54.48
309 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) -56.4% 86.29 198.08
310 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) -56.4% 25.31 58.11
311 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:TROW) -56.6% 26.40 60.88
312 Federated Investors, Inc. (NYSE:FII) -56.7% 17.82 41.16
313 BJ Services Company (NYSE:BJS) -56.8% 10.49 24.26
314 Molex Incorporated (NASDAQ:MOLX) -56.9% 11.78 27.30
315 Teradata Corporation (NYSE:TDC) -57.1% 11.77 27.41
316 The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) -57.1% 37.48 87.46
317 Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE:TYC) -57.2% 16.95 39.65
318 Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL) -57.3% 16.18 37.91
319 Juniper Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:JNPR) -57.7% 14.04 33.20
320 Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) -57.8% 10.35 24.51
321 Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) -58.2% 10.81 25.88
322 Whirlpool Corporation (NYSE:WHR) -58.3% 34.01 81.63
323 Total System Services, Inc. (NYSE:TSS) -58.6% 11.60 28.00
324 Eaton Corporation (NYSE:ETN) -58.9% 39.88 96.95
325 Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE:WY) -59.0% 30.25 73.74
326 Rockwell Collins, Inc. (NYSE:COL) -59.3% 29.32 71.97
327 Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) -59.4% 14.53 35.78
328 Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) -59.5% 280.18 691.46
329 Cameron International Corporation (NYSE:CAM) -59.7% 19.41 48.13
330 Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE:LTD) -60.0% 7.58 18.93
331 Marathon Oil Corporation (NYSE:MRO) -60.4% 24.11 60.86
332 Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:HON) -60.4% 24.38 61.57
333 Goodrich Corporation (NYSE:GR) -60.6% 27.84 70.61
334 AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) -60.6% 6.17 15.66
335 Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) -60.7% 9.14 23.26
336 Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE:JCI) -61.0% 14.07 36.04
337 General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) -61.0% 14.45 37.07
338 Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) -61.1% 7.97 20.47
339 Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) -61.3% 35.84 92.64
340 Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF) -61.5% 17.71 46.03
341 Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) -61.6% 13.13 34.18
342 The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) -61.9% 19.90 52.23
343 Baker Hughes Incorporated (NYSE:BHI) -61.9% 30.89 81.10
344 Novellus Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:NVLS) -62.1% 10.46 27.57
345 Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) -62.2% 14.02 37.13
346 Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE:PCP) -62.3% 52.34 138.70
347 El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EP) -62.4% 6.49 17.24
348 Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (NASDAQ:ISRG) -62.5% 121.09 322.99
349 State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) -62.6% 30.33 81.20
350 Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE:Q) -62.8% 2.61 7.01
351 Rowan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:RDC) -62.9% 14.62 39.46
352 Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM) -63.0% 27.89 75.31
353 Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) -63.0% 16.47 44.49
354 Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE:RF) -63.1% 8.72 23.65
355 Aetna Inc. (NYSE:AET) -63.2% 21.24 57.73
356 WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE:WLP) -63.4% 32.11 87.73
357 Rockwell Automation (NYSE:ROK) -63.5% 25.18 68.96
358 D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI) -63.7% 4.78 13.17
359 The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) -63.8% 6.35 17.53
360 American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) -64.0% 18.74 52.02
361 Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) -64.1% 17.86 49.76
362 Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) -64.2% 7.73 21.61
363 The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) -64.7% 7.55 21.39
364 Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) -64.7% 18.58 52.65
365 eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) -64.8% 11.69 33.19
366 Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) -64.9% 8.43 23.99
367 Kimco Realty Corporation (NYSE:KIM) -64.9% 12.77 36.40
368 International Paper Company (NYSE:IP) -65.4% 11.20 32.38
369 J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) -65.4% 15.21 43.99
370 Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) -65.5% 5.27 15.27
371 Xerox Corporation (NYSE:XRX) -65.5% 5.58 16.19
372 Smith International, Inc. (NYSE:SII) -65.7% 25.34 73.85
373 MeadWestvaco Corp. (NYSE:MWV) -65.8% 10.70 31.30
374 Weatherford International Ltd. (NYSE:WFT) -66.1% 11.63 34.30
375 Peabody Energy Corporation (NYSE:BTU) -66.5% 20.64 61.64
376 Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB) -66.5% 8.41 25.13
377 Deere & Company (NYSE:DE) -66.6% 31.08 93.12
378 GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) -66.9% 20.56 62.11
379 Massey Energy Company (NYSE:MEE) -67.0% 11.81 35.75
380 Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) -67.1% 5.04 15.33
381 KeyCorp (NYSE:KEY) -67.2% 7.70 23.45
382 Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:CCE) -67.4% 8.49 26.03
383 Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:HST) -67.8% 5.49 17.04
384 Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (NYSE:IPG) -67.8% 2.61 8.11
385 Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) -67.9% 7.03 21.87
386 Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) -68.3% 13.06 41.26
387 KLA-Tencor Corporation (NASDAQ:KLAC) -68.4% 15.24 48.16
388 Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER) -68.4% 3.27 10.34
389 Invesco Ltd. (NYSE:IVZ) -68.5% 9.89 31.38
390 National-Oilwell Varco, Inc. (NYSE:NOV) -69.1% 22.72 73.46
391 Cummins Inc. (NYSE:CMI) -69.1% 19.65 63.69
392 MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) -69.2% 19.00 61.62
393 Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA.B) -69.2% 13.51 43.92
394 Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKAM) -69.3% 10.63 34.60
395 UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) -69.5% 17.73 58.20
396 Leucadia National Corp. (NYSE:LUK) -69.6% 14.31 47.10
397 CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX) -69.7% 21.69 71.52
398 R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (NYSE:RRD) -69.7% 11.44 37.74
399 IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) -69.7% 58.29 192.48
400 Jones Apparel Group, Inc. (NYSE:JNY) -69.8% 4.83 15.99
401 Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) -69.8% 14.32 47.43
402 News Corporation (NYSE:NWS.A) -69.8% 6.18 20.49
403 Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) -69.9% 28.80 95.61
404 Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited (NYSE:IR) -70.4% 13.77 46.47
405 Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) -70.7% 17.11 58.41
406 SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU) -71.0% 10.88 37.52
407 Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) -71.1% 13.49 46.71
408 SLM Corporation (NYSE:SLM) -71.2% 5.81 20.14
409 Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) -71.3% 1.46 5.08
410 Micron Technology, Inc. (NYSE:MU) -71.4% 2.07 7.25
411 Monster Worldwide, Inc. (NASDAQ:MNST) -71.5% 9.23 32.40
412 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) -71.7% 2.12 7.50
413 Centex Corporation (NYSE:CTX) -71.9% 7.09 25.26
414 Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ:SHLD) -72.1% 28.50 102.05
415 Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:HOT) -72.4% 12.17 44.03
416 E TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) -72.4% 0.98 3.55
417 Convergys Corporation (NYSE:CVG) -72.5% 4.52 16.46
418 Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) -73.3% 4.78 17.89
419 Meredith Corporation (NYSE:MDP) -74.0% 14.32 54.97
420 Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) -74.1% 1.85 7.14
421 Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) -74.3% 55.18 215.06
422 Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE:AIV) -74.4% 8.90 34.73
423 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) -74.7% 13.96 55.11
424 CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) -75.1% 170.88 685.96
425 Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) -75.6% 8.98 36.73
426 Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) -76.2% 15.91 66.90
427 Titanium Metals Corporation (NYSE:TIE) -76.5% 6.22 26.45
428 Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE:VLO) -76.5% 16.45 70.02
429 Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (NYSE:CEG) -76.7% 23.91 102.53
430 NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) -77.5% 19.72 87.77
431 Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) -77.7% 8.16 36.55
432 Macy's, Inc. (NYSE:M) -78.0% 5.68 25.87
433 Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) -78.3% 6.40 29.44
434 Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFMI) -78.4% 8.82 40.80
435 Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) -78.6% 3.44 16.04
436 Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) -78.7% 6.72 31.62
437 United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) -79.1% 25.21 120.91
438 MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) -79.7% 3.79 18.63
439 CIGNA Corporation (NYSE:CI) -79.8% 10.88 53.73
440 International Game Technology (NYSE:IGT) -80.2% 8.69 43.93
441 CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS) -80.2% 5.39 27.25
442 Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE:FCX) -80.2% 20.24 102.44
443 JDS Uniphase Corporation (NASDAQ:JDSU) -80.6% 2.58 13.30
444 Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:ATI) -80.7% 16.69 86.40
445 Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) -80.7% 10.25 53.11
446 Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE:LM) -80.9% 14.00 73.15
447 Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE:CVH) -80.9% 11.32 59.25
448 SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) -81.0% 6.30 33.17
449 Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) -81.3% 1.26 6.73
450 CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG) -81.3% 4.03 21.55
451 NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) -81.7% 6.23 34.02
452 Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) -81.7% 17.01 93.04
453 Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN) -81.8% 4.29 23.56
454 Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) -81.8% 14.55 79.97
455 Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ:JAVA) -82.0% 3.27 18.13
456 Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MER) -82.1% 9.60 53.68
457 Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO) -82.2% 8.49 47.70
458 Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI) -82.5% 6.81 39.00
459 The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE:GT) -82.9% 4.83 28.22
460 Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) -82.9% 12.20 71.30
461 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) -83.0% 11.67 68.84
462 Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:SOV) -83.2% 1.92 11.40
463 Dillard's, Inc. (NYSE:DDS) -83.3% 3.14 18.78
464 Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN) -83.7% 5.55 34.11
465 American Capital Ltd. (NASDAQ:ACAS) -83.8% 5.35 32.96
466 Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE:JNS) -83.9% 5.28 32.85
467 Terex Corporation (NYSE:TEX) -84.4% 10.21 65.57
468 Harman International Industries Inc./DE/ (NYSE:HAR) -85.6% 10.65 73.72
469 Sprint Nextel Corporation (NYSE:S) -85.7% 1.88 13.13
470 AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) -85.9% 6.51 46.24
471 MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE:WFR) -86.2% 12.20 88.50
472 Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC) -87.4% 7.31 58.22
473 Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (NYSE:DDR) -87.8% 4.69 38.29
474 Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) -88.0% 4.57 38.03
475 Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE:ODP) -88.5% 1.60 13.91
476 General Motors Corporation (NYSE:GM) -88.8% 2.79 24.89
477 Manitowoc Company, Inc. (NYSE:MTW) -88.8% 5.47 48.83
478 National City Corporation (NYSE:NCC) -89.2% 1.78 16.46
479 Liz Claiborne, Inc. (NYSE:LIZ) -89.5% 2.13 20.35
480 XL Capital Ltd. (NYSE:XL) -89.8% 5.11 50.31
481 CIT Group Inc. (NYSE:CIT) -90.6% 2.25 24.03
482 MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) -90.9% 2.05 22.43
483 Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS) -91.5% 0.40 4.73
484 Hartford Financial Services (NYSE:HIG) -92.1% 6.88 87.19
485 ProLogis (NYSE:PLD) -94.5% 3.46 63.38
486 Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE:GNW) -96.0% 1.02 25.45
487 American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) -97.3% 1.56 58.30
488 Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) -98.4% 0.56 34.06
489 General Growth Properties, Inc (NYSE:GGP) -99.0% 0.40 41.18
490 Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) -99.0% 0.38 39.97
491 Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM) -99.7% 0.04 13.61
492 Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LEH) -99.9% 0.04 65.44
493 Hercules Incorporated (NYSE:HPC) N/A N/A 19.35
494 Electronic Data Systems Corporation (NYSE:EDS) N/A N/A 20.73
495 Lorillard Inc. (NYSE:LO) N/A 60.69 N/A
496 Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE:PM) N/A 36.64 N/A
497 SAFECO Corporation (NYSE:SAF) N/A N/A 55.68
498 Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (NYSE:SNI) N/A 24.40 N/A
499 Wendy's International (NYSE:WEN) N/A N/A 25.84
500 Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company (NYSE:WWY) N/A N/A 58.55




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From Business Week - Search Optimization for Small Businesses

BWSmallBiz -- Marketing June 20, 2008, 5:00PM

Search Engine Optimization for Small Businesses

You, too, can figure out how to land atop the search heap
by Eve Tahmincioglu

Jill Caren proves that even a one-person business can get top rankings on Google. Caren runs Marlboro (N.J.)-based Expressions Photo Design, and ilovephotogifts.com, her Web site, regularly lands among the first listings for anyone Googling "unique photo gifts," the keywords she thinks potential customers are using in searches.

It wasn't always that way. Caren's previous Web site, expressionspb.com, used to get buried in search results. Caren didn't know how she could improve her standing—a process called search engine optimization, or SEO for short—and approached the Web designer who built her site. When that proved fruitless, Caren took an SEO class online and started hanging out in online SEO forums. Pretty soon, she says, "I decided to redo my site entirely. Instead of leaving it up to someone else, I did it myself, and I could not be happier with the results."

It took Caren about eight months to understand what needed to be changed and how to do it. She launched her new site in June, 2007, and attributes a 21% increase in her annual sales, to about $80,000, to the relaunch. "In less than three months," she says, "I was on the first page of Google for many of my keywords." Now she doesn't do any advertising and is able to rely solely on search to bring in business. Here's how she does it.

THE TITLE SELLS THE BOOK
Titles are easy to overlook, but they're important to search engines. On your home page, the title should give as much detail as possible about what you sell. Other titles should highlight the items sold on those pages or the content that appears there.

Caren researched the keywords in the titles, general text, and coding on her site using goodkeywords.com (free), and wordtracker.com (about $300 for a year's subscription).

THERE IS SOMETHING IN A DOMAIN NAME
Your URL should specify exactly what you sell. Search engines look for keywords in a domain name that are related to the products or services a user is searching for. By changing her domain name from expressionspb.com to ilovephotogifts.com, Caren tells the search engines right from the start what her company does.

BLOG ALREADY
A search engine wants to see fresh content, and blogging is a great way to provide it. Caren blogs at least three times a week. "Google wants to see you're giving people something," she says. Her blog is on her own Web site (not with a hosted service), so that keywords appearing in the blog help her ranking. If she starts attracting comments, those will also count as updates to her site, further boosting her ranking.

TRUMPET YOUR PRODUCTS, BUT NOT TOO OFTEN
This is yet another place for Caren to include keywords for her wares. But be careful—endlessly repeating keywords is a frowned-upon practice known as "stuffing." It's a good way to make a search engine think you're a spammer.

BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL
Another opportunity to add fresh content—and score with the search engines. Caren includes information about weekly specials here and encourages people to sign up for her newsletter.

A PICTURE IS NOT WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
Search engines cannot see images or videos, so Caren makes sure every image on her site gets some sort of short caption or description. She writes them herself, rather than using manufacturers' descriptions. Search engines notice if an item is described in the same way by hundreds of sites, and tend to weed those out. It's also a good idea to add text about each image in the site's coding.

CHART A COURSE FOR THE BOTS
Search engines use software called bots to search your site. A site map will help them find their way. Caren's map has links to over 30 products and their descriptions. She downloaded free coding for her site map from online shopping cart provider Zen Cart, which let her create a map that complies with Google specifications.

Back to BWSmallBiz June/July 2008 Table of Contents http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/08_66/S0806bwsmallbiz.htm



Eve Tahmincioglu is a contributor to BusinessWeek SmallBiz.

Make Money in Down Markets - an easy and simple way to hedge

Hedge Your Portfolio
from US News and World Report

By Katy Marquardt
Posted December 20, 2007

It can pay to play defense in a market often buffeted by fast and furious one-day drops. In small doses, funds that use hedging strategies can reduce risk in your overall portfolio because their performance doesn't move in tandem with the stock or bond markets. Using sophisticated techniques such as short-selling and options, these funds aim to guard against market declines and still produce respectable long-term returns.



When former economics professor John Hussman's market outlook is gloomy, he can hedge some—or all—of his Hussman Strategic Growth fund using options to bet against major market indexes. The fund is currently fully hedged, its most bearish position. The portfolio holds more than 100 stocks Hussman thinks are somewhat cheap relative to their growth potential. "We're also hedged with indexes that behave similarly and reflect the stocks we own," says Hussman. "The idea is to earn the difference in the stocks' performance." The fund, which returned 11 percent a year on average from its July 2000 launch through December 1, charges a below-average 1.17 percent in annual expenses.

Michael Orkin hedges his Caldwell & Orkin Market Opportunity fund by short-selling—or betting against—individual stocks or sectors. Orkin's bets against the home-building and subprime mortgage sectors helped the fund gain a whopping 33 percent over the past year. It returned an annualized 7 percent over the past decade, 1 percentage point ahead of the S&P 500, with significantly less volatility. The fund charges 1.75 percent in annual fees.

You can execute your own hedging strategy by investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that bets on the decline of an index, investing style, or sector of the market. ProShares' short-selling etfs produce inverse returns of a particular index. For instance, the Short Dow30 bets against the Dow Jones industrial average. The firm also offers a line of "ultra" funds, which essentially return double the opposite of an index's daily gain. Although these funds aren't as risky as pure short-selling, approach them with caution.


http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/50-ways-to-improve-your-life/2007/12/20/hedge-your-portfolio.html

Solar Cell Companies (from Fortune Magazine)

Solar stocks for a rainy day
The industry has taken a beating in the market lately, but a few standouts may shine in the long run.

By Michael V. Copeland, senior writer
November 4, 2008: 5:14 AM ET

Find this article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/03/technology/copeland_solar.fortune/index.htm




(Fortune Magazine) -- No one loves Arnold Schwarzenegger more than the solar industry. Kicking off the nation's largest gathering devoted to all things sunny, the California governor won thunderous applause and two standing ovations from the crowd of 20,000 at the San Diego Convention Center. "What's green for the environment can also be green for the economy," he said. "Solar is the future; it's now; it can't be stopped."

For those four days in October, the Solar Power International 2008 convention drew attendees from 70 countries and generated lines stretching out the door for parking, food, and just about everything else. It seemed as if the power of the sun could conquer all. You wouldn't have guessed that just a week before, the financial meltdown had felled sector after sector, including the once-shining solar industry.

It's not that this swelling crowd thinks the macroeconomic troubles the world faces won't affect the solar industry; they know they will. All the leading solar companies have already seen the value of their stocks plummet far more than the 36% the Nasdaq has dropped from the beginning of the year to Oct. 21. The value of the Claymore/MAC global solar energy index (TAN), an ETF comprising global solar stocks, has dropped 56% since it started trading in mid-April.

Given the uncertainty of the economy, some analysts fear that the solar industry's customers could have trouble financing utility-scale solar projects that use lots of modules. Most residential solar installations, which can cost $20,000 to $30,000, require homeowners to borrow, and that money has all but disappeared. Subsidies in Spain, a huge market in recent years, are decreasing, and it is an open question whether countries that have new subsidies coming online, like Italy, Greece, and France, will fill the void.

In contrast to the 1980s - when solar companies got swept away by cheap oil, withdrawn government subsidies, or steep economic downturns - the sense this time is that the industry is here to stay. And not just stay and survive, but stay and flourish. Concern over climate change, combined with falling prices for solar technology, has made this source of carbon-free electricity more attractive than ever. The worldwide market for solar energy roughly doubled last year, to $33 billion, and analysts expect revenues to grow 33% a year for the foreseeable future. What began as a technology championed by tree huggers and pot growers is now a global market that Lux Research, based in New York City, says will reach about $100 billion in sales within the next five years. Germany, Japan, and Spain rank as the top markets for solar power, but other Western European nations are coming on fast, as are China and the U.S. As part of the bailout package, Congress extended the 30% investment tax credits for clean energy, which should give a boost to the American market.

'A real industry'
"Solar has become a real industry," says Marc Porat, a Silicon Valley veteran and chairman of green-building-materials company Serious Materials. Porat was at the conference in San Diego scouting for solar-electricity generating systems for another green project of his. Looking around the hall packed with startups selling everything from tools for manufacturing solar cells to rooftop hardware for mounting equipment to software for analyzing power needs, Porat emphasizes his point. "You can see that all the gaps in the market have been filled by multiple companies," he says. "It's the same with any good entrepreneurial opportunity."

After 30-plus years of steady improvement, solar electric technology is going mainstream. Photovoltaic (PV) panels, which convert sunlight directly into electricity, can increasingly be found on residential rooftops, warehouses, and Wal-Marts. Large-scale photovoltaic solar farms cover huge swaths of land to supply utilities with clean power. Entrepreneurs have also invested in solar thermal farms, where the sun's heat turns liquid into steam to drive a turbine.

Even with state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, PV solar power is still on average twice as expensive to produce as electricity generated by a coal-fired plant. But prices are finally coming down even as efficiency goes up, and some experts think the cost of solar will rival grid power in the next two to three years. In the meantime, government subsidies are bridging the cost gap in many markets. Also, as more nations pass carbon cap-and-trade laws - in the U.S. both Senators McCain and Obama support the idea - natural gas and coal will become more expensive, which should close the gap further. Finally, the industry has achieved scale. These are not backyard enterprises - they pull in hundreds of millions in revenue annually and do business everywhere on the planet. That they all are pursuing economies of scale should help drive down the cost of solar even further.

Although the industry is able to sell solar cells and modules today as fast as it can make them, analysts predict capacity will almost double in 2009. That has caused some analysts to raise the specter of over-supply and the possibility of a bloody price war among manufacturers. "It's going to trigger a shakeout," says Ted Sullivan, a senior analyst with Lux. "The weakest players will either get acquired or fail."

While industry players mostly disagree with Sullivan on the inevitability of aggressive price wars, they do see an upcoming shift in the industry. "I think we all agree that markets tend to consolidate during times like these," says Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower, a maker of solar-power-generating systems. "This is one of those periods in an industry where a handful of big players emerge."

Of the 14 pure-play public solar companies, experts expect at least three to stand out from the crowd. The winners possess differentiated technology, enough cash to survive, and the financial heft to enter the entire solar food chain, from producing modules to selling power like any other utility. While the industry is likely to remain volatile for some time to come, long-term investors might want to consider stocks of these three companies, whose values now look attractive.

First Solar
Among the favorites of stock analysts is First Solar (FSLR). Founded in 1999 and originally backed by the investing arm of the Walton (Wal-Mart) family, First Solar went public in 2006, right at the beginning of a wave of solar IPOs. In the coming shakeout First Solar should thrive, because with its cutting-edge thin-film technology it is able to produce solar modules more cheaply per watt than its competitors. Traditional crystalline-silicon photovoltaic systems sandwich wafers of silicon between glass, resulting in those boxy panels you see on rooftops. By contrast, First Solar's thin-film technology applies a fine layer of material directly to a glass substrate. The process is faster, and because it requires just a fraction of the expensive silicon used in traditional PVs, it's vastly cheaper. First Solar, which operates factories in Ohio, Malaysia, and Germany, can produce systems for $1.14 per watt of power, compared with $2.90 per watt for traditional crystalline-silicon solar cells. With subsidies, First Solar's products can compete in many parts of the world with a natural gas or coal-fired power plant.

Run by managers who are fanatics about meeting goals and avoiding unnecessary costs, First Solar routinely blows away both its own and the Street's targets. Its manufacturing team is legendary, bringing online factories that exceed expectations. "They come in at over 100% of projected capacity," says Jenny Chase, a senior analyst with New Energy Finance. "No one else does that."

The shares of this highflying Tempe, Ariz., company peaked at $317 in May and now are trading at $144. Analysts expect sales this year to reach $1.2 billion, up 138% from 2007, and to top $2.1 billion next year, with earnings per share more than doubling. First Solar also sits on $633 million in cash. While the stock is pricey with a current P/E of 50 and a forward P/E of 21, the company's growth prospects and strong balance sheet make it look like a buy.

SunPower
While First Solar has laid claim to the lowest price per watt for its modules, SunPower (SPWRA) claims the most efficient. Inch for inch, its modules produce the most electricity. While SunPower's systems are expensive, you need fewer of them, which makes them perfect for homes and businesses where space is tight. The company, based in San Jose, was spun out of Cypress Semiconductor in 2005 and now sports a $4.2 billion market cap - about eight times the size of its former parent. It has carved out a place in the solar industry similar to Apple's in the computer world, producing well-designed, aesthetically pleasing modules. SunPower has distinguished itself in the market as one of the highest-quality makers of modules. "Brand actually does matter in this industry," New Energy's Chase says, "and SunPower has it."

Besides making and installing systems, SunPower has started on a new track. Much like a utility, it has decided to sell the power its modules produce directly to customers. But that new strategy hasn't kept the stock from getting hammered. Over the past year, SunPower stock fell from a 52-week high of $164 to a low of $37 in early October. Werner is shocked by the drubbing his stock has taken. "The markets are valuing growth companies as if they were lead-pencil companies," he says. "This will take care of itself in time, and we are obviously in a really, really unique time."

Now trading at around $54, with a current P/E of 60 and a forward P/E of 12, this stock, too, looks like a buy. Analysts expect SunPower's sales this year to hit $1.4 billion, up 80% from 2007, and to rise to $2 billion in 2009. Earnings per share are expected to rise from $2.33 in 2008 to $3.55 in 2009, a 52% increase.

Suntech Power
While SunPower is obsessed with quality, what solarmaker Suntech Power (STP) offers is scale. Based in Wuxi, China, the company is the world's largest manufacturer of solar PV modules and has set in place an aggressive plan to stay on top, says Roger Efird, who runs Suntech's business in the Americas. With a cash hoard of $752 million, access to cheap local labor, and deep-pocketed Chinese lenders backing it up, the company has been able to take advantage of the fast-growing market. Efird, who is also chairman of the U.S. Solar Energy Industry Association, believes the risk of price declines in solar modules next year will be offset by continued thirst for new sources of clean energy in both China and the U.S.

Wedged in by people filling Suntech's booth at the San Diego solar conference, Efird looks around the hall. "There's not a person in this room who has a module for sale between now and the end of the year. It's all sold out," he says. "What people forget is that there are hundreds upon hundreds of solar projects, in the U.S. in particular, sitting on the shelf waiting for the right economic moment." Efird believes that moment is coming next year.

To hedge its bets, Suntech, like its competitor SunPower, is moving up the food chain, selling power directly to commercial customers. That's not Suntech's only hedge. The company has invested tens of millions to lock in the price of silicon over the next five to ten years, betting that demand will rise and prices eventually will trend up. Competing manufacturers without Suntech's resources will have to face the vagaries of the spot market for silicon in years to come. Of course, if silicon prices drop - new capacity is coming onstream - the move could prove a costly mistake for Suntech.

Suntech's share price has fallen from a 52-week high of $90 in January to $18 in mid-October. It looks cheap, with a current P/E of 17 and a forward P/E of 9. This year's sales, stemming mostly from its business in Asia, are estimated to clock in at $2.1 billion, up 62% over 2007, rising to $3.2 billion in 2009, as it pushes hard in the U.S. Earnings per share are projected to go from $1.67 this year to $2.50 next.

The shares of even the best solar companies have fallen on hard times. Yet for anyone who believes that the world is destined to move away from a carbon-based economy, investing in this nascent industry, at least in the long term, may very well be a move you won't regret.

When the Sky Falls - Ben Stein in the NY Times

October 26, 2008
Everybody’s Business
You Don’t Always Know When the Sky Will Fall

By BEN STEIN
NOW, as the great Phil Rizzuto used to say, for “some high hops and short stops” — only not in sports, but in finance and life.

First, I get a certain amount of mail asking why I was unable to spot the stock market crash in advance, sell short and become rich. And why was I unable to foretell the future, so my readers could avoid losses and make money?

Well, I am just a person. I don’t have any magical powers to foresee the future. In this case, I did not foresee the catastrophic mistake, as I view it, by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. to allow Lehman Brothers to fail. That failure left a gaping hole in the financial services industry, and blew away confidence that the Feds knew what they were doing.

Months ago, one of the greatest of American economists, Anna Jacobson Schwartz, who was co-author with the late Milton Friedman of “A Monetary History of the United States,” accurately said that American banks did not face a liquidity crisis, but that they might soon urgently face a solvency crisis. In other words, banks would have ample reserves to lend but might lack assurances that they could meet all their financial obligations if those loans went bad. She was right. In fact, bankers have had so many losses and faced so much uncertainty that they dared not lend, for fear of killing their banks with bad loans — so we have actually had a solvency crisis.

(By the way, it’s a disgrace that Mrs. Schwartz, a mainstay of economic insight since before World War II — as well as my late mother’s college roommate at Barnard — has not been a Nobel laureate. That hints at a dismal sexism in the dismal science.)

The solvency crisis exploded when, in mid-September, Mr. Paulson allowed Lehman Brothers to die a sudden death. I would never have believed that it could happen, which shows one of my many limitations as an economist and a human being. I assume that the future will be much like the past, but sometimes it isn’t.

After Lehman, I felt sure that the government would realize its mistake and issue blanket solvency guarantees to banks. But that didn’t happen, the stock market fell apart, credit went icy cold and the wheels started to come off the economy. This also took me by surprise.

The failure of government to limit the loss possibilities from credit-default swaps has also been a mystery to me. And credit-default swaps themselves are something of a mystery. They are derivative instruments that supposedly insure a bond or similar entity against default. In fact, they are a wager about the possibility of default of anything, and the potential payouts for the wagers that have been made are many times larger than the value of all the subprime mortgage bonds that ever were.

The need for the government to take action seemed so clear — and still seems so clear that I cannot believe a day passes without its happening. But the days pass, nothing happens, and I am proved wrong again. And I lose some of my life savings and it hurts.

Now let me move to another point: all of the recent misery, including the stock market’s plunge, the disasters at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the loss of retirement savings. These did not happen out of the blue. The catastrophe of giving bonds ratings far higher than they deserved did not happen by chance. And endlessly rosy reports from banks and investment banks about their health did not result from a butterfly flapping its wings in China.

Human beings did these things. The harm to the American people and to the world has been substantial. There has been real pain here. Why is it taking so long to find out who did what and whether laws were broken? That’s what prosecutors are for.

And, closer to home, a talented makeup artist who works with me almost daily in my TV appearances asked what happened to people in a recession. (She is young.) I said that fear and insomnia happened to most people but that a few million would actually lose their jobs and millions more would lose income.

“What do they do?” she asked, looking worried.

“They find other work or live off their savings,” I said. “They certainly cut back on their spending.”

“What if they don’t have any savings?” she asked. “I don’t have any savings,” she said. “No one I know except you has any savings.” She looked extremely worried.

This is perhaps the main lesson of this whole experience. It is basic but still unlearned: human beings must have savings. This is not just a good idea. It’s the difference between life and death, terror and calm. So start saving right now, and don’t stop until you die.

FINALLY, I’ll turn to the oil companies. When crude was skyrocketing, the beautiful people wanted to beat Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP into a pulp. Many people assumed that oil barons controlled prices, made “obscene” profits and made life difficult for ordinary citizens. But the price of oil has fallen by more than half from just a few months ago. Gasoline prices are at levels no one thought we would ever see again. Very expensive projects that the oil companies commenced, like extracting oil from tar sands in Canada, may now be major money losers.

What do you say, folks? Let’s acknowledge that we were a bit hasty. The oil companies are just corks bobbing up and down on the ocean of worldwide demand and supply, exactly as the oil companies said they were. They are not going to be starving, but they are clearly not the invincible demons that their enemies said they were. Now that we see how vulnerable they are, is there any reason to hit them with a surtax?

Will we ever learn that they are just dust in the wind, like the rest of us? Probably not.

Ben Stein is a lawyer, writer, actor and economist. E-mail: ebiz@nytimes.com.