Harrison Lazarus Advisors: Closing Up

1. GOOD YEAR 2009 - The S&P 500 gained +26.5% (total return result including the impact of reinvested dividends) in calendar year 2009, the 2nd best performance of the decade (behind the +28.7% gain in 2003) and the 11th best result in the last 50 years for the index (1960-2009).

2. THE AVERAGE - The S&P 500 has gained an average of +9.4% per year over the last 50 years. No single calendar year actually gained +9.4% in the last half century. The closest that any year came to the +9.4% average was in 1993 when the stock index gained +10.1%.

3. HIGHS AND LOWS - The S&P 500 has gained at least +20% (total return) in 18 of the last 50 years or 36% of the time. The stock index produced a positive total return in 38 of the last 50 years or 76% of the time. The best year for the index in the last half century was 1995 when the S&P 500 was up +37.6% and the worst year was 2008 when the index suffered through a 37.0% total return loss.

4. UP vs. DOWN - The split between "up" and "down" days for the S&P 500 over the last 50 years (i.e., 1960-2009) is 53% "up" and 47% "down."

5. INSIDE THE INDEX - 49 of the 500 stocks (i.e., 10% of the stocks) in the S&P 500 gained at least +100% (i.e., the stock price doubled) in 2009. 81 stocks in the index (i.e., 16% of the stocks) gained at least +75% last year. 146 stocks (i.e., 29% of the stocks) gained at least +50%. 71 stocks (i.e., 14% of the stocks) finished the year with a stock price lower than where it started the year.

6. FROM THE MARCH LOW - Since dropping to a bear market low on 3/09/09 (i.e., 10 months ago), the S&P 500 has gained a remarkable +67.8% (total return) through the close of trading last Thursday 12/31/09.

7. MONTH BY MONTH - The S&P 500 stock index was up 9 of 12 months in 2009 after being up just 4 of 12 months in 2008. 5 separate months produced a total return gain of at least +5% in 2009.

8. LAST DECADE - The S&P 500 was down 9.1% for the decade on a total return basis (i.e., the 10 years from 1/01/00 to 12/31/09). That performance is the worst decade ever for the stock index, falling below the negative 0.3% performance achieved during the 1930s. The best decade ever for the S&P 500 was the 1950s, a 10-year period when the stock index gained +487.1%.

9. VALUE vs. GROWTH - The Russell 3000 index (largest 3,000 US stocks) was up +28.3% (total return) in 2009, +1.8% better than the +26.5% gain achieved by the S&P 500. The "growth" component of the Russell 3000 was up +37.0% vs. a gain of 19.8% produced by the "value" component of the index.

10. SMALL-CAPS - The small-cap Russell 2000 stock index gained +27.2% (total return) in 2009, its best calendar year performance since 2003.

11. NASDAQ PERFORMANCE - The NASDAQ was up +43.9% in 2009 (not counting the impact of dividends). The NASDAQ Composite is an unmanaged index of securities traded on the NASDAQ system.

12. GAS PRICES - The national average price of a gallon of gasoline ended calendar year 2008 at $1.62, rose to a peak price of $2.70 on 10/30/09, and ultimately finished 2009 at $2.64 a gallon, a +63% price increase during the year.

13. OIL PRICES - The price of oil ended calendar year 2008 at $44.60 a barrel, rose to a 2009 calendar year closing high of $81.37 a barrel on 10/21/09, and ultimately finished 2009 at $79.36 a gallon, a +78% price increase during the year

14. GOLD PRICES - The price of gold ended calendar year 2008 at $883.60 an ounce, rose to an all-time record closing high of $1,114.00 an ounce on 11/11/09, and ultimately finished 2009 at $1,095.20 an ounce, a +24% price increase during the year.

15. BONDS - The yield on the 10-year Treasury note increased +1.62% in 2009 (going from 2.22% to 3.84%), the largest basis point increase for the 10-year note since its +1.80% increase in 1999.

The VALUE of Tax Deferred Investing

2009 Numbers