Weekly Wrap

Praise the Lord, the year in the market is half over. How funny is that? The year is half over and I'm still thinking there's time for it to turn around. I keep saying, "Don't worry, things will pick up," when in fact, it's been pretty flat, if not losing some steam. The Nasdaq is down 7.26% since January 1, the S&P 500 is down 4.45% and the Dow is walking the tightrope at a positive 0.75%. Woo-hoo.

So which industry has done the best the past six months? (I love going over to www.bigcharts.com; they let you chart everything from your favorite stock during a specific time period, to which industries are kicking butt.)

Consumer Services is kicking butt. The sector as a whole is up 51% YTD, with Priceline.com (PCLN) leading the way. The company is up 516% since 2001 began. Bankrate Inc (RATE) is up 428% and Expedia Inc. (EXPE) is up 381%. Don't think that the whole industry is up that much, certain Consumer Services have dropped a few pounds... Educational Video Conferencing (EVCI) is down 91% and Nutri Systems Inc.(THIN) is down 76%. (I just really wanted to add that somewhere in this article to prove the point that being THIN isn't always good.)

The second top performer of the six month period is Office Equipment. Ikon Office Solutions (IKN) is up 240% YTD with Xerox a "not-near but I'll take it in a copy-machine" second, up 97%.

Third from the top... TOYS! I'm thinking that we Chicks are going to have to do some digging here because I haven't even heard of these toy companies. Here's how the toys stack up YTD.

This is an industry I know. I have toys everywhere around this house. (A house that I'm trying to keep clean as it just went on the market today. Every time I turn around there is a flippin' toy for me to trip over. If only I would pick it up and look at who makes it instead of throwing it in the big basket that I hide behind the couch as soon as someone comes to look at the house. My kids probably know more about which company to invest in than I do, only I'm too busy yellin' at them to ask.)

Also, this is the day that mutual fund managers find the best performing stocks and add them to your portfolio. True story. It's called window dressing. Today they sold off say a Nutri System (THIN) and added an Acclaim Entertainment (AKLM). Their reports make it look like they have been holding it all year. This way, when you get your statement in mail next month you say, "Wow, my guy knows what he's doing. Look at that... my fund has some great performing stocks in it." Well sure your fund does, and you got to own it for a whole day. Be sure to check (or call) and see how many days your fund held this great stock. It'll be an interesting conversation.

So, that's year to date. Again, woo-hoo.

Oh wait, (and this is for my mother), I just had to add that my beloved clothing store, bebe (BEBE), is up 25% year-to-date, and her WalMart (WMT) is down 7%. Keep that in the back of your mind when questioning whom to listen to. I do.

This past week was big for three companies... GE, Honeywell and Microsoft. Yeah, there was other market news, but none as big. General Electric and Honeywell appear to be in a little corporate tiff. It seems to me, Honeywell really wants to get this deal done, and GE is saying, "You know what, it's not really worth it to us anymore." Every since the European Commission nixed the merger because of competition/monopoly regulations, GE hasn't been as excited. On Friday, Honeywell offered up their company at a discounted rate, reducing their price by 1.8 billion, and GE still turned it down. Our buddy Jack Welch doesn't think it makes sense anymore. I think he's just ticked. Who wouldn't be? He's delayed his retirement to get this deal done, and then Europe says, "Sorry, Jack... not gonna happen." GE stock went up, and Honeywell's went down.

Guess what else is also not gonna happen. Microsoft (MSFT) will not be broken up. A federal appellate court ruled that there will be no break up of the software giant. There are so many twists and turns you can take on this case and I, quite frankly, would like the soap to end. Are things going Mr. Gates' way because of a political administration change? Or, did Judge Jackson's (the previous ruling judge) comments to the media strengthen the case for Microsoft? (Jackson said some pretty harsh things about Mr. Gates and company which brought into question Jackson's prejudices in making the original decision that the company had to split up.) I'm telling you... it's a tangled web. But the tangled web's stock rose 3% on the news. We'll have to keep a close eye on Microsoft's competitors -- mainly AOL (AOL), Sun Microsystems (SUNW) and Oracle (ORCL) -- to see how they do in the coming months. (Chicks own all three competitors. What's that sayin?)

It's a big weekend here in Canada; Monday is Canada Day! My son is in a lacrosse tournament which starts in fifteen minutes. I probably should go watch, and then ask him who made the toy that I just ran over in the garage.

Closing Market Numbers