|
We just finished the Stock Blog: http://www.talkgold.com/stock Currently there are 8600 stocks listed with fields to post comments for each. We will be adding info for each stock eventually, but for not you can check prices, and post your comments for any stock imaginable. Stocks are sortable by industry and sector as well. Brian |
|
The stock market is plowing into 2005 with a head of steam, thanks to a late round of momentum built up through falling oil prices and a clean presidential election. Stocks picked up the pace during the final two months of what had been a lackluster 2004, tacking on gains to the previous year's bonanza. During November and December, the Dow jumped 8% to pull out a 3.1% gain for the year. The Nasdaq surged over 10% during the same period, finishing the year 8.6% higher. In yesterday's final 2004 trading, the Dow fell 17.29 to 10,783.01, while the Nasdaq dipped 2.90 to 2,175.44. Recent rebounds in the job market and in consumer confidence, in addition to a 20% drop in oil prices from October's 21-year highs, propelled stocks higher despite a steady round of interest rate hikes by the Fed. "The number one driving force of the economy is employment, which has been growing every month \[for 15 months\]," said Steven Neimeth, a portfolio manager at AIG SunAmerica. He sees stocks moving ahead at an 8% to 10% pace this year, in line with corporate profits growth. With personal spending expected to stay strong, Neimeth likes some consumer products stocks, especially retailers like Limited and Federated Department Stores. He also predicted a good year for media companies, which he expects to benefit from an upturn in ad spending. Experts are also big on small stocks, which led the market up for the second straight year despite a slowdown from the Nasdaq's 50% surge of 2003. Though the Nasdaq computer company index inched up only slightly over the past year, small firms in old-line industries like steel, energy, and machine tools picked up the slack. "We had a reawakening of the heartland," said John Keeley, who runs a smallcap value fund in Chicago. "Demand has been rising overseas for these products." He's less enthusiastic about banks, which the market usually punishes when interest rates climb. Neimeth added that chip companies like Intel and Advanced Micro Devices could be in for a big year as business spending picks up. "Many companies still felt the need to sit on cash in 2004, but I think they'll be more aggressive as confidence grows," he said. This year's biggest Dow winner was McDonald's, which drove its stock up 29% by adding healthy menu items and keeping many restaurants open longer. Right behind was Exxon Mobil, up 25% on high oil prices. On the other end of the spectrum, Merck plunged 30% for the year - making it the worst Dow performer - after a well-publicized fiasco in which it pulled its painkiller Vioxx off the market because of possible heart attack risks. Pfizer, which just entered the Dow in April, revealed similar risks with its arthritis drug Celebrex, causing its stock to shed 24%. The most notable tech gainer last year was Google, which more than doubled its share price after going public in August. And Research-in-Motion, the maker of hot Blackberry pagers, rose 23% on strong sales. |