Our 4-Hour Workweek

The fourth week of 2008 was choppy on Wall Street. Monday, thankfully the U.S. markets were closed, as the international markets fell dramatically, with fear and panic selling leading the way, foreboding a wild ride on Tuesday. And wild it was. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down nearly 600 points. The Federal Reserve stepped in with a surprise move and lowered the Federal Funds Rate rate by 3/4 of a point to 3.5%. The Dow rebounded, closing down 128 points. Wednesday, down by almost 300 points at lunchtime, the market rallied 600 points in the afternoon, closing up 299 points for the day. On Thursday the Dow was up another 108 points. Friday, the Dow drifted downwords most of the session, giving back 171 points for the day. What a week for the markets! Every day saw a triple digit swing, one way or the other. Expect to see more wild gyrations in the next few weeks. For the week:

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose .9% (-8.0% year to date) to 12,207.17.
• The NASDAQ fell .6% (-12.3% year to date) to 2,326.20.
• The S&P 500 Index rose .4% (-9.4% year to date) to 1330.61.
• The Power Women 50 Index rose .2% (-8.1% year to date) to $86,764.60 (details).
• The Magic Formula Index rose .8% (-10.0% year to date) to $88,177.73. (details).
• The Dogs of the Dow rose 3.1% (-3.7% year to date) to $96,290.85 (details).
• Our 4-Hour Workweek basket of stocks and cash fell .6% (-10.4 year to date) to $21,636.51.
• Pierre's 401K group of mutual funds rose .2% (-12.2% year to date) to $59,820.13.

Pierre Cutler
Our 4-Hour Workweek