Best and Worst Dow, S&P 500 Performers YTD

Wal-Mart (WMT) shareholders are filled with joy these days to finally see the stock not follow the company's "Always Low Prices" slogan anymore. As shown in the chart below, yesterday it broke to new highs after trading in a range between $40 and $50 for years now. The stock is also the best performing member of the Dow 30 year to date, up 10% so far in 2008.

At right we highlight the year to date performance of the 30 Dow stocks. As shown, just 6 of the 30 are up on the year. Along with Wal-Mart, IBM, DD, HD, CAT and JPM are in the black in 2008, while the rest are in the red. C, MRK, AIG, GM and VZ are down the most.

Below we highlight the best and worst performing stocks in the S&P 500 year to date. We also include their performance since the short-term bottom reached on 3/10. As shown, Big Lots (BIG) is up the most at 33.58%. In prior years, the top performing stock was already up 100% or so by now. It's good to see some homebuilders on the list (PHM, DHI, KBH), because positive performance from this group is likely to precede a turnaround in the real estate market. Other notables on the list of best performers include EOG, ZMH, DRI, YHOO, HOT and NUE.

click to enlarge

Bear Stearns (BSC) remains in the S&P 500, so it tops the list of losers at -93.47%. BSC is followed by ABK, CIT, S, TIE and WLP. So far this year, 100 stocks in the S&P 500 are up, while 400 are down. It hasn't been pretty.

Comments

[KRANKY]

Curious that in this crappy market, the top DOW stock is the junkiest company in America!
Worse-Mart, that sells cheap plastic junk made by semi-slaves in China.
Worse-Mart, that treats their employees like disposable garbage.
Worse-Mart, that kills once thriving communities and turns them into pits of poverty.
Worse-Mart, that instructs their non-living wage slaves how to collect off the public dole, just so they do not have to pay them decently.

Crappy market...even Crappier company.

No real american would ever shop there or invest in this paradigm of greed and ugliness!

[TM]

I see some good value in that Dow 30 worst YTD chart...

[bottomfissure]

Time to start nibbling on the loosers: big cap tech, Healthcare & possibly some of the financials. AAPL @ 125, UNH @ 32. Six months from now the loosers will probably be the winners. I also think commodities (i.e. dry goods) will continue going up, however, I like to the dry bulk shippers for that play (i.e. DRYS).

[xander]

to kranky-the usa gets better every time a unionized corp is reorganized in bankruptcy court!

[tjschoenlein]

KRANKY, If I'm reading you correctly.. you are " kinda " down on Wal-Mart.
I think this site is better served by omitting your political views and stay with the numbers, PEG, P/E, etc. Just a Missouri boy view.

[goatfarmer]

WMT is the news of the week. Finally a breakout after three years of bottoming. This is either a bullish signal or a tease. A week or two should give some indication.

I would agree with the Missouri man. This forum is no place for moaners, whingers,and the otherwise innumerate. I hope this site doesn't descend to the depths of yahoo message boards. Once again, a challenge for the editors of the site exists. Please edit detritutus.

[Leser]

Although I hold Wal-Mart stock, I feel Kranky has comments of worth. In a free forum, each of us has the write to express our thoughts. It may not have numbers, but the article does show some thoughts influencing the numbers of Wal-Mart, perhaps in a more significant way than one would consider. I have friends who wouldn't buy anything in Wal-Mart as long as there is a mom and pop shop around where they can make their purchases. I respect that, although I will go to Wal-Mart to purchase goods. I sincerely try to avoid the products from China, precisely because of the comment Kranky makes about the people in China being virtual (or in some cases actual) slaves. The negative comments about WMT will affect bottom lines and do have merit in being expressed. It's America, not China, where a point of view that may seem a digression to some should be tolerated for the benefit of knowing that we are all free to express our thoughts civilly, because they will be different than someone elses. So, I guess those who don't like the content have to practice skimming, as probably many people did with this post.

[Lawrence Klepinger]

Leser is absolutely right about the Chinese being slaves in their own country - and therefore not buying their products in protest. My hat is off to Leser for the comments. For those readers who want a "non-mass media" appraisal about what is really going on in the "New" China of today may I recommend a book that I have recently published entitled, CHINA HOUSE. It can be viewed on Amazon.com and ordered from that site. If you really care about what is really going on in the PRC this book is essential reading. Keep up the open commentary - both political and economic. I find it impossible separating the two.

[KRANKY]

I see that I have offended some here. Truth does that sometimes.
Want to knowwhat eally offends? Tke a look at WMT's ten year chart!
Dead money, and a LOSER when nominal inflation and a 70% dollar are factored in.
Here is another curiousity: the best DOW 30 performer last year was Honeywell, yet it was dropped from the index. Typical "sell your winners
and keep your weeds" strategy.
I would have done the opposite, dumping the retail DOG's: WMT and HD. They are not industrials anyway...they don't produce anything or provide real service; they are money traders for goods others make. In WMT's case, those goods are NOT USA.

Worse-Mart: first they kill our towns, then they kill our urban centers ( when allowed in ), then they kill our country.

But, go ahead.....take a good look at that ten year chart and tell me that this flatline is a good investment.

[sogreat]

BSC is very likely to be removed from SP for "lack of representation".

[Pepe]

Dear Kranky,
If you'd like to save some real money; shop WMT! I don't really care what the price of their shares is. It's the price of my groceries, appliances, and other household needs that matter.
And where would their employees be working if not at WMT? Do you think Mom & Pop would pay them more?

[d_teller]

Just a note of comparison; Walmarts in So.FL have higher prices for food, food brands, meats and fresh produce than the chain supermarkets: Publix & Winn-Dixie.
The chain supermarkets run weekly sales with prices for most bread, staples and produce that are much cheaper. Walmart's house brands are about the same price/value as Publix's. Produce at the local bodega is much cheaper than at Publix, and 1/3 the price at WalMart.

This is the same phenomena that occurred when I lived in KY: Walmart ads claiming low prices, but Krogers and Meiers had much cheaper groceries.

Perhaps for bulk imported sneakers, clothes and other non-food items, Walmart is cheaper than the chain Dept. stores:Penneys, Macy's and Sears. But when I see their "Always low prices", I cringe.
In terms of their stock's value, I haven't a clue, because unless they pay me to hold their risk, I don't buy their stock.

[KRANKY]

Hey Pepe. I really do appreciate the advice, but I prefer to make the dollars and not worry about saving the few pennies that Worse-Mart promises and never delivers.
Ben Franklin had it right: Penny wise and Pound foolish.
Worse-Mart gets people concentrating on crumbs, while they are raping the commonwealth left and right.

BTW: for your own health, do not buy meat at WMT. It is processed months in advance. Date stamps are bogus.
They fired ALL of the butchers for complaining years ago. Documented.
Don't believe me, look it up.

[marol]

Re: WMT (what else?).

Like many others -- increasing numbers of others -- I won't shop there. Pepe, Mom & Pop do pay them substantially more -- they are required to by law. I will not go into detail here about unallowed bathroom breaks, required signing-in late (i.e., after working for some time) and signing out early, and on and on. You can check it out.

So why, when folks generally believe prices are lower, are they doing so poorly? In part, I suspect, because increasing public awareness of their bad and illegal behavior is shifting public opinion. (I agree with Lawrence: This is one reason why we should not try to eliminate non-pure-financial opinions from this excellent website. As for free speech: it's one of the few American principles agreed upon by both political extremes.)

It is generally considered important for companies to maintain good public relations by behaving well. Nefarious behavior can only be hidden for so long. And then of course there are those darn pesky lawsuits when the truth comes out -- along with far greater publicity, because lawsuits make great headlines.

I can't resist a suggestion: to save some real money on purchases, shop Craigslist! (If they ever go public, I'll be in line for shares.)

[max stirner]

It is interesting that WMT is up 10% this year, when so much else is down. i'll add it to my watch list and start following it. like goatfarmer, i'm curious where the stock price will be in 2 weeks, 1 month, etc.
a couple years ago i picked up a few shares, but lost interest and sold when month after month the price was flat or sliding.
i don't confuse the reasons to buy or sell with the reasons to shop or not shop, but i can't resist a quick observation as a consumer.
up until recently i never shopped at WMT because there wasn't one nearby. i just moved to a city that is full of them. one of the supermarket wallmarts is convenient and i like it for a few reasons. 1.) its open 24 hours 2.) the isles are wide- i don't like dodging and zig-zagging through a crowded obstacle course when i know what i want 3.) i usually don't have to wait long to check-out.

[Pepe]

To Kranky: Touche! I think there are supporting facts for both of us. There definitely are negative factors involved on both sides of our discussion. Neither side is without need of improvement. My hope is that both sides will profit from the strongly-opinionated popular discussion of this WMT vs. the world debate.
BTW: I bought my Spiral-cut Ham for Easter at Smith's because their price was lowest! Happy Easter.

[NI123]

What Kranky says about WMT's meat is absolutely true. A couple of weeks ago, my neighbor bought $40 worth of ribeyes from WMT to celebrate a new job. They looked normal in the package, looked and smelled great on the grill, but I noticed something odd the moment I cut into one: there was no noticeable marbling - my steak cut like a thick slab of country ham. Unfortunately, due to all the saline WMT pumps into their meats (10% in most cases - check the meat label and see for yourself), my $10 ribeye tasted like a salty breakfast ham. I kid you not, it had the same consistency and taste of a freakin ham, even down to the little bubbles that form in a chopped and formed ham. I was disgusted, and will never buy WMT meat again. I am getting to the point where I won't buy WMT's groceries again, because as other posters here have pointed out, the larger grocery stores do actually tend to have cheaper prices. Are they collaborating to make Wal-Mart's food department a thing of the past? I hope so - WMT is growing too large for comfort.

[boobiesdd]

aig a good bargain??seems to be on downturn still..good buy??

[Rong]

I have never boutht much from Wall-Mart but did buy WMT and made some money. Is that not what this is all about?