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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (113678)	12/29/2000 11:11:58 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

Thanks Bill. Wow! $2 bucks. Your such an optimist. Btw How long have you and your idols the motley fool, been living in a closet? >Published: December 29 2000 20:33GMT \| Last Updated: December 30 2000 01:56GMT The annus horribilis of new economy stocks drew to an end on Friday as the Nasdaq Composite Index, once the celebrated barometer of the high-technology boom, headed to its worst year since it was started almost three decades ago. The debacle was mirrored around the world. Japan's Nikkei 225 index ended down 27 per cent at 13,785, its poorest year in a decade. In London, the FTSE 100 finished down 10 per cent at 6,222.5, its worst performance since 1990. Germany's benchmark Xetra Dax index has been relatively resistant to decline, but is still 20 per cent off its March peak. The high-technology Neuer Markt has suffered a much sharper fall of about two-thirds. The Paris CAC 40 index of blue chip shares is about 15 per cent off its peak for the year and about the same level as at the start of the year. At the same time, hopes for a January rebound in the US were tempered by fears that tax bills being sent to US investors could make for a crueller first month of the year than usual. "It is going to be a really treacherous year ahead," said Michael Belkin, who runs a financial and economic forecasting firm in New York. Trading on Wall Street had a certain poetic justice on Friday as big drops for technology stocks such as Cisco and Juniper Networks dragged the leading indexes lower. The Nasdaq was down 48.96, or 1.9 per cent, to 2,508.80 in early trading, more than 50 per cent off its March record high and down 38 per cent for the year. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 3.25 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 1,330.97. The Dow Jones industrial average was off 17.44, or 0.2 per cent, at 10,851.32. Although the drops in the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average paled beside that of the Nasdaq, they were both headed for their worst years since 1981. The return for the year on the S&P 500, as of Thursday, was minus 8.15 per cent, the worst performance since 1980. The most appealing market in the developed world has been Copenhagen, with a mere 3 per cent gain, followed by Zurich with 2 per cent. New Zealand was at the bottom of the pile with a fall of 33 per cent. In recent years, January has been a good month for US stocks as money automatically goes into pension funds and is then put to work on Wall Street. But fears were growing of a January squeeze this year as mutual fund investors pay taxes on realised market gains while sitting on unrealised losses in their remaining holdings. Fund investors, which number close to 80m, this December received unusually large annual dividend distributions, which are classified as taxable income. The payouts came because mutual funds sold shares heavily and distributed profits to investors. Many funds paid out 20 per cent of their assets this year. However, investors were not prepared for hefty taxable income from an investment that was also showing a loss. Equity funds are trading well below the levels of a year ago, leaving investors unwilling to pour more money into them. "A lot of people are paying a tax where they didn't think they should or would pay one," said Don White, chief executive of Treasure Coast Financial. "A lot of people thought if the fund was showing a loss they wouldn't get any income." Additional reporting by Mary Chung

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (113678)	12/30/2000 1:01:41 AM
From: Sarmad Y. Hermiz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

>> Oil prices are $2 lower now than when 2000 began! There is a very strong likelihood they'll exceed that level in a couple of weeks. If you don't mind, can you post the price of gasoline in LA ? In michigan, gasoline is up approx 20c/gal in the last two weeks. I'm curious if that is just local or more general.