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, today 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. 

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.   

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