The Worst of '08 Have Been the Best of '09

With the year coming to an end today, we broke the S&P 500 into deciles (10 groups of 50 stocks) based on stock performance in 2008 to see what impact it had on performance in 2009.  Many of the stocks that got hit the hardest last year came roaring back this year, and the numbers below help quantify this.  As shown, the 50 stocks in the S&P 500 that did the worst in 2008 are up an average of 101% in 2009!  The 50 stocks that did the best in 2008 are up an average of just 9% in 2009.  2009 was definitely a year when buying the losers worked.

Read more about 2009 and the outlook for next year in our 2010 Bespoke Report, which will be released to Bespoke Premium subscribers this afternoon.