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 It's time once again to announce the Dogs of the Dow for the year 2008. After experiencing a decline in 2005, and a double digit gain in 2006, the Dow had a mediocre year in 2007 gaining only 6.4%. It was also a tough year for the Dogs of the Dow - finishing-up pretty much where they started the year.
Dogs of the Dow Performance
The Dogs of the Dow ended 2007 with a 1.4% loss for the year. That's the worst performance since 2005 when the measure lost 5.1%. More importantly, the "Dogs" under-performed when compared to broader measures of the stock market such as the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
In 2007, the S&P 500 finished the year with a 3.5% gain, and the DJIA closed out the year with a 6.4% gain. That means the Dogs of the Dow Theory did not meet its objective last year since it failed to beat these two measures. Overall, the Dogs of the Dow Theory has only proved itself a winning investment strategy twice in the last five years.
2008 Dogs of the Dow
It's only possible to announce the 2008 Dogs of the Dow after the last trading day of a given year. The criteria for choosing these new Dogs are pretty simple.
These new Dogs can be found in the following table:
Dogs of the Dow List - 2008
| Stock Symbol |
Company Name |
2007 Close |
Dividend Yield |
| C |
Citigroup, Inc. |
29.44 |
7.34% |
| PFE |
Pfizer, Inc. |
22.73 |
5.63% |
| GM |
General Motors |
24.89 |
4.02% |
| MO |
Altria Group |
75.58 |
3.97% |
| VZ |
Verizon Communications, Inc. |
43.69 |
3.94% |
| T |
AT&T, Inc. |
41.56 |
3.85% |
| DD |
Du Pont De Nemours |
44.09 |
3.72% |
| JPM |
JPMorgan Chase & Co |
43.65 |
3.48% |
| GE |
General Electric |
37.07 |
3.35% |
| HD |
Home Depot, Inc. |
26.94 |
3.34% |
If you look back at the 2007 Dogs of the Dow, then you'll notice there was not a lot of change to the list this year. In fact, there was only one change from last year's list. In 2008, Home Depot is now a member of the Dogs, replacing Merck & Co.
Dow Theories
This particular Dow Theory was first popularized by Michael O'Higgins in his book Beating the Dow, back in 1992. If you're interested in learning more about the assumptions behind this investing strategy, then you might want to read our complete article on Dogs of the Dow. That article explains all of the history behind this approach, including how you are supposed to invest in each of these stocks. It also contains the list of Dogs of the Dow for prior years, as well as the annual performance of the Dogs over the last several years.
About the Author - Dogs of the Dow 2008
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