471 Stocks In The S&P 500 Down In 2008…The Only Winners Were The Takeovers

Stock Certificate: Soy Un Perdedor

Over at Bespoke Investment Group‘s site, they’ve got the top 15 performers on the S&P 500 and the bottom 15 for 2008.  Interestingly, out of the worst 15, 5 of them don’t exist anymore (Lehman, WaMu, Nat City, Bear and Circuit City).

More interestingly, and a great sign of the times for 2008, was that 5 of the top 15 performers were acquired during the course of the year, essentially putting them out of our misery before they had a chance to do more damage to investors.

Wrigley, Bud, Safeco, EDS and Barr were taken out during the course of the year and as a result, are 5 out of only 29 stocks in the S&P 500 that actually finished with a gain.  If only more companies in the index were acquired!

For the percentage gain and loss figures themselves, check out the Notorious B.I.G. site by clicking here: Bespoke Investment Group