The Innovation Index drops 4%, still up 1% and leads major U.S. indices - Weekly Report 02-28-07

Amidst the biggest market selloff since 2001, The Innovation Index dropped 4% in one week. NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index each dropped 4% as well in one week. S & P 500 dropped 3% in one week.



For the year though, The Innovation Index is still up 1%. S & P 500 is down 1%, and Dow Jones Index is down 2%. NASDAQ is even for the year. The Innovation Index continues to hold on its own despite the large selloff, and is in the positive territory.

The Innovation Index closed at 70.12 on February 28, 2007, up 0.81 points, or 1% from the closing price of 69.31 on December 29, 2006.

Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) continues to lead the top 20 Innovators with an impressive 21% gain for the year. Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) is back to double digit gains, and is up 10% for the year. eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is still holding well at 7% gain for the year. Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is surprisingly doing well at 8% gain for the year owing to a solid earnings report, same store sales increase of 4.8% from previous year, and good outlook. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) is also in the positive at 5% gain for the year buoyed by strong retail market.

Across the board, all the top 20 Innovators were in the red last week owing to the large selloff. However, the top 20 innovators will prove their resilience as the market begins a rebound. For now, The Innovation Index is still up 1% for the year, and continues to beat the major U.S. indices.

About The Innovation Index

The Innovation Index introduced in December, 2006 is a weighted stock price index of the top 20 Innovators in North America.

The Innovation Index has returned 119% over the last five years. This assumes an investment in each stock of The Innovation Index (buying each stock). An average of $100 invested in The Innovation Index on December 31, 2001 returned $219 as of December 29, 2006. By comparison, $100 invested in each of S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index returned $124. The Innovation Index beats the S & P 500, NASDAQ and Dow Jones Index by 77% over the last five years.

The Normalized Innovation Index is even more impressive, and has returned 174% over the last five years. This assumes equal investment in each stock of The Innovation Index.

The alphabetical list of the top 20 Innovators of The Innovation Index along with their stock ticker symbols are presented below:

3M Company - (NYSE: MMM)
Amazon.com, Inc. - (NASDAQ: AMZN)
America Movil - (NYSE: AMX)
Apple Inc. - (NASDAQ: AAPL)
Cisco Systems, Inc. - (NASDAQ: CSCO)
Dell Inc. - (NASDAQ: DELL)
eBay Inc. - (NASDAQ: EBAY)
General Electric Co. - (NYSE: GE)
Google Inc. - (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Hewlett-Packard Co. - (NYSE: HPQ)
Intel Corporation - (NYSE: INTC)
International Business Machines Corp. - (NYSE: IBM)
Microsoft Corporation - (NASDAQ: MSFT)
Research In Motion Limited - (NASDAQ: RIMM)
Southwest Airlines Co. - (NYSE: LUV)
Starbucks Corporation - (NASDAQ: SBUX)
Target Corp. - (NYSE: TGT)
The Proctor & Gamble Company - (NYSE: PG)
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. - (NYSE: WMT)
Yahoo! Inc. - (NASDAQ: YHOO)

The Innovation Index will analyze the positions and standings of the top 20 Innovators at the end of each year. For 2007, there will be no further changes in The Innovation Index.

Disclaimer: I invest in the stocks comprising The Innovation Index.