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Stocks finished off 2007 with losses as investors felt uncertain about the coming economic situation. The Dow finished the day lower by 101. The Nasdaq lost 22 points. The S&P 500 fell by 10 points. It was a tale of two halves of the year for the stock market. The first half of the year was very strong with broad based gains, the second half was turbulent and marred by credit market worries. The Dow finished off the year 6.43% higher. The S&P 500 gained a much smaller 3.53% for the year. The strongest of the major indices for the year was the Nasdaq, which gained 9.81%.  

Energy stocks led the way on the downside today as crude oil prices underwent some profit-taking. Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) lost 2.44% on the day. XTO Energy (NYSE:XTO) shares fell by 2.62%. Weatherford International (NYSE:WFT) led the equipment and services lower, falling 2.61%.

Technology stocks were also lower today. Research In Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) shares fell 3.03% to lead the big cap techs to the downside. Garmin (Nasdaq:GRMN) lost another 2.19%, extending its losses from last week. Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) fell 2.66%, but has been very strong of late.

The basic material sector which has been so strong this year, suffered from some profit-taking today to finish 2007. Gold stocks were particularly weak on the day. Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) shares lost 2.5% after being higher in the morning. Freeport McMoran (NYSE:FCX) slid 2.02% in extremely light trading today. The Mosaic Company (NYSE:MOS) lost 1.57% today, but that measly loss probably didn't crush investors that have been along for the 342% gain this year. 
 

Today's trading action was not particularly important as most investors took the day off, and volume was extremely light. The concerns about the economy have really hurt the market in the final months of 2007, and time will tell if that will continue into 2008 as well.

Continue to stay tuned to GrowYourFunds as we will continue to add to our 2008 investment knowledge series, which is geared toward informing investors and preparing you for the year ahead. Happy New Year to everyone!