Although this was announced the first business day in May, it’s important to note that investors were immediately more optimistic once the news was released that Osama Bin Laden had been eliminated. Stock prices rose and oil prices dropped in the midst of the celebrations. Although some backlash should be expected, this development deserves continued attention throughout the month to see how it all works out. Some naysayers are calling this a “moral victory” and expect the global outlook to remain the same.

For April 2011, the market was back to business as usual even before this big news item broke. After a disappointing March, the past month was back to record highs with the best numbers seen since 2008 for the same time period.

All Three are Up for April 2011

No matter what May brings, April 2011 was a good month for investors. All three indexes are up again this month. The Dow finished at 12,810 for April after showing only a slight increase to 12,319 for March. The NASDAQ closed at 2,873 this past month, up from a March figure of 2,781. The S&P was also up with a 1,363 finish, increasing from March’s 1,325 ending number. In the commodities game, everything finished high when compared to March. Gold rose from $1,438 to $1,561, oil rose from $106.59 to $113.66, and natural gas rose from $4.37 to $4.68.

The US Debt Rating

In the middle of April, the S&P made a historic announcement about the US debt rating. Although the country would still enjoy an AAA rating, the S&P changed the debt outlook from a more-positive stable rating to a not-so-good negative one. This is the first time in history that this has ever happened, and the stock market reflected this bad news. Soon, the experts were blaming the development on a variety of other issues, and the stock market rebounded to close at a multi-year high. On the last day of April, the Dow was just 1,354 points, or 9.6%, below its historic high of 14,164 points seen in October of 2007.

Other April Developments

The following list details a few more interesting items from the April 2011 timeframe:
• The Federal Reserve Chairman reiterated the central bank’s commitment to low interest rates.
• 73% of companies reporting quarterly earnings outperformed their earnings estimates.
• Consumer spending showed a 0.2% increase in April, and personal income rose by 0.5%.
• Caterpillar and Chevron were the shining stars in April while Microsoft didn’t perform nearly as well as expected.
• Gas prices were up 8.4% for April and 27.2% for the year with 37 consecutive days of increases.

As the month of May moves forward, investors are expected to remain watchful and optimistic. It seems that almost every month in 2011 has brought a new crisis, and the market has weathered each and every storm. Hopefully, this trend will continue.

April’s Dividend Paying Stocks

Although the last day of the month showed a slight dip where the Standard and Poor’s 500 Dividend Aristocrats were concerned, this category was up for the month, the quarter, and the year. Total returns rose 3.48% for the month, 3.48% for the quarter, and 7.61% year-to-date. Price returns had similar results in the same categories: 3.38%, 3.38%, and 6.81%. Looking at the long-term gains, total returns were up 17.4% for the past year, 8.84% for the past three years, and 6.35% for the past five years. Looking at the price returns, the same figures were 13.93%, 5.33%, and 3.22%. At the end of April 2011, the following stocks were the top performers in this category:

• Leggett and Platt from the Consumer Discretionary sector trading at $26.59
• Sigma-Aldrich Corp from the Materials sector trading at $70.58
• Chubb Corp from the Financials sector trading at $65.19
• Johnson & Johnson from the Health Care sector trading at $65.72
• Bard, C.R. Inc from the Health Care sector trading at $106.71
• Grainger, W.W. Inc from the Industrials sector trading at $151.60
• Becton, Dickinson & Co from the Health Care sector trading at $65.94
• Cintas Corp from the Industrials sector trading at $31.05
• AFLAC Inc from the Financials sector trading at $56.19
• Ecolab Inc from the Materials sector trading at $52.76

All But One of the Industrial Sectors Were Up for April 2011

All but one of the 10 industrial sectors showed growth for the month. The financials sector, the only area with a decrease, only dropped 0.1% for April. Among the rest, gains were modest, but encouraging. The winner for April was Health Care with a 6.42% increase. Overall, the average growth for all sectors was a healthy 2.85% for the month, 8.43% year-to-date, 14.91% for the past year, and an amazing 56.23% for the past two years. The following list shows how each sector performed for April 2011:

• Energy sector, up by 1.48% for April, up by 33.08% for the year
• Materials sector, up by 2.05% for April, up by 23.86% for the year
• Industrial sector, up by 2.69% for April, up by 17.62% for the year
• Consumer Discretionary Spending sector up by 3.89% for April, up by 16.81% for the year
• Consumer Staples sector, up by 5.05% for April, up by 14.39% for the year
• Health Care sector, up by 6.42% for April, up by 13.81% for the year
• Financials sector, down by 0.10% for April, up by 1.36% for the year
• Information Technology sector, up by 2.92% for April, up by 12.07% for the year
• Telecommunication sector, up by 0.67% for April, up by 25.79% for the year
• Utilities sector, up by 3.83% for April up by 8.90% for the year
• Total, up by 2.85% for April, up by 14.91% for the year