Utilities Beat Market Averages in 2011

摘要

Electric utilities, as measured by the Edison Electric Institute (eei) Index, produced a positive 20.0-percent total shareholder return in 2011, outperforming the Dow Jones' 8.4 percent, S&P 500's 2.1 percent, and Nasdaq's negative 1.8-percent returns. The EEI Index had its strongest annual gain since 2006, outperforming the broad market after two consecutive years of underperformance as stocks rebounded from the lows reached during the 2008 financial crisis. In the summer of 2011, the market suffered a sharp decline on investors' recognition that U.S. economic growth had slowed, which combined with investor frustration (over U.S. politicians' efforts in July to deal with the U.S. fiscal debt limit and Europe's leaders' equally contentious response to their continent's sovereign debt woes) to severely sap market confidence.