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August 11, 2002 at 08:00 PM
NU Stock Analyst
A month ago a discouraged investor asked my opinion regarding the market in general, and insurance stocks in particular. My reply was, “Dont worry, nothing will be alright.”
Little did I know how correct my prediction would turn out to be!
July 2002 was one of the worst, if not the worst, months for insurance stocks, and for the general market, I can recall. A look at the price statistics for the month documents the falling market, and indicates our battered specialty did even worse.
Of the 114 issues priced, there were 101 declines and only 13 advances. Simple visual inspection indicates a win/lose ratio we have not seen before, and hope not to see again. All of the insurance groups, except the Property & Casualty stocks, were double-digit losers.
The Reinsurers were worst after collapsing 13.35%. Not much better were the Multi-lines, down 10.94%. The Brokers followed with a 10.82% decline. The Life & Health sector ended off 10.37%, which brings us to the P&C group.
The P&C stocks were off 6.90%! In most months that would have made P&C stocks one of the worst, if not the worst performing group. But that was not the case in July 2002 when 9 P&C issues actually advanced.
