Main Street's Index, the BetterInvesting 100, Increased 11.5% a Year for 10 Years Through December, Beating Its S&P Benchmark

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich., Jan. 9, 2018

The index increased 1.6 percent from the end of November. BIXX's total return index ended December at 448.78, compared with 441.68 at the end of November. Without dividends reinvested, the index was 338.76 at the end of December, an annual increase of 8.5 percent for the past 10 years and of 13.9 percent for the past five years.

The BetterInvesting 100 Index comprises the most popular holdings of investment clubs, employing annual data from the myICLUB.com online club accounting program. Solactive calculates the index, which began on April 9, 2007, at a base value of 150. BIXX is equal-weighted, meaning that each component constitutes the same percentage in the index.

BIXX reflects actual portfolio decisions by individual investors in investment clubs, while other indexes are weighted heavily toward decisions by large institutional investors. BetterInvesting's individual members and investment clubs tend to have a longer-term focus than do institutions, with clubs' average holding period for stocks at 3.1 years in 2016, according to myICLUB.com data.

Holding quality stocks selling at reasonable prices for the long term allows clubs and individual investors to benefit from the return these stocks often earn when the market recognizes their excellence. Long-term investing also reduces the costs of trading, which effectively increases return.

In December, the most common stocks acquired by investment clubs that subscribe to club-accounting portal myICLUB, in terms of number of clubs buying, were:

1. Amazon.com (AMZN)
2. Visa (V)
3. General Electric (GE)
4. Nvidia (NVDA)
5. Starbucks (SBUX)
6. Apple (AAPL)
7. CVS Health (CVS)
8. Facebook (FB)
9. Microsoft (MSFT)AT&T (T)
10. Applied Materials (AMAT)

BIXX includes companies of all sizes, from small and medium-size firms to the world's largest companies. To see the top 100 companies held by BetterInvesting members, go to the BetterInvesting website at www.betterinvesting.org.