Wall Street Journal Examines the Investment Performance of Key Sports Cards

Wall Street Journal Examines the Investment Performance of Key Sports Cards
January 12, 2010, 7:00 am

A story in Tuesday’s edition of the The Wall Street Journal pits 30 key sports trading cards against the 30 companies that currently comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Journal’s findings: Over the last five years, the key sports cards have outperformed the DJIA with an average return of 12.4 percent to 7.9 percent.

Beckett Media worked with Journal reporter David Biderman to compile the list of the top 30 most influential sports cards of all time (15 baseball and five each from basketball, football and hockey), a list the WSJ story refers to as the “Sports Card Industrial Average.”

Need an Investment? Check Those Bike Spokes

By DAVID BIDERMAN

Stock prices have had a good run in the past year or so, but sports fans needing to diversify their holdings may have another market to explore.

For 2005 through 2009, the 30 cards that make up the Sports Card Industrial Average, an index put together for The Wall Street Journal by sports-memorabilia company Beckett Media, had an average return on investment of 12.4%. Over that span, the return on the 30 companies that now make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average was an average 7.9%.

To be sure, the Sports Card average isn't actually an index that you can invest in as a market benchmark—it's a group of 15 baseball cards and five football, basketball and hockey cards that Beckett selected as their sports' most influential.
Blue-Chip Cards

According to sports-memorabilia company Beckett Media, here's how the value of several prominent sports cards has changed over the past five years.
CARD

12/31/04 Value ($)
12/31/09 Value ($) Yield
Topps 1952 Mickey Mantle 20,000 30,000 50%

Gaudey 1933 Babe Ruth
6,000 8,000 33%

Topps 1966-67 Bobby Orr
2,500 3,000 20%
Topps 1965 Joe Namath 1,600 1,800 13%
Topps 1957-78 Bill Russell 1,000 1,100 10%
Bowman 1948 George Mikan 2,500 2,250 -10%
T206 1909-11 Honus Wagner 500,000 350,000 -30%

There were highlights in both markets. Hewlett-Packard Co. led the DJIA with a 145.6% return, and seven other companies tallied returns of more than 25%. That's one more than the number of cards that did better than 25%. But there were 23 cards that maintained or improved their value, which is three more than the number of Dow components that did. The value of the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card (pictured) jumped 50% to $30,000.

Actually, if you take away probably the most famous sports card of all time—the T206 Honus Wagner baseball card that was issued from 1909-11—the sports-card index does much better. The Wagner card's value fell to $350,000 from $500,000 over the five years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703652104574652424279645800.html

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