2004 Year

U.S. infant mortality declined slightly in 2004 to the lowest level on record, but the death rate for babies born to black mothers was more than double that of white mothers' babies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. The infant mortality rate, tracking deaths up to age 1, was 6.78 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2004, compared with 6.84 in 2003, the agency said.

Driven by an unusually mild flu season, annual deaths in the U.S. fell by 50,000 in 2004, the largest drop in more than 60 years, federal officials said Wednesday. The decrease was a fraction of the 2.4 million total deaths in 2004, but it helped push the nation's death rate to a record low of 801 per 100,000 people.

Even in the iPod era, a car radio remains the best testing ground for pop music. Whether you're on the open road or stuck in traffic, there's a joy in hearing a song so exhilarating that you want to reach over to turn up the volume. Several selections in our annual New Year's Day salute to the most compelling singles of the last 12 months fall into this category -- including tunes by Kanye West, U2 and the teams of Loretta Lynn/Jack White and Ray Charles/Norah Jones.

The journey of the word "blog" into the mainstream is now complete. Late last month, Merriam-Webster announced that "blog," the crude but catchy name for an Internet journal, was the most searched-for word at its online dictionary, www.m-w.com, in 2004. Reuters said the word "came to symbolize the difference between old and new media during this year's presidential campaign."

Wall Street rang up its second straight year of gains Friday, despite a weak showing by many of the stock market's best known names. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average posted a modest gain of 3.2% for the year after closing out 2004 with a losing session in which it fell 17.29 points, or 0.2%, to 10,783.01. The Dow's 12-month performance was the poorest of any major U.S. market index. By contrast, the Standard & Poor's 500 index, which slipped 1.63 points, or 0.1%, to 1,211.

The number of tornadoes reported in the U.S. reached a record high of 1,717 in 2004, surpassing the previous record by almost 300, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

The best investment lesson of 2004 may be this: A bull market is wherever you find it. In the stock market, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average eked out a 3.2% gain for the year. But investors didn't have to look far to find much better returns. The Dow transportation stock index zoomed 26.3% as investors snapped up trucking and railroad issues -- beneficiaries of the growing economy. Energy stocks had a terrific year as oil and gas prices did a levitation act.

Call them "Desperate Moguls," as in desperate to polish their legacies in Hollywood before it's too late. Ex-agent Michael Ovitz spent the latter part of 2004 on a Delaware witness stand, attempting to restore a reputation damaged eight years ago while serving as president of Walt Disney Co. Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, meanwhile, tried for much of the year to solidify his standing after angry shareholders demanded his exit come sooner than Tomorrowland.

For those who might have forgotten, one of the most important tasks before us as a nation is to create a more friendly business environment. Less government regulation means more entrepreneurial freedom, and everybody wins. That's why President Bush is determined not to let the fate of a few animal species get in the way of unfettered development, drilling and mining. And that's why Gov.

U.S. 30-year mortgage rates averaged 5.84% in 2004, holding near the previous year's record low and helping drive home sales to all-time highs, Freddie Mac said. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was almost unchanged from 2003's 5.83%, the lowest since Freddie Mac began keeping track in 1972. Last week, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage edged up to 5.81% from 5.75% the week before. The 15-year fixed rate rose to an average 5.23% from 5.18%.