Back in December, my friend Steve Sjuggerud described a British spending spree taking place in America. At the time, the pound was worth about $1.95, and Brits were enjoying a 50% discount on their Christmas shopping across the pond.

The conglomerate sector was down 8.85% for the first quarter of 2008. That might not seem like an argument in favor of conglomerate investing, but when you consider that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was down 10.05% for the same period it seems a bit better.