Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index down 4.7 percent in July

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended July with a 4.7-percent decrease to 2,135 and is down 9.7 percent year-to-date 2011. The index ended 2010 at 2,364.

Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and STR partnered to create the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index-the first widely available U.S. hotel stock index in the hotel industry. The index combines Baird's financial markets expertise, the data processing of STR and the up-to-the-minute distribution capabilities of HotelNewsNow.com, the industry's leading news website.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index underperformed the S&P 500 and the RMZ. The S&P ended July with a 2.1-percent decrease, and the RMZ ended the month with a 1.4-percent increase.

"Clearly investors are concerned about the immediate future for the U.S. and the global economy and about spending on discretionary items like travel," said Randy Smith, co-founder and chairman of STR. "While the overall markets have taken a hit, hotel stocks seem to be under particular scrutiny as anxiety about room demand and pricing continues to heighten. While the industry has experienced fairly strong demand over the past few months, the outlook is becoming less clear as both domestic and international travel could be hurt by the ongoing financial crisis gripping governments around the world. While the short-term outlook remains positive for the industry, uncertainty will probably plague hotel stocks for the immediate future."

"Sentiment toward hotel stocks has turned decidedly negative," said David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird. "Hotel stock investors are clearly pricing in a double-dip recession despite still-strong fundamentals. Even with a slowing economy, we expect occupancy to remain positive and rates to continue their upward trend."

About the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was set to equal 1000 on 1 January 2000, as its starting point. The Index reached its peak of 3178 on 5 July 2007. The Index's lowest point occurred on 6 March 2009, when it dropped to 573.

The Index is available exclusively on www.hotelstockindex.com and www.HotelNewsNow.com. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is a co-branded index created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR). The market-cap weighted Index is comprised of 15 of the largest market capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempts to characterize the performance of hotel stocks. The Index is maintained by Baird and is hosted on HotelNewsNow.com. The Index is not actively managed and a direct investment cannot be made in it.

The current companies that comprise the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index: Ashford Hospitality Trust, Choice Hotels International, DiamondRock Hospitality, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hospitality Properties Trust, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Marriott International, Orient-Express Hotels, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Sunstone Hotel Investors and Wyndham Worldwide.

About Baird | Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of $89 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked number 14 on FORTUNE's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2011 – its eighth consecutive year on the list. Baird's principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird's private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird's Web site at www.rwbaird.com.