How to punctuate bullet-pointed lists

Have you ever used a bullet-pointed list in a memo, report or PowerPoint presentation? Are you punctuating your lists correctly? Or maybe you’re not as compulsive as I am about these picky points.

Anyway, here’s what one reference book, The Grammar Bible, says:

If a sentence follows the bullet, place a period at the end. Words and phrases that follow bullets need no ending punctuation. It is never necessary to place the conjunction and before the last item in a bulleted list.

Examples

Wrong

The following asset classes are used:

• Large-cap equities,
• Small-cap equities, and
• U.S. Treasuries

Right

The following asset classes are used:

• Large-cap equities
• Small-cap equities
• U.S. Treasuries

Does this make sense? If it doesn’t, then post a comment with a sample bullet pointed-list. I’ll give you my suggestion on how to punctuate it.

Note: This post was revised for a grammar mistake on August 29, 2012, and expanded on May 26, 2014.

Image courtesy of adamr at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.