Commentary

Investment Figures of the Week

COMMENTARY

How low can interest rates go? The bond market appeared unstoppable, with a

rally that helped to push the yield on the 30-year U.S. Treasury bond well

below 6%. The interest-rate rally was aided by falling gold and oil prices,

signs that inflation is dead. On the equity side of the Street, investors

returned from the holiday weekend with an urge to take profits. The Dow dropped

over 45 points on Sept. 7 and 8 alone. For the week, small and midsize stocks

were hit even harder than the blue chips.

MARKET ANALYSIS

% change

U.S. STOCKS

Latest Week 52-week

DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS 3588.9 -1.5 9.7

MIDSIZE COMPANIES (S&P MidCap Index) 170.0 -2.5 18.0

SMALL COMPANIES (Russell 2000) 243.0 -1.7 27.5

ALL COMPANIES (Russell 3000) 263.6 -1.5 12.6

% change (local currency)

FOREIGN STOCKS Latest Week 52-week

LONDON (FINANCIAL TIMES 100) 3035.4 -1.6 30.4

TOKYO (NIKKEI INDEX) 20,918.2 -0.2 10.8

TORONTO (TSE COMPOSITE) 3952.9 -4.6 14.6

FUNDAMENTALS Latest Week ago Year ago

90-DAY TREASURY BILL YIELD 3.02% 3.08% 2.98%

30-YEAR TREASURY BOND YIELD 5.86% 6.09% 7.26%

S&P 500 DIVIDEND YIELD 2.73% 2.70% 2.97%

S&P 500 PRICE/EARNINGS RATIO 23.6 24.0 24.5

TECHNICAL INDICATORS Latest Week ago Reading

S&P 500 26-week moving average 448.5 448.2 Positive

Stocks above 26-week moving average 62.9% 64.7% Neutral

Speculative sentiment: Put/call ratio 0.44 0.45 Positive

Insider sentiment: Vickers sell/buy ratio 2.43 2.58 Neutral

BRIDGE INFORMATION SYSTEMS INC.

INDUSTRY GROUPS

% change Strongest % change

FOUR-WEEK LEADERS 4-week 52-week stock in group 4-week 52-week Price

HEALTH-CARE SERVICES 13.8 -37.9 AMGEN 17.5 -41.5 37 3/4

OIL EXPLORATION AND

PRODUCTION 11.0 1.4 ORYX ENERGY 18.0 -4.0 23 3/4

MACHINE TOOLS 8.6 34.6 GIDDINGS & LEWIS 14.3 17.1 24

FOODS 8.5 -9.8 BORDEN 23.0 -33.3 18 3/4

% change Weakest % change

FOUR-WEEK LAGGARDS 4-week 52-week stock in group 4-week 52-week Price

HOTELS AND MOTELS 8.3 94.5 PROMUS 14.0 308.3 67 3/8

GOLD MINING -14.9 30.4 ECHO BAY MINES -26.5 50.0 9 3/8

HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT -12.1 -0.7 NATIONAL MEDICAL

ENTERPRISES -34.0 -44.1 7 3/4

AUTOMOBILES -5.2 35.4 GENERAL MOTORS -8.2 27.4 44 3/4

APPAREL MANUFACTURING -4.7 -23.5 OSHKOSH B'GOSH -13.5 -42.0 13 5/8

SHOES -4.6 -21.5 NIKE -7.0 -28.8 51 1/4

MORNINGSTAR INC.

MUTUAL FUNDS

LEADERS LAGGARDS

Four-week total return % Four-week total return %

SCUDDER LATIN AMERICA 17.2 LEXINGTON STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS -11.9

MERRILL LYNCH LATIN AMERICA A 12.7 MONITREND GOLD -10.4

PROGRESSIVE AGGRESSIVE GROWTH 10.8 SHERMAN, DEAN -9.0

52-week total return % 52-week total return %

PBHG GROWTH 91.6 MONITREND GOLD -13.9

LEXINGTON STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS 77.8 FIDELITY SELECT MEDICAL DELIVERY -12.0

EXCEL MIDAS GOLD SHARES 71.2 INVESCO STRATEGIC HEALTH SCIENCES -11.3

RELATIVE PORTFOLIOS

Foreign stocks Treasury bonds U.S. stocks Gold Money market fund

$13,687 $12,662 $11,380 $10,650 $10,226

+0.40% +2.06% -0.73% -1.82% +0.05%

Dollar amounts

represent the present value of $10,000

invested one year ago in each portfolio

Percentages indicate

five-day total returns

All data on this page are as of market close Wednesday, Sept. 8, 1993, unless

otherwise indicated. Industry groups include S&P 500 companies only;

performance and share prices are as of market close Sept. 7. Mutual fund

returns are as of Sept. 3. Relative portfolios are valued as of Sept. 7. A more

detailed explanation of this page is available on request.