S&P Capital IQ's proprietary STARS (STock Appreciation Ranking System) offers a fresh approach to equities analysis. STARS evaluates the immediate investment potential of the stock it covers, with emphasis on the timing of investment decisions.

STARS was designed specifically to meet the needs of investors looking mainly or exclusively for superior market performance over a six-to-12-month period. To help put their investment decisions in perspective, S&P Capital IQ's equities analysts rank the appreciation potential of stocks in their areas of expertise in one of the following five categories:

Strong Buy. Total return is expected to outperform the total return of a relevant benchmark, by a wide margin over the coming 12 months, with shares rising in price on an absolute basis.

Buy. Total return is expected to outperform the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, with shares rising in price on an absolute basis.

Hold. Total return is expected to closely approximate the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, with shares generally rising in price on an absolute basis.

Sell. Total return is expected to underperform the total return of a relevant benchmark over the coming 12 months, and the share price not anticipated to show a gain.

Strong Sell. Total return is expected to underperform the total return of a relevant benchmark by a wide margin over the coming 12 months, with shares falling in price on an absolute basis.

Here is the comparative performance of the 1 STAR and 5 STAR portfolios with the S&P 500:

	Time Period		1 STAR Portfolio		S&P 500		5 STARS Portfolio
	12/31/86-7/31/01		-19.10%		+400.16%		+1177.5%
	12/31/00-7/31/01		+5.93%		-8.26%		-8.88%
	6/30/01-7/31/01		-2.46%		-1.08%		-5.85%