Standard & Poor's proprietary STARS (Stock Appreciation Ranking System) was designed specifically to meet the needs of aggressive investors looking mainly or exclusively for superior market performance over a 6-12 month period. To help put their investment decisions in perspective, Standard & Poor's equities analysts rank the appreciation potential of stocks in their areas of expertise in one of the following five categories:

• Buy. Expected to be among the best performers and rise even in a falling market.

• Accumulate. Consider buying. Expected to be an above-average performer.

• Hold. Expected to be an average performer.

• Avoid. Consider Selling. Expected to be a below-average performer.

• Sell. Expected to be among the worst performers and fall even in a rising market.