To: Rich1 who wrote (7928 ) 1/1/2002 7:04:44 PM From: MulhollandDrive Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 23786 A little more on co's paying dividends listing the highest in the S&P for 2001.biz.yahoo.com Press Release SOURCE: Standard & Poor's S&P 500 Index Down 12.4% for 2001 Performance and Earnings, Expected to Rise in 2002, Underscores Market Volatility NEW YORK, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's released preliminary 2001 year-end performance data today on the S&P 500 Index, a leading measurement of large-cap equity activity in the United States. The information indicates that S&P 500 stock appreciation is down 12.4% year-to-date, after a 10.1 % decline in 2000. Final figures for the year will be available on January 2, 2002. Preliminary findings are attached to this announcement. The continued decline in S&P 500 Index stock prices reflects the market's volatility over the past twelve months, Index officials say. While the average daily volatility for the second half of the year declined slightly from the first, it still reached its highest point since 1987. In 2001, the average stock lost 1.5% in price, with the 216 ``up'' issues averaging a gain of 27.4% and the 282 ``down'' issues sliding an average of 23.5%. A complete listing of 2001 S&P 500 index data and other information may be found at http//www.spglobal.com. ``The last, and only time the Index experienced two successively lower drops in adjoining years over the past 60 years was in 1973-74,'' said Howard Silverblatt, Editor, Standard & Poor's. ``At that time, however, the slide was 42%, coming off a 22% rise in the prior 5 years. This time we have come off a record setting growth period with the S&P 500 gaining over 220% between 1994-99, with a full 7 year return of 153% or an annual compounded return of over 14.2%, excluding dividend reinvestment. The drastic earnings decline this year, in which almost half the issues in the S&P 500 reported lower earnings for 2001, seems ready to rebound. Our equity analysts estimate that 80% of issues will increase their earnings in 2002 with about a third of them expected to have an increase of at least 25% over their actual 1999 earnings.'' Standard & Poor's data show that 10 issues doubled in price in 2001, compared to 19 in 2000 and 41 in 1999. Notable among S&P 500 Index companies in this category are NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), Office Depot (ODP), AutoZone Inc. (AZO) and Best Buy (BBY), each with al least a 150% gain. Also on this list are Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Circuit City Stores (CC), H&R Block (HRB) and Lowe's Cos.Dividend data continues to show a downward trend in companies that pay out cash dividends. In 2001, there were only 351 companies that paid dividends, compared to 462 in 1981. Dividend paying issues continued to do better than non-dividend paying issues, however, but not as dramatically as in years past. Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP - news), provides independent financial information, analytical services, and credit ratings to the world's financial markets. Among the company's many products are the S&P 1200, the premier global equity performance benchmark, the S&P 500, the premier U.S. portfolio index, and credit ratings on more than 220,000 securities and funds worldwide. With more than 5,000 employees located in 18 countries, Standard & Poor's is an integral part of the global financial infrastructure. For more information, visit standardandpoors.com . S&P 500 Issues Doubling in Stock Price in 2001 COMPANY (TICKER) PRICE PRICE % CHANGE 12/27/2001 12/29/2000 YEAR TO DATE NVIDIA Corp (NVDA) 69.38 16.38 324 Office Depot (ODP) 18.45 7.13 159 AutoZone Inc (AZO) 73.03 28.5 156 Best Buy (BBY) 73.9 29.56 150 Penney (J.C.) (JCP) 26.21 10.88 141 Circuit City Strs-CrctCty (CC) 25.52 11.5 122 Block (H&R) (HRB) 44.62 20.69 116 Lowe's Cos (LOW) 46.65 22.25 110 Xerox Corp (XRX) 9.62 4.63 108 Cendant Corp (CD) 19.49 9.63 102 S&P 500 Largest Issues by Market Value for 2001 COMPANY (TICKER) MARKET VALUE % OF $ MILLIONS S&P 500 Genl Electric (GE) 406746 3.88 Microsoft Corp (MSFT) 365423 3.48 Exxon Mobil (XOM) 272185 2.59 Citigroup Inc (C) 261048 2.49 Wal- Mart Stores (WMT) 260160 2.48 Pfizer, Inc (PFE) 253669 2.42 Intel Corp (INTC) 219281 2.09 Intl Bus. Machines (IBM) 212746 2.03 Amer Intl Group (AIG) 208763 1.99 Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 184099 1.75 S&P 500 Highest Yielding Issues (Dividends) for 2001 COMPANY (TICKER) YIELD BASED ON INDICATED 2002 RATE Equity Office Properties (EOP) 6.7 Equity Residential Prop T (EQR) 6.1 CMS Energy (CMS) 6.1 Ameren Corp (AEE) 6.0 Eastman Kodak (EK) 5.9 Amer Electric Pwr (AEP) 5.6 Reliant Energy (REI) 5.6 Consolidated Edison (ED) 5.5 CINergy Corp (CIN) 5.4 Southern Co (SO) 5.3 SOURCE: Standard & Poor's