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To: Tulvio Durand who wrote (12989)	3/19/1998 12:13:00 PM
From: Diwaana	Respond to of 77400

The Business Week 50 is an annual ranking of the best performing companies in the S&P 500. Unlike other lists, which classify companies by sheer size or market capitalization, it is a dynamic, growth-oriented measure that accurately reflects and rewards those companies that consistently perform better than their peers. To determine the ranking, every company in the S&P 500 is graded on the basis of top-line revenue growth, earnings growth and total returns over one and three years, plus net margins and return on equity. The results provide an in-depth look at how the companies in the S&P 500, which comprise 70% of the total market value of U.S. stocks, really stack up against each other. Following Microsoft in the top five positions of the Business Week 50 are high-tech leaders Dell, Cisco, Intel (last year's No. 1) and Compaq Computer. While the list is top-heavy with computer, software and other office-equipment makers, it is brokerages and other nonbank financial companies that dominate the list, grabbing 13 of the top 50 spots, the most of any industry. The list includes financial high-fliers Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter (No. 10), Travelers Group (No. 16) and Merrill Lynch (No. 19). And while it helped to be in a fast-growing field, the top performers on the Business Week 50 come from a wide swath of corporate America, from drug giant Pfizer (No. 12) and long-haul truckmaker PACCAR (No. 29) to oil service giant Schlumberger (No. 18) and clothing retailer The Gap (No. 17). Top finishers from last year's Business Week 50 that fell out of the rankings this year include software maker Oracle, which fell from No. 11 to No. 102 because of slower sales growth and problems in Asia. The region's troubles also flattened Nike, which dropped from No. 7 to No. 64. And for Coca-Cola, which gets 80% of its sales and earnings overseas, the persistently strong dollar hit hard; with sales growth nearly halted, it slipped from No. 25 to No. 119. Last year's No. 50, hospital company Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., slid to No. 457 as a government investigation of its billing practices sent profits down 88% and shareholder returns tumbling 35%. Of the top performers on last year's Business Week 50, 25 fell off and were replaced by new companies this year. Geographically, New York City is home to nine of the Business Week 50, including Bristol-Myers Squibb (No. 22), Chase Manhattan (No. 24), and advertising giant Omnicom Group (No. 30). The Boston area has the second highest concentration of top performing companies, including State Street (No. 35) and Gillette (No. 38); Silicon Valley places four firms among the Business Week 50, Cisco, Intel, Applied Materials (No. 13) and Sun Microsystems (No. 20).