If crude prices are near their trough, earnings should start to flatten out and move up.

It appears that operating earnings per share rose 6 percent to 7 percent in the second quarter, following a similar performance in the first.

Investors believe it is simply not acceptable to be environmentally irresponsible.

Such a 'flu shot' is now widely expected and would be unlikely to unsettle investors beyond a transitory period.

We expect 1999 and 2000 to be years of ongoing profit expansion, with better aggregate gains than 1998, which was disappointing.

The basic conclusion is that 1999-2000 will bring further gains in corporate profits, mild-mannered inflation and a generally favorable outcome for equity prices. Increasing confidence that the economic expansion will continue through our newly-extended forecast horizon encourages a modest upward revision in stock price targets.