In this Issue:

• Falling Rates, Rising Prices?: What does the Fed's August 17 discount rate cut mean?

•Intelligencer:

•The Observatory

•Rising & Falling Stars

•The Next Big Thing: Virtual worlds attract big business.

•New from Standard & Poor's: European Growth Portfolio: We see continued
economic and earnings expansion.

•New Capital Standards May Help the Largest U.S. Banks: Standard & Poor's thinks consolidation could accelerate.

•P/E Analysis Turns Up Some Attractive Picks: These stocks are trading well below their historical P/Es.

•Total Return Portfolio: We see an expansion opportunity in Allstate's multiple.

•Muni Bond ETFs: In the current climate of high volatility in the equity markets and possible credit loosening by the Federal Reserve, consider ETFs that focus on municipal bonds.

Some of the Companies featured:
Allstate
Bank of America
BEA Systems
BJ's Wholesale
Chubb
Citigroup
Equitable Resources
EXXONMOBIL
INGRAM MICRO
Kohl's
REGIONS FINANCIAL
TEVA PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES
Wachovia

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Standard & Poor's is one of the world's preeminent providers of credit ratings, and for such globally recognized financial-market indices as the S&P 500®. S&P also provides a wide range of other products and services designed to help individuals and institutions around the world make better-informed financial decisions with greater confidence.