Company—The name of the company.

Current Price—The most recent price (during a trading session) or the price of the final transaction (after the market close) for a given security.

Description—A brief explanation of a company's primary line of business.

DJ Wilshire 5000—The DJ Wilshire 5000 total market index represents the broadest index for the U.S. equity market, measuring the performance of all U.S.-headquartered equity securities with readily available price data. The index was originally named after the nearly 5,000 stocks it contained when it was first created, but it has grown to include over 6,500 issues (reflecting the growth in U.S. equity issues as a whole).

DJ Wilshire 5000 Change Since Purchase—The percentage change in the DJ Wilshire 5000 index from its close on the date the stock was purchased for the SSR portfolio.

End of Week Price—The closing price for the stock as of the week-ending date shown at the top of the Weekly Update page.

Gain/Loss—Four Week—The percentage change in the stock price over the last four weeks, adjusted for splits but not dividends.

Gain/Loss—One Week—The percentage change in the stock price over the last week, adjusted for splits but not dividends.

Gain/Loss—Since Purchase—The percentage change between the SSR purchase price and the current price of the stock. The SSR purchase price is adjusted for splits but not cash dividends.

Group—The SSR subgroup to which the stock belongs. Groups may change over time as performance and risk warrant. Current group definitions are as follows:

Group 1—Profitability and Relative Strength: This group consists of companies with a proven record of growth that also show strong relative price strength. Key elements used in selecting these stocks include:

• Consistent quarterly earnings momentum
• Consistent and strong long-term earnings growth
• Strong relative price strength and price momentum

Group 2—Value & Financial Strength: This group consists of value-oriented companies that pay a dividend and exhibit positive historical and projected earnings growth. Key elements used in selecting these stocks include:

• Low price-earnings ratio
• Dividend paying
• Positive historical earnings growth
• Positive projected earnings growth
• Moderate levels of liabilities

Group 3—Growth at a Reasonable Price (GARP) Revisions: This group consists of companies with acceptable valuation levels relative to their expected earnings growth that have also experienced recent positive earnings surprises and upward revisions in consensus earnings estimates. Key elements used in selecting these stocks include:

• Reasonable expected earnings growth relative to valuation levels
• Positive quarterly earnings surprise
• Recent upward revisions of consensus earnings estimates
• Debt level within industry norm
• Minimum level of price momentum

Group 4—Reasonably Priced Growth: This group consists of stocks with a combination of low price-earnings ratios and solid growth in earnings and sales. Key elements used in selecting these stocks include:

• Reasonable dividend-adjusted price-earnings to growth ratio relative to that of the overall market
• Reasonable levels of estimated earnings and historical sales growth
• Positive free cash flow
• Strong profitability relative to the industry

Latest Price—The closing price for the stock as of the indicated date shown in the column heading on the Monthly Report page.

Market Capitalization—This value is calculated by multiplying the current share price by the current number of shares outstanding. A measure of firm size.

Portfolio Alert Date—The date on which it was announced that a stock is being added to the SSR Portfolio. Announcements were made on the alert date in the weekly E-mail, on the Web site, and in the telephone hotline update.

Portfolio Alert Price—The price at which the stock closed on the day it was announced that the stock is being added to the SSR Portfolio. Announcements were made on the alert date in the weekly E-mail, on the Web site, and in the telephone hotline update. This price is not used in calculating the performance of the SSR portfolio. The reported performance uses the actual cost basis and associated commissions.

Relative Strength From High—Measures the price movement of a stock from its high since it was purchased for the SSR portfolio versus the change in the DJ Wilshire 5000. The calculation looks at the price movement after the highest weekly closing price the stock achieved since being purchased relative to the movement of the DJ Wilshire 5000 over the same time period. A figure of 1.00 represents stock performance equal to that of the DJ Wilshire 5000. A figure above 1.00 points to better stock performance than the index, while a figure below 1.00 indicates that a stock is underperforming the index since hitting its week-ending high.

Relative Strength Since Purchase—Measures the price movement of a stock since its purchase for the SSR portfolio in comparison to the DJ Wilshire 5000. The calculation looks at the price movement after purchase for the SSR portfolio relative to the movement of the DJ Wilshire 5000 since the close on the date of the stock's purchase. A figure of 1.00 represents stock performance equal to that of the DJ Wilshire 5000. A figure above 1.00 points to better stock performance than the index, while a figure below 1.00 indicates that a stock is underperforming the index since being purchased.

RiskGrade— A RiskGrade is a measure of price volatility (or return volatility) that helps investors better understand their market risk. RiskGrades can range from 0 to 1,000 or more, where 100 corresponds to the market-cap-weighted average volatility of global equity markets during normal market conditions from 1995 to 1999. The SSR system makes use of the one-year average RiskGrade, which eliminates some of the bias that short-term fluctuations can cause in the current RiskGrade figure.

The RiskGrade statistic is a standardized measure of volatility and, therefore, allows for a direct apples-to-apples comparison of investment risk across all asset classes and regions. For example, we can say that a stock with a RiskGrade of 300 is six times as risky as a bond fund with a RiskGrade of 50.

Furthermore, RiskGrades capture all components of market risk: equity, interest rate, currency, and commodity risk. A RiskGrade is a consistent, robust, dynamic, and global risk measure that operates differently from traditional risk measures—such as beta, standard deviation, and average shortfall. RiskGrades are indicators of risk based on the volatility of returns. Volatility is a universal risk measure applicable to all asset classes. The higher the volatility of returns, the higher an asset's RiskGrade.

A RiskGrade of 0 indicates that a financial asset effectively has no price volatility. A RiskGrade of 1,000 indicates that a financial asset is 10 times as volatile as an asset or index with a RiskGrade of 100. The RiskGrade of an asset increases in direct proportion to its price volatility, and one can compare the RiskGrades of different assets by assuming a linear relationship.

RiskGrades can be found at the RiskGrades Web site.

SSR Purchase Price—The average cost basis per share of the shares purchased for the real SSR tracking portfolio. The average cost basis includes any commissions incurred for the purchase and will be adjusted for stock splits and spin-offs, if appropriate. For stocks that are recent portfolio addition alerts but not yet purchased for the tracking portfolio, this will read "na" or the closing price on the day the portfolio alert was issued.

Ticker—Stock ticker symbol.