
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 8, 1993                   TAG: 9311060037
SECTION: MONEY                    PAGE: 6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SMALL-COMPANY STOCKS SHOW MOST RETURN

"Stocks advance in six out of every 10 years, 72 percent of all five-year periods, and 77 percent of all 10-year periods," says H. Bradlee Perry, chairman of David L. Babson & Co., an investment counseling firm.

After 20 years, there's a 100 percent probability of making a profit, according to performance data. How much profit?

From 1926 to 1991, the stocks that comprise the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index returned an average of 10.4 percent a year, according to Ibbotson Associates.

Small-company stocks returned an average 12.1 percent. Compare that with more conservative investments: Intermediate government bonds returned 5.1 percent and U.S. Treasury bills 3.7 percent.

- The New York Times

by CNB