FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Nightly Business Report
CONTACT: Ed Tagliaferri/Stacy Fusaro/Lenore Moritz
Dan Klores Communications
(212) 685-4300

NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT POLL SHOWS THAT WHILE INVESTORS FEEL THE WORST IS YET TO COME, THEY EXPECT TO RECOUP MARKET LOSSES WITHIN A YEAR
--Poll also indicates sentiment that the Federal Reserve did too little, too late--

New York, New York March 28, 2001
A poll of American investors commissioned by public television's Nightly Business Report indicates that 57% of small investors believe that the stock market drop is not over. The poll also found that small investors by a ratio of 7 to 1 feel less confident about the stock market today than they did just three months ago. But 54 percent of those same investors are optimistic that they will recover their recent market losses by "sometime next year."

Further, nearly two-thirds of those polled believe the Federal Reserve waited too long to lower rates and 65% believe that the interest rate cut of ½ of 1% is not enough. However, 65.5% do not believe that it is time for Alan Greenspan to step down even though just over one quarter of those polled blame him for the current stock market conditions. Most respondents (nearly 69%) feel that investors rely too much on what the Fed does.

The poll results, which will be broadcast on Nightly Business Report tonight (March 28), was conducted by America's Research Group. The poll involved 1002 investors who were interviewed via telephone between March 21-24, 2001. The poll's margin of error is (+/-) 4.3%.
Other findings from the poll include:

• Only about ¼ of investors have changed their investment strategy in the last 3-4 months.
• Only 21.2% plan to reduce spending due to losses in the stock market and 19.4% are cutting back on vacation plans.
• An overwhelming majority of investors (73%) are investing primarily for retirement and correlating with that goal is the fact that more than half (53%) do not expect to use money from investments sooner than 11 years from now.
• Investors are not panicking - 58.2% are in a "wait and see" attitude and 28.5% believe it is a good time to invest in the stock market.
• Just over half of those polled say they will now rely more on financial advisors
• When respondents were asked who is to blame for current stock market conditions, they cited the following:
  • President Clinton - 27.8%
  • Alan Greenspan - 26.3%
  • President Bush - 15.6%
  • Wall Street - 14.9%
  • Congress - 11.4%

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