TSC 21: The Components

(Click here for an introduction to the index.)

The following companies constitute TheStreet.com 21, an index designed to be a leading indicator of the economy in the second half of 2003 and beyond
Company	Sector	Reason for Inclusion
A.H. Belo (BLC)	Media	Dallas-based owner of large and small newspapers, TV stations and Internet sites. A good barometer for advertising outlook and media business.
Bank of New York (BK)	Financial services	Diversified bank serves as sector gauge. Also, its big securities-servicing business offers insight on market activity.
BestBuy (BBY)	Discretionary consumer	The proxy for big-ticket consumer electronics spending. A consumer-PC upgrade cycle would be felt here.
Caterpillar (CAT)	Industrials	Giant worldwide equipment supplier for agribusiness, construction, mining and more. Broad industrials and farming barometer.
Cisco (CSCO)	Information technology	The bellwether of technology.
Comerica (CMA)	Financial services	Midwestern bank with a big commercial-lending business. A leading indicator of regional activity.
Continental Air (CAL)	Airlines	The new beacon for a battered group. Also, a gauge for consumer and business travel.
Devon Energy (DVN)	Energy	Acquisitive independent oil and gas producer is yardstick for energy. A read on natural gas -- prices and supply levels.
Equity Office Properties (EOP)	Real estate	Sam Zell's REIT offers glimpse of commercial real estate activity in major metropolitan areas.
E*Trade (ET)	Financial services	Online broker provides indication of individual investors' market activity.
Expeditors Int'l of Washington (EXPD)	Transportation	'Freight forwarding' company gives reading of shipping activity, especially in the vital Pacific Rim.
General Electric (GE)	Conglomerate	A proxy for corporate America and the No. 1 S&P 500 component. As America goes, so goes GE -- and vice versa.
Ingersoll-Rand (IR)	Materials	Machinery and tool giant offers good way to judge the strength of a cyclical recovery.
Kohl's (KSS)	Retailer	The proxy for the consumer. Can high-growth retailer keep growing?
Level 3 (LVLT)	Telco	A barometer for the depressed, heavily leveraged telecom sector.
Manpower (MAN)	Services	Employment gauge. Outlook for staffing firms hinges on economy's recovery.
Maytag (MYG)	Appliances	No. 3 home-appliance maker offers gauge on big-ticket-item consumer spending and corporate efforts to turn around messy, debt-laden balance sheet.
Smurfit Stone Container (SSCC)	Materials	Container-board and box maker signals economic activity. If businesses and consumers are buying stuff, Smurfit will have to box it.
Solectron (SLR)	Information technology	A tech-outsourcing company that gets business from IBM, Cisco and other tech titans. Solectron is leveraged to tech recovery and will provide early indicator on capex spending.
Tiffany (TIF)	Luxury-goods retailer	The proxy for the rich consumer and the trickle-down effect of the big dividend-tax cut.
Yahoo! (YHOO)	Information technology	A representative of the Internet's frothy Big Three. Also, a gauge on e-commerce and Net advertising.

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