January 9, 2002

SPOTLIGHT ON MARKET RESEARCH

Market Research is a critical tool and an integral part of business analysis. Alacra provides access to many premier publishers of market research. The following highlights some of our providers and the information available to Alacra subscribers. All databases can be searched simultaneously using one keyword search as well as independently using customized screens specific to each.

The Economist Intelligence Unit
EIU is the most respected provider of country analysis for governments, multi-national corporations and financial institutions around the world. They establish independent macro-economic outlooks and detailed reports on the political and commercial environments for over 200 countries around the world. Data available on Alacra includes EIU Pyramid Research, Country Risk reports and EIU ViewsWire.

Euromonitor
At the cutting edge of market research publishing for over 25 years, Euromonitor is one of the world's leading business information publishers. Alacra offers access to tables excerpted from Euromonitor reports in three databases: World Consumer Markets, World Marketing Forecasts, and World Marketing Data and Statistics.

The Freedonia Group
The Freedonia Group is a leading international business research firm that publishes approximately 120 studies per year. Each industry study provides product and market forecasts, opportunities and threats, competitive strategies, international trends and other factors impacting growth. Studies also feature profiles of companies most active in the industry and market share data for the leading participants. World studies provide country-by-country forecasts and analysis, as well as a global supply/demand picture.

Gale Market Share Reporter
Gale provides immediate access to national and international market data, helping you identify market leaders and worldwide industry trends. This electronic guide provides fast answers to today's most often-asked business questions, and you'll find it invaluable when planning business strategy, analyzing prospective markets, plotting product growth, assessing market potential, forecasting trends or developing new market strategies.

TableBase
TableBase provides access to tabular information on companies, industries, products, countries and markets. Data is drawn from privately published statistical annuals, trade associations, non-profit research groups, government agencies, international organizations, industry reports prepared by investment research groups, and more than 900 publications included in the Business & Industry® (B&I™) database. Over 20,000 tables a year - with strategic data that is difficult to find elsewhere. Tables from articles can be downloaded directly to Excel.

Thomson Financial Industry Insider and MarkIntel
Industry Insider is the only Trade Association Research collection of its kind. With insights from more than 200 trade associations, these reports offer hard to find, industry-specific information such as statistics, economic indicators, analysis, trends, forecasts, and surveys.

MarkIntel provides primary research from over 100 top consulting, market research and business publishing sources. Precision indexing means cost-effective searching for expert intelligence on thousands of international companies, products, geographic regions and industries. Both Industry Insider and MarkIntel update daily and reports can be purchased in full or by the page.