1.   Babson is a vice president at Scudder and manager of institutional bond portfolios.

2.   Bank shares are sensitive to bond movements as financial institutions generally hold large bond portfolios.

3.   Bank stocks tend to benefit from a surge in bonds, since financial companies hold large bond portfolios.

4.   Banking stocks rose as bonds gained because banks typically have large bond portfolio.

5.   Banks also provided fuel for the markets gains, reflecting the rising value of their bond portfolios.

6.   Banks and insurance companies got a boost from rising bond prices, which boost the value of the large bond portfolios financial-service companies usually hold.

7.   Banks and insurers benefit from stronger bonds because it increases the value of their large bond portfolios.

8.   Banks were the biggest decliners, reflecting the falling value of their bond portfolios as U.K. gilts fell in the wake of tumbling Treasuries.

9.   Bankinter has chosen not to take advantage of the new rules and continues to mark its bond portfolio to market prices.

10.   Banks and insurance companies such as Kredietbank, the largest holders of bonds, benefited from falling bond yields, which increase the value of their bond portfolios.