81.   Elsewhere, strong gains were posted by corporate bonds, agencies and other spread products that are priced off government bond yields.

82.   Even some cyclical stocks such as Aluminum Company of America and Caterpillar posted gains.

83.   Five other industry sectors also posted gains.

84.   Five of the seven index components posted gains in December.

85.   For example, Xilinx and LSI Logic both lowered their revenue targets for the December quarter, and their stocks both posted strong gains.

86.   For starters, only two of the four regions into which the Commerce Department breaks down sales posted gains.

87.   Fractional percentage gains were posted by stores selling general merchandise, food, clothing and drugs.

88.   Gains were posted by Du Pont, Coca-Cola Co., J.P. Morgan and numerous large pharmaceutical companies.

89.   General Motors Corp., which will report its May sales later today, and Ford Motor Co. both are expected to post slight gains for the month.

90.   Hardware and software companies have been posting impressive gains.