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TWST: Ken, what's the outlook as we move through 2000? Do you have any concern that the pace could slow down?

Mr. Gassman: Quite frankly, we're hoping that economic growth will slow a bit. The pace of economic growth has just been too rapid over the last 12-18 months -- and that which goes up rapidly can also fall rapidly. Our outlook calls for much more moderate retail sales growth in the year 2000. And we think that will come about because of higher interest rates as well as the pressure that OPEC is putting on oil prices.

TWST: Are there any trends or themes that are influencing your thinking with respect to the companies that will be most successful going forward?

Mr. Gassman: Yes, there are several themes that will affect the hardline retailers in our universe. Let's take each group and go through some of the dominant themes. If you look at the consumer electronics retailers, our favorite stock is Circuit City (NYSE:CC) for a variety of reasons. First, it sells at a very reasonable valuation and is showing solid growth. The company's growth in the future will be fueled by both internal strategies and external forces. Internally, we look for a gain in the number of stores open as well as strong same-store sales gains. Demand for consumer electronics should be strong and will be fueled by new digital products -- digital TVs, digital camcorders and digital communications equipment. We think digital products will continue to fuel consumer demand for at least the next four or five years. All the consumer electronics retailers have to do is have stores open in all the markets and, as they say, “If you build it, they will come.” That's our forecast for the consumer electronics industry.