KSS - Kohl's Corporation $64.75 (+4.75) With retailers surging lately, Kohl's is now within reach of historic split-levels of $75. The discount, brand-name retailer last announced a split on 03/06/00 at $76.81 at an earnings release. Though it was less than a year ago, the stock has almost doubled since then and has enough shares to enact another 2:1 split. We will target the company's next earnings release on 02/13/01 as the next likely announcement trigger event.

KRI - Knight Ridder, Inc. $59.44 (+2.56) The newspaper publisher has recently broken out to new highs on the heels of the interest rate cut. It is widely expected that with lower rates, business in general will pick up across the country, thereby driving advertising revenues higher for the big newspaper companies. KRI last split in July of 1996 at $65.50. We will target KRI's next earnings release on 01/24/01 as a likely time for a split announcement.

SSP - E.W. Scripps Company $61.75 (-1.13) Like KRI, SSP is involved in the newspaper business, but SSP has also branched into television. Also like KRI, SSP is expected to boost its advertising revenues as companies loosen their belts and spend money on ad space. SSP has never split, but has reached historic split-levels for the publishing industry. The company has enough authorized shares to enact a 2:1 split and we see the next unofficial earnings release date of 01/22/01 as the most likely time to announce.

FITB - Fifth Third Bancorp $59.19 (-0.50) This bank stock has a history of splitting around $60. It traditionally splits 3:2, but currently does not have enough authorized shares. Therefore, we will look for the company to ask the board to authorize more shares at the next BoD meeting. The company last announced a split on 06/20/00 at $62.00 at a dividend declaration. With interest rates heading lower, region banks like FITB should benefit the most as lending activity to small businesses starts to heat up.