Integrity is one of the cardinal values that leads people to succeed in their jobs.
...ors included in the S. & P. 500-stock index. The overall S. & P. 500 index is down 9 percent in the same period, through Tuesday. Consumer staples are the worst performer, falling 10.8 percent since the Oct. 9 low for the three main market gauges. Over all, the S. & P. 500 index rose 3.1 percent in the same period. "Investors do not believe that we were going to slide into a recession," said William E. Rhodes, chief investment strategist at Rhodes Analytics in Boston. Before Oct. 9, consumer staples, including tobacco, supermarket, soft drinks, cereal, wine, spirits, beer and personal care stocks, had been a haven —as they should have been — for investors. From March 10, 2000, the peak day for the Nasdaq composite index, through Tuesday, the S. & P. consumer staples index is up 22 percent, compared with a 42.6 percent decline for the entire S. & P. 500 index and a plunge of more than 70 percent for the telecommunications and technology sectors. Mr. Rhodes said the fall of consumer staples since Oct. 9 was a result of the waning of the recession, which many economists said ended last year. In addition, this sector had a big ride, rising 64 percent at the index's peak in May 2002, a move that made consumer staples richly valued compared to the rest of the market. And consumers, Mr. Rhodes said, may now be cutting back on many of the brand names in this group in an effort to save money. That is not good for this sector's earnings outlook. Another good sign for equities came on Friday, when the stock market managed to climb modestly on the day, even after falling sharply in the morning after the government reported the loss of 308,000 jobs in February, the biggest monthly decline in 15 months. That performance, in the face of data that forced many economists to lower their growth forecasts for the year, may have showed that investors have already factored in a big enough dose of negative economic expectations to withstand some slower growth in the months ahead. But stocks did fall on Monday and Tuesday, bringing the October lows for the Dow and the S. & P. 500 stock index even closer...