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Highlights a chasm within the pharmaceuticals industry with respect to the information available to large and small investors. Recount of the situation involving Schering-Plough Corp., whose stock was battered after big investors had access to detailed industry databases that were not available to small investors; Requirements of drug companies with respect to sales-reporting to investors; Costs associated with reports from IMS Health Inc. and NDCHealth Corp., two suppliers of drug-information, who cull data from several pharmacies daily to give subscribers day-to-day tallies of the number of and sales value of prescriptions filled; Comments from Richard Evans, a pharmaceutical-industry analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., regarding the prescription data in the daily reports; Comparison of other industries' reports and that of the pharmaceutical industry, suggesting the gap between public and private data in the drug industry is larger than most.

Focuses on the financial performance of the stock market in the United States during the month of October, which has historically been a bad month for stock markets. Comments from David Briggs, head of stock trading at Federated Investors, regarding investor reaction during October; Economic and market history, indicating that October has had several stock gains; Comparison of interest rates during October 2003 and October 1987, the year of the most recent stock market crash; Analysis of economic data in a chart dubbed "Three Peaks and the Domed House," suggesting parallels between 2003 and 1987.

Assesses the economic activity in the stock markets on September 30, 2003. Performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the impact of disappointing economic data on the Dow; Performance of bonds, suggesting that consumer confidence and soft numbers for manufacturing in the Chicago area rattled stock investors; Comments from John O'Donoghue, senior stock trader at Credit Suisse First Boston, regarding the poor finish to the third quarter of 2003.

The article reports that the U.S. dollar has drifted moderately lower compared to its European rivals, as investors have little to base their trades on because no new economic data has been released.

Presents a list of books about international investing chosen by global-fund managers.

Focuses on the Philippine government's less-than successful bond offering, and the research report written by UBS Warburg. Why the report prompted the Philippine government to ban UBS from all of the government's financial dealings; Discussion of analysts feeling pressure from clients to report positive economic data.