In Brief: Mar. 26, 2001

THAT'S NO SMALL VALUE During the tech boom, small-cap value funds were about as exciting as coin collecting. Their boring, old-world holdings--industrials, retail and the like--remain the "antitech," but these days that's a plus: low p/e ratios, slow growth and sane market caps. Now that big is bad and growth is yesterday's (or tomorrow's) news, small caps will provide some shelter from the tech storm.

GIVE THEM CREDIT Starting this week, consumers will have Internet access to their credit scores. That's your three-digit loan-risk index, once seen only by lenders. Equifax, the largest U.S. credit reporter, and Fair, Isaac, which devises scoring, will offer for $12.95 a credit report, the same credit score lenders use and explanations of how it works. Rivals Trans Union and Experian are developing scores for consumers as well. Consumer advocates still hope Congress will make credit-score disclosure mandatory.

IT'S A GAS, GAS, GAS With natural-gas prices 285% higher than in 1999 and OPEC cutting oil production again, energy funds have been running close to small value this year in returns, though they dipped a couple of points during last week's sell-off. These funds track commodity prices--not, like stocks, the S&P 500--which makes them a useful long-term diversification tool. Energy demand dips in the spring or when the GDP growth rate slows, but analysts say they will stay overweighted in these funds in the near future.

--By Eric Roston