According to agency reports, in his address, Clinton proposed the transfer of $2.7 trillion of the projected $4 trillion government budget surpluses over the next 15 years to the Social Security retirement income fund, with up to a quarter of that money to be invested in the stock market.

For the US equity market, which ran out of steam, after over four years of successive bull run, the dim prospects of a rate cut was seen as negative news. The surge, however, could be sustained. According to Moody's Credit Market Review, ``a significant upward revision of US economic growth projections for 1999 would be of the greatest benefit to under priced equity shares of small and mediumcompanies....''

Nasdaq turnover at a record $5.8 trillion

It was a year of big deals for the Nasdaq. It not only completed the merger with Amex, the year 1998 also saw record volumes on the exchange. The dollar value of trading on Nasdaq in 1998 surpassed the previous record of $4.5 trillion in 1997 by 28 percent; 1998 trading was valued at $5.8 trillion.For the year, share volume reached 202.0 billion, up 23 per cent from 163.9 billion in 1997. The market value of the 5,126 companies listed on Nasdaq stood at $2.6 trillion, up over 44 percent from year-end 1997. The market's best index performers were the Nasdaq Computer and Telecommunications, up 83.3 per cent and 63.4 per cent, respectively. The Nasdaq-100 Index was up 85.3 per cent over 1997.