AdWatch.

Income and net worth for the average American family barely increased from 2001 to 2004, according to the Federal Reserve Board's latest Survey of Consumer Finances. Good news? Housing appreciation. Bad news? Soaring debt and plunging savings as consumers bet on the house.

                                      2001          2004          CHG.

SELECTED ASSETS: MEDIAN VALUE OF ASSETS FOR FAMILIES THAT HELD…

Stocks                              $21,300       $15,000        -29.6%
Mutual funds*                       $37,300       $40,400          8.3%
Retirement accounts                 $30,900       $35,200         13.9%
Any savings**                       $29,800       $23,000        -22.8%
Home                               $131,000      $160,000         22.1%


SELECTED DEBT: MEDIAN DEBT FOR FAMILIES THAT OWED…

Home loans***                       $74,600       $95,000         27.3%
Car & other install. Loans          $10,300       $11,500         11.7%
Credit card                          $2,000        $2,200         10.0%
Any debt                            $41,300       $55,300         33.9%
Any debt: Median debt
payments as % of income               16.7%         18.0%          1.3%


NET WORTH: FAMILY'S ASSETS MINUS DEBT

Median net worth                    $91,700       $93,100          1.5%


INCOME: FAMILY'S INCOME FROM JOBS, GOV'T, INVESTMENTS & OTHER SOURCES

Median before-tax income            $42,500       $43,200          1.6%

Dollars are in 2004 $, so 2001 #s are adjusted for inflation. *Pooled investments including mutual funds, real estate investment trusts and hedge funds. **Financial assets including bank and mutual fund accounts, stocks, IRAs, savings bonds and cash value of life insurance. ***Mortgage, home equity loans and other borrowings on primary residence.

Source: Federal Reserve Board's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances

FOCUS ON: PUBLICIS (PUB)

Publicis hit a record U.S. stock price ($39.90) March 6 after it posted a 31% jump in 2005 headline net income. The stock gain was a long time coming. Publicis debuted on the New York Stock Exchange at $37 on Sept. 12, 2000. The stock bottomed at $14.75 post-9/11. Before '06, it surpassed its Sept. '00 high only one day, in '04. The French ad holding company ranks No. 4 behind Interpublic in revenue-but $3.3 billon bigger in market cap.

'05 revenue                    $5.1B
'05 headline net income      $439.5M
Market cap                     $7.7B
Publicis, now vs. 9/12/00       6.3%
Omnicom, now vs. 9/12/00       -0.9%
WPP, now vs. 9/12/00           -7.1%
IPG, now vs. 9/12/00          -73.2%

Source: Bloomberg, Ad Age analysis