He found that gains in this initial "confidence rally" averaged 93 percent.

According to Thomson Financial, first-day gains in share prices for public offerings so far in the third quarter have averaged 26 percent.

This definition assumes either flat-top profile of the laser beam inside the laser, or some effective gain, averaged across the beam cross-section.

First-day gains averaged $60,238 for each person, the firm said.

The gains averaged 1.89 percent after exchange rate fluctuations were factored in, according to the J. P. Morgan government-bond index.

Even factoring in the two times the Dow did not continue to rally, the gains over the three months after the market's big day averaged a 7.5 percent gain.

In the last year, gains for "value" stocks averaged four times those for "growth" stocks, which tend to offer skimpy yields but long-term gains.

After the five Series that it won - the last in 1918, to be sure - the gain averaged a very impressive 15.7 percent.

Annual gains in productivity have averaged just 1.4 percent since 1981, down from 2.7 percent between 1947 and 1968.

Indeed, so far this year, the monthly gain in nonfarm payroll jobs has averaged 237,000.