Several company officials said in interviews last week that investors were wrong to try to determine the company's profit simply by measuring year-over-year changes in its balance sheet.

More important, according to David Shulman, chief equity strategist at Salomon Brothers, was the year-over-year change in the S.& P. 500 index.

The focus of this study is to measure year-over-year changes in consumers' search behaviors across a variety of search platforms.

There is a very close correlation between the year-over-year change in nominal G.D.P. growth and 10-year bond yields.

The methods for calculating year-over-year change in pay are also different for each table.

The purpose of this study is to measure year-over-year changes in consumers' search behaviors and media selection.

The chart shows the year-over-year change in retail sales, using three-month moving averages to smooth out weather-related volatility.

The accompanying charts show year-over-year changes in sales of existing single-family homes and apartments, using six-month moving averages to smooth out monthly fluctuations.

Nokia, Samsung, and LG continue to grab most of the market with little year-over-year change, while numerous other vendors battle for small parts of the remainder.

The year-over-year change was less than 1 percent as recently as June, and the index was actually falling in 2002.