Rank	Company	Return on average equity
1	Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc.	93.47%
2	Spire Corp.	58.75%
3	Waters Corp.	55.11%
4	Eaton Vance Corp.	47.21%
5	Lo-Jack Corp.	45.84%
6	TJX Cos.	45.03%
7	Candela Corp.	44.93%
8	Safety First Inc.	41.08%
9	Banyan Systems Inc.	39.21%
10	Gillette Co..	33.75%
11	DeWolfe Cos.	32.40%
12	Genrad Inc.	30.56%
13	Boston Scientific Corp.	29.15%
14	Progress Software Corp.	28.56%
15	Centennial Technologies Inc.	27.49%
16	Mercury Computer Systems Inc.	27.14%
17	Biogen Inc.	25.96%
18	Tech Ops Sevcon Inc.	25.20%
19	Sonesta International Hotels	25.12%
20	State Street Corp.	24.95%
21	Boston Acoustics Inc.	24.37%
22	LTX Corp.	23.76%
23	Concord Communications Inc.	23.73%
24	Helix Technology Corp.	23.50%
25	EMC Corp.	23.28%
26	Asa International Ltd.	22.75%
27	New England Business Service Inc.	22.68%
28	BJ's Wholesale Club Inc.	20.92%
29	Charles River Associates	20.77%
30	Boston Private Financial Holdings	20.41%
31	Lightbridge Inc.	19.94%
32	Home Port Bancorp	19.73%
33	Maxwell Shoe Co.. Inc.	19.59%
34	Saucony Inc.	19.25%
35	Affiliated Managers Group Inc.	18.98%
36	Investors Financial Services Corp.	18.90%
37	Keane Inc.	18.58%
38	Steinway Musical Instruments Inc.	18.26%
39	Genzyme General	18.16%
40	Staples Inc.	18.07%
41	Analog Devices	17.85%
42	Independent Bank Corp.	17.56%
43	First Years Inc.	17.43%
44	Alpha Industries Inc.	17.29%
45	Davox Corp.	16.93%
46	Psychemedics Corp.	16.80%
47	Forrester Research Inc.	16.60%
48	Harcourt General Inc.	15.88%
49	Neiman-Marcus Group Inc.	15.40%
50	Signal Technology Corp.	15.39%
51	Project Software & Development Inc.	15.38%
52	Commerce Group Inc.	15.17%
53	Andover Bancorp	15.02%
54	Century Bancorp	15.01%
55	MetroWest Bank	14.88%
56	Allmerica Financial Corp.	14.69%
57	Applied Science & Technology	14.68%
58	Warren Bancorp	14.46%
59	Cabot Corp.	14.37%
60	National Dentex Corp.	14.33%
61	FleetBoston Financial Corp.	14.09%
62	Talbots Inc.	14.03%
63	Bright Horizons Family Solutions	13.71%
64	PolyMedica Corp.	13.56%
65	First Essex Bancorp	13.46%
66	Westbank Corp.	13.44%
67	Boston Beer Inc.	13.39%
68	Sapient Corp.	13.18%
69	Medford Bancorp	13.10%
70	American Biltrite Inc.	13.01%
71	SLI Inc.	12.95%
72	Mestek Inc.	12.71%
73	Zoll Medical Corp.	12.66%
74	Capital Crossing Bank	12.52%
75	Cognex Corp.	12.19%
76	American Dental Partners Inc.	11.96%
77	Tucker Anthony Sutro	11.75%
78	Thermo Optek Corp.	11.68%
79	Thermo Fibertek Inc.	11.29%
80	Westerbeke Corp.	11.24%
81	Haemonetics Corp.	11.16%
82	Houghton Mifflin Co..	11.06%
83	Wainwright Bank & Trust Co..	10.97%
84	Nstar	10.91%
85	Stride Rite Corp.	10.67%
86	Aware Inc.	10.64%
87	J. Baker Inc.	10.57%
88	UFP Technologies Inc.	10.55%
89	Specialty Catalog Corp.	10.53%
90	Ardent Software Inc.	10.49%
91	Fall River Gas Co..	10.17%
92	Watts Industries	10.03%
93	Cybex International Inc.	9.54%
94	Central Bancorp	9.29%
95	Thermo Cardiosystems	9.02%
96	C.P. Clare Corp.	8.80%
97	Eastern Enterprises	8.47%
98	Vicor Corp.	8.41%
99	Foilmark Inc.	8.17%
100	Liberty Financial Cos.	8.01%
Company must have shown a profit from continuing operations in 1999; must not have reported negative common shareholders' equity for the last two years. Data compiled by COMPUSTAT.