| Index of coverage | Top Ten 1. Teradyne Inc. 2. Analog Devices Inc. 3. LTX Corp. 4. EMC Corp. 5. Helix Tech. Corp. 6. ACT Manufacturing 7. Millipore Corp. 8. Talbots Inc. 9. Cytyc Corp. 10. FleetBoston Year's Best Company of year Highest Market Value Fastest Growth Biggest Stock Gain Comeback of the Year Highest Sales Contents Overall performance Banking Biotech Growth   1. ACT Manuf.   2. Provant Inc.   3. Analog Devices   4. Sapient Corp.   5. Foilmark Inc. Bulls and Bears   Bulls   1. J. Jill Group   2. Inverness Medical   3. Reebok Intl.   4. Bostonfed Bancorp   5. John Hancock   Bears   1. Aztec Tech.   2. Engage Inc.   3. CMGI Inc.   4. Telaxis Comm.   5. NaviSite Inc. Employment IPOs Profitability Sales The Globe 100 Market value 100 Sales 100 Return on equity 100 Growth 50 Highest leveraged Top employers Most productive Industry summary Biggest profits Biggest losses The Bulls The Bears Top profit margins Debt-free companies Street's darlings Street's wallflowers 2000 Mass. IPOs Recoveries Nose Dives All the charts for this year's Globe 100    | 2000 Globe 100 | Search the Globe: Today Yesterday

3. REEBOK INTERNATIONAL LTD. Fancy footwork on the comeback trail 5/22/2001     BEARS & BULLS Old economy companies led Bay State Bulls The shining lights of the local investment world were companies that sell sneakers, blood tests, clothes for middle-age women, and life insurance. Continued THE BULLS 1. J. Jill Group 2. Inverness Medical Tech. 3. Reebok Intl. 4. Bostonfed Bancorp 5. John Hancock Financial THE BEARS 1. Aztec Tech. Partners 2. Engage Inc. 3. CMGI Inc. 4. Telaxis Communications 5. NaviSite Inc. The Bulls The Bears All the charts asketball star Allen Iverson may be the most effective jock pitchman since Michael Jordan - and Iverson is one of several reasons why Reebok is on the comeback trail. As a small man in a big man's game, Iverson and his maverick lifestyle have won over the urban male teens who set trends in sneaker fashions. Reebok chairman Paul B. Fireman says Iverson's ability to sell product is roughly comparable to Jordan's at a similar stage of his basketball career. Jordan, of course, sold sneakers for archrival Nike Inc. Stumbles by Nike and other sneaker companies have also helped Canton-based Reebok break out of its mid-1990s doldrums. Reebok enjoyed another recent marketing coup: It was an early backer of the TV series ''Survivor.'' Throw in an endorsement-contract extension with tennis star Venus Williams, a deal with the National Football League, and a new management team that Fireman brought in about two years ago, and the company has been generating plenty of positive buzz. Buzz would mean little, though, if Reebok didn't have a consistent marketing message and sneakers that blend fashion and performance. But so far, so good. Profit in 2000 rose to $81 million from $11 million. On March 31, Reebok's stock traded at $24.86 a share, up 169 percent over 12 months. One caution: Sales are roughly flat, partly because of currency issues. Said Reebok brand president David A. Perdue: ''It's very early in the turnaround. The best is yet to come.'' CHRIS REIDY

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