APPLE COMPUTER: S&P Personal Wealth utilizes Apple WebObjects

   APPLE COMPUTER: S&P Personal Wealth utilizes Apple WebObjects to provide unrivaled investment advice & financial information online (C)1994-98 M2  COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE:100698 -- Investors can now make smart investment choices from their PCs Apple Computer, Inc. and Standard & Poor's, a division of the McGraw-Hill Companies, today announced that S&P Personal Wealth, Standard & Poor's online personal investment service (www.personalwealth.com), is using the market-leading technology of Apple's WebObjects to deliver independent investment advice and unrivaled financial intelligence to the individual investor via the World Wide Web. S&P Personal Wealth offers self-directed investors the web's most comprehensive suite of investment management features, including personalized investment recommendations; buy, sell and hold alerts; superior, live market commentary; and in-depth analysis and research. "Standard & Poor's recognized the need to create an easy, one-stop destination for complete, independent investment information and personalized investment advice," said John Fitzgerald, president of Standard & Poor's Consumer Markets Division. "We chose WebObjects to build S&P Personal Wealth because it was the only product that fulfills our application demands. WebObjects enables our customers to easily navigate through the service and quickly access the personalized information they need to make intelligent, informed decisions about their financial future." Powered by WebObjects, S&P Personal Wealth features a never-before-offered combination of asset allocation advice, securities recommendations, research and functionality for the individual investor--all delivered to the investor's desktop in a timely, customizable and user-friendly format.     
   Customization tools deliver intelligent, in-depth research and analysis, news, stock information, and company and fund research gathered from Standard & Poor's analysts around the globe in a package that meets each individual's needs and specific portfolio requirements. "WebObjects extends the quality and depth of services companies can offer over the Internet," said Phil Schiller, vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing at Apple Computer, Inc. "WebObjects' unique ability to integrate dynamic data and deliver it to desktops in an easy-to-use, compelling fashion enables S&P Personal Wealth users to make smart, informed investment choices from their personal computer." About WebObjects WebObjects is the market-leading platform for developing and deploying Internet and intranet applications. It includes an application server, pre-built application components, and rapid application development tools. Its strengths include flexible integration to enterprise information systems, and it has been the basis of a number of deployed customer care applications. 
   Standard & Poor's and The McGraw-Hill Companies Standard & Poor's Financial Information Services is a leading global provider of information to institutional, corporate, municipal, global and consumer markets. The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading information services provider serving worldwide needs in education, finance, the professions and government. Founded in 1888, the Corporation today provides information and analysis in multiple media through its rich portfolio of valuable brands. Sales in 1996 were $3.1 billion. 
   Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Computer, Inc. ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II, and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is now recommitted to its original mission--to bring the best personal computing products and support to students, educators, designers, scientists, engineers, businesspersons and consumers in over 140 countries around the world. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh and WebObjects are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged. 
   CONTACT: Wendy Brittain, Niehaus Ryan Wong, Inc., for Apple Computer, Inc. Tel: +1 650 827 7042 e-mail: wendy@nrwpr.com Staci Sheppard, Apple Computer, Inc. Tel: +1 408 974 8404 e-mail: sheppard@apple.com Adam Pockriss, Dan Klores Associates, Inc., for S&P Personal Wealth Tel: +1 212 685 4300 e-mail: pockriss@dkanews.com