Houston, Texas, February 1, 2008 - The new year has started off with a whimper as the US investment grade capital markets contracted by $800 billion to $32.2 trillion. The 2.43% one month decrease was largely the result of a $1.1 trillion reduction in the US equity markets, the largest one month decline since February of 2001. This is the third consecutive month of negative returns for US stocks and the cumulative $2.35 trillion loss comes close to the $2.61 trillion decline from September to November of 2000.

While the equity markets dropped to 49.09% of the total investment grade capital markets, the liquidity markets were up broadly across nearly all sectors. Liquidity overall increased by 3.29% to almost $7.0 trillion for the seventh consecutive month of gains. This brought liquidity’s share of the US capital markets up to 21.59%, its highest portion since March of 2003. Increases were especially noticeable in the money markets as the markets for Certificate of Deposit, Commercial Paper, and Discount Notes have each increased by at least $40 billion since the end of 2007. The Federal Reserve added fuel to the fire by selling off $36.5 billion in Treasury Bills bringing its holdings to the lowest percentage of outstanding T-Bills since it started reporting itemized holdings in 2003.

The bond markets barely changed, ending at $9.4 billion, up 0.84% and accounting for the remaining 29.32% of the capital markets. A year ago the proportions of the equity, bond and liquidity markets were 55.44%, 27.80%, and 17.76% respectively.

Dorchester's flagship index, CPMKTS^sm The Capital Markets Index, is carried on The American Stock Exchange under the symbol CPMKTS, with data updates every 15 seconds. The Amex also publishes sub-indexes CPMKTE, CPMKTB and CPMKTL, tracking the equity, bond and liquidity markets. Dorchester utilizes market data and government statistics to adjust the weights used in calculating CPMKTS, ensuring the index accurately reflects the total return of the markets based on actual asset allocation.

About Dorchester Capital Management Co.
Dorchester Capital Management Company is a Houston-based company principally focused on designing financial products for the professional investment community. For additional information, please visit the company's Web site at www.cpmkts.com.

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