(MONEY Magazine) – The Dow Jones industrial average, which in late October was on track for its worst one-month drop since January 2003, spiked 1.7% when the market learned that third-quarter GDP had exceeded expectations and grown at a 3.8% annual rate. The Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Russell 2000 saw similar rallies. Shares of troubled General Motors dropped 7% after the car maker said that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating its accounting.

S&P 500 SECTOR AVERAGES

TOP-PERFORMING STOCKS

BENCHMARKS

S&P 500 RATIOS

P/E 18.9 DIVIDEND YIELD 1.89%

HIGHEST-YIELDING DOW STOCKS

MOST WIDELY HELD STOCKS

NOTES AND SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, data as of Oct. 20 from Lipper, New York; 877-955-4773. Index levels from Bloomberg. Bond index data from Lehman Brothers. Stock data as of Oct. 28 from Thomson/Baseline. Monthly S&P 500 ratios from Standard & Poor's. Ratios are based on previous four quarters of earnings. Top-Performing Stocks are limited to companies with market capitalization of at least $500 million. Most Widely Held Stocks are ranked by largest accounts at Merrill Lynch as of Sept. 30. [1] Annualized. [2] Price change only.