One year ago today, Bob Laughlin watched as a big chunk of his nest egg was cut to half of what it was two months earlier. And he still hasn't regained all he lost that day.

        Indeed, thousands of other Procter & Gamble employees, retirees and shareholders still have less now than they did before what Wall Street came to call “Tide Tuesday.”

        March 7, 2000, Procter & Gamble uncharacteristically announced that it would not meet its earnings goals. Its stock price — already struggling from a January high of $117.75 — plummeted from $87.44 to $61. In the ensuing days, it would trade as low as $52.75.

        After a year of management changes and corporate reorganizations, the stock price still has not recovered. P&G closed at $69.05 Tuesday, less than its recent January high of $78.50.

        Though the reverberations of the fall were felt all over Greater Cincinnati — from workers putting off retirement to current retirees reassessing spending plans — almost everyone has moved on, and made do.

        Ray Hoskins is doing just what he always planned to do with his P&G stock — nothing. Mr. Hoskins, who retired from P&G in 1995 as a pipe fitter and welder, said that selling half his block in 1999 to pay for a life insurance plan was enough. The rest he is saving as an inheritance for his children.

        He said he wants to hold on to the stock through its ups and downs out of loyalty — and faith that it will provide for his family in years to come.

        Dr. Laughlin, a research chemist who retired from P&G in 1999, also has more faith in P&G today than one year ago. He had planned to give $2.5 million to Cornell University, where he received his Ph.D. The fall threatened to delay those payments, as his plans were based on P&G stock staying above $100 a share.

        Dr. Laughlin said he now realizes those expectations were unrealistic, as that high price was somewhat unnaturally inflated. His gift plans are still in the works, and he's happy to see the price rebound

        “I think the stock is where it should be now,” Dr. Laughlin said. “Forty dollars higher was really a nonsensical price.”

        Sam Roberson also has continued with his plans, which were threatened by the fall. Mr. Roberson is general presbyter at the Presbytery of Cincinnati. After March 7, 2000, the local denomination reconsidered its three-year, $5.5 million capital campaign because so many P&G-invested church members might not give as much with their personal holdings slashed.

        Nevertheless, the Presbyterian church launched the campaign.

        “I feel the ability to give and the generosity of church members will not be stifled by the ups and downs of the economy right now,” Mr. Roberson said. “We're moving full steam ahead.”

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