So great was the demand for the insured accounts that the assets in money market funds shrank by more than a third.

The agency, being an unsecured creditor, could also end up getting much less than its claim, since Eastern's assets have shrunk.

By the end of the year, the assets of the bank had shrunk to about $50 million, including $26 million in loans, from $54 million.

Many foundations report that assets have shrunk, and some nonprofit organizations have had a drop in donors.

Its total assets have shrunk to $128 million, from $330 million last June, and many bank officials consider its stock virtually worthless.

But because the tax laws allow for averaging over several years, foundations need not slash programs the year after their assets shrink.

The bank's accounts have just revealed that its intangible assets have shrunk alarmingly.

By 1974, assets had shrunk to $34 billion, only about half of what they had been just two years earlier.

For tax-free funds, assets shrunk $205 million, to $64.8 billion.

But assets of mutual funds are shrinking - they are down 12 percent since the peak of the bull market in early 2000.