TICKER TALK

* Many individual investors expect a 20% decline in U.S. stocks before the end of the year, although they are not panicking, according to a survey by Quick & Reilly Fleet Securities Inc.

The survey of 500 investors found that 35% believe a drop of at least 20% is “very likely” or “moderately likely.” An additional 38% said such a fall by year-end was “somewhat likely,” and 27% called it “not likely.”

Only 4% said they would reduce their stock portfolios after such a decline, and 41% said they would see it as an opportunity to buy more stocks. A majority, 53%, said they would leave their portfolios alone.

Investors who execute their trades on the Internet tended to be more optimistic than those who trade through a broker. Online investors also tend to be more active in monitoring and trading their portfolios, the survey found. About 90% of Internet traders said they bought or sold stocks in the last three months, versus 66% of broker-based traders.