Page 82 of 87 Pages

                                                                      Exhibit 18



                               AXA Financial, Inc.
                           1290 Avenue of the Americas
                            New York, New York 10104



                                                             Stuart L. Faust
                                                   Senior Vice President and
                                                      Deputy General Counsel
                                                              Law Department





                                        November 20, 2002



Mr. Gerald M. Lieberman
c/o Alliance Capital Management L.P.
1345 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY  10105

Dear Jerry:

         Pursuant to Sections 2.1 and 2.4.2 of the Purchase Agreement dated as
of June 20, 2000 (the "Purchase Agreement") by and among Alliance Capital
Management L.P. ("Alliance"), AXA Financial, Inc. and Sanford C. Bernstein Inc.
relating to the purchase and sale of Buyer Units (except as otherwise stated,
capitalized terms used herein shall have the same meaning as in the Purchase
Agreement), AXA Financial hereby specifies Monday, November 25, 2002 as the
Settlement Date for the purchase of the Buyer Units subject to the Exercise
Notice to AXA Financial and Alliance from SCB Inc. and SCB Partners Inc., dated
November 8, 2002, and hereby designates ECMC, LLC as the Designated Entity to
purchase the Buyer Units subject to such Exercise Notice.

         In addition, please note that any notice you give under the Purchase
Agreement to AXA Financial should be given to:




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                                                             Page 83 of 87 Pages
                                Stanley B. Tulin
                    Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer
                           1290 Avenue of the Americas
                               New York, NY 10104
                               Fax: (212) 707-1920
                               Tel: (212) 314-4515

with copies to:

                                 Kevin R. Byrne
                       Senior Vice President and Treasurer
                           1290 Avenue of the Americas
                               New York, NY 10104
                               Fax: (212) 707-1504
                               Tel: (212) 314-4081


                                       and

                                 Stuart L. Faust
                Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
                           1290 Avenue of the Americas
                               New York, NY 10104
                               Fax: (212) 707-1900
                               Tel: (212) 314-3843

         Please call me if you have any comments.

                                                Sincerely yours,

                                                /s/ Stuart L. Faust

                                                Stuart L. Faust


cc:      David Brewer
         Kevin Byrne



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