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Heard on the street: Momentum investors hurtle into Dell stock, but what happens if they hurtle out again? | Care to guess what has been the highest-flying of the larger technology stocks in the past year?</br></br>It isn't Intel, Microsoft or even Iomega. Of stocks with more than $1 billion in market value, the biggest percentage gainer is Dell Computer, a company that does nothing more complicated than assemble computers and mail them to customers.</br></br>In the past 12 months, Dell's stock price has more than quadrupled. Intel is up 146%, Microsoft has doubled, and data-storage darling Iomega, after a dramatic rise and fall, is up 55%. As many tech stocks have sagged in the past few weeks, Dell has proved surprisingly robust, losing just 7.4% off its Feb. 26 high. It closed Friday at 70 1/8, down 2 1/8.</br></br>What explains Dell's startling stock-market success? Two things -- one good and another more worrisome.</br></br>The good news is that Dell has been firing on all cylinders amid strong double-digit unit growth for world-wide personal computer sales. Dell's once-controversial formula -- skipping middlemen by selling direct, and building machines only once they are ordered -- has become the envy of the industry. | no | 0 |
Consumer Prices Declined 0.3% During April --- Oil Was the Chief Factor; Personal Income Rose, Along With Spending | WASHINGTON -- Falling oil prices fueled a 0.3% drop in the government's consumer price index in April, the third consecutive monthly decline, while personal income and consumer spending rose.</br></br>The decline in the inflation measure followed drops of 0.4% in both March and February, the Labor Department said. Over the three months, the department said, the index declined at an annual rate of 4.3%, the sharpest drop for any such period since the three months ended in January 1949, when the rate was 4.7%. All the figures are seasonally adjusted. The index hadn't fallen for three straight months on a seasonally adjusted basis since January through March 1952.</br></br>Excluding energy prices, however, the index rose 0.4% last month. Energy prices declined 5.8% in April and 6.5% in March.</br></br>"It looks as if it's all oil and that's not to be sneezed at," said Robert Dederick, chief economist of Northern Trust Co. in Chicago. But he added that "this windfall is pretty much behind us. The basic underlying inflation rate is still in the 3.5%-4% (annual) range." He said the overall index may show a rise for May.</br></br>Dorothea Otte, assistant director of the economic forecasting project at Georgia State University, said, "The party's over. . . . We've seen the bottom of oil prices." | yes | 1 |
Earlier Losses Eased By Late Market Rally: Autos, Steels Down Glamor Stocks Stall Conglomerates | A. late rally cut the stock marketÛªs losses Thursday after prices had dropped sharply in reaction to the European monetary crisis and the marketÛªs own two-week rise.</br></br>me i/ow uones liiuu^inai average, do w it nearly six points before noon, finished with a loss of 1.62 points at 965.13. Eleven of the 30 stocks in the average rose. 16 fell and three wore unchanged.</br></br>Standard and FoorÛªs 500-sloek composite was down 0.17 point to 105.97 and the New York Stock Exchange index lost 0.05 point to 59.86.</br></br>Trading volume, helped by the usual backlog from WednesdayÛªs closing, bounded up to 18.32 million shares from 15.12 million turned over on Tuesday. The ExchangeÛªs ticker tape was two minutes late in the morning, when prices were dropping, and three minutes late at the close, when they were coming back.</br></br>Declining stocks led ad vances throughout the day, bul never built up a big margin. At the close, 749 stocks were down and 686 were higher, compared with 772 up and 570 down on Tuesday. There were 155 new 1968 highs, against 156 in the previous session, and nine new lows, up from five. | no | 0 |
Mideast Crisis Dashes Hopes for Rebound In Corporate Profits in the Second Half | The likelihood of a second-half rebound in corporate profits all but died with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.</br></br>Many U.S. manufacturers had expected 1990 profits to be the mirror image of 1989 results, starting out slowly as companies completed the inventory reduction begun in late 1989, but then improving noticeably in the second half. The oil crisis makes it more likely that profits will continue to slip until sometime in 1991.</br></br>Even optimistic economists who don't expect higher oil prices to trigger a recession say after-tax corporate profits will decline in 1990 for the second consecutive year. Richard D. Rippe, senior vice president and chief economist with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc., is looking for a 2% to 3% dip from 1989's $167.1 billion.</br></br>Among the more bearish forecasters, A. Gary Shilling, New York economic consultant, says the crisis is "the last nail in the coffin of this expansion." He's forecasting a 12% to 14% profit drop for 1990. David Bostian, managing director and chief economist for Jesup, Josephthal & Co., believes "we were in a recession before the invasion occurred." Piling on the Middle East crisis will produce some "downright scary" earnings reports because of "the downside leverage of high corporate debt."</br></br>Even before Saddam Hussein plunged across the border, the profit outlook was less favorable than manufacturing executives had expected during the spring. Demand was a little weaker than anticipated, triggering discounting on products ranging from tires to machine tools and preventing producers of other items from raising prices to pass through higher costs. And costs rose a little more than had been budgeted. | no | 0 |
U.S. Output Up Slightly In August | The NationÛªs industrial production increased slightly in I August, the Federal Reserve I Board reported yesterday.</br></br>Record output of commercial and industrial machinery was balanced by declines in iron and steel. There was little change in the rate of production for automobile and other consumer goods.</br></br>Industrial production was measured at 144.4 on the Federal ReserveÛªs scale compared to 144.2 in July. This meant that production of the NationÛªs factories and mines was 44.4 per cent higher than the 1957-59 level.</br></br>The gain was the smallest since April but it marked the 10th straight month that the index has moved upward. The last decline was caused by work stoppages in the automobile industry last October.</br></br>The Federal Reserve said construction activity remained at a high level while retail sales showed a slight decline. | yes | 1 |
Market Players Gear Up for Facebook Offering | Anticipation was strong for Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering as the Nasdaq Stock Market indicated shares would start trading under the stock symbol FB around 11 a.m. EDT Friday.</br></br>Facebook's IPO could be a "nice shot in the arm" for brokerages, said Sean Kelly, a managing director with brokerage Knight Capital Group. "We're expecting a big day" for volume, he said, adding he hoped the deal would spark enthusiasm for stocks among individual investors.</br></br>On Thursday afternoon, financial advisers at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney learned their allocation of Facebook shares for clients would be 5,000 per account, according to people familiar with the matter.</br></br>The nearly 17,200 brokers at the retail brokerage joint venture were notified of the number Thursday afternoon, these people said. The new amount though, is flexible as clients with more than one account could receive more than 5,000 shares, one of the people said.</br></br>Traders at T3 Trading Group LLC were set to huddle in their Lower Manhattan office before the opening bell to discuss trading strategies for Facebook. The firm says it has been honing its tactics this year as other social-media companies made their trading debuts. | no | 0 |
Portfolio Surprise: Many Americans Run Hidden Financial Risk From `Derivatives' --- Exotic Investment Contracts Increasingly Permeate Pension, Mutual Funds --- Big Bets and High Leverage | When the securities first showed up in a brokerage-firm confirmation statement for the account of an elderly widow, John S. Leech recalls thinking they looked "odd."</br></br>"I'm accustomed to looking at confirmation statements, and I didn't understand what it was," says Mr. Leech, a Smith Barney broker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who was serving not as the widow's broker but as trustee of her $500,000 portfolio. The securities -- some 20% of the portfolio -- were listed as triple-A-rated bonds issued by a quasi-federal-government agency. There weren't any obvious risks.</br></br>But risky they were. While most bond prices were rising, the value of these securities plummeted about 50% in just seven months, wiping out 10% of the widow's portfolio. Mr. Leech, who is battling with lawyers to recoup the loss from her independent investment adviser, didn't realize the securities were a form of "derivatives" -- strange, hybrid investments that look like one thing and act like another. Once used solely by sophisticated financial institutions, derivatives have mushroomed in the past decade and are surfacing in the investment mainstream.</br></br>Many Americans are far more involved in derivatives than they realize. Their pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies are knee-deep in the market, and wading in further.</br></br>"Most buyers of fixed-income mutual funds, for example, already own derivatives indirectly, whether they know it or not," says Kenneth Sullivan, who heads the derivative-products group at Republic National Bank of New York. Fixed-income, or bond, funds in the U.S. have some 12 million individual shareholders and $673 billion of assets. | no | 0 |
Fiat, U.S. Set Chrysler Deal; Auto Maker's Purchase of Stake Includes Option to Buy UAW Trust Shares | Italian auto maker Fiat SpA has an agreement to buy the U.S. Treasury's remaining 6% stake in Chrysler Group LLC, a move that would bring an end to the U.S. government's involvement in the Auburn Hills, Mich., auto maker.</br></br>Fiat will pay the Treasury $500 million for its 98,461 shares of Chrysler and another $75 million for the right to purchase all of the 45.7% stake owned by the United Auto Workers union's health-care trust fund.</br></br>The Treasury will retain 80% of the $75 million purchase right and share the remaining 20% with the Canadian government. In all, the Treasury will walk away with a total of $560 million in the deal, which is expected to close within the next 30 to 60 days following antitrust reviews.</br></br>President Barack Obama is expected to announce the deal during a planned visit Friday to a Chrysler automobile assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio.</br></br>"As Treasury exits its investment in Chrysler, it's clear that President Obama's decision to stand behind and restructure this company was the right one," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a statement Thursday. "Today, America's automakers are mounting one of the most improbable turnarounds in recent history--creating new jobs and making new investments in communities across our country." | no | 0 |
Techs Take Hit Alongside Cisco; Clorox, P&G, Quaker Oats Gain | NEW YORK -- Investors took out their disappointment with networking giant Cisco Systems' quarterly results on the company's stock -- and on the shares of its numerous rivals and vendors.</br></br>Cisco itself faded to a 52-week low, thanks to a $4.69 decline that brought its shares to $31.06 apiece as of 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The selloff came after Cisco put out quarterly results that missed analysts' projections, and warned that its revenue isn't likely to grow for the next six months.</br></br>In addition, a host of the communications-parts makers that sell gear to Cisco also saw their prices fall sharply. Applied Micro Circuits dropped 5.25 to 49.81 a share, PMC-Sierra declined 7.81 to 58.75 a share and Xilinx gave up 2.50 to 48 a share, all on Nasdaq.</br></br>Other networking concerns also faded. Foundry Networks fell 1.56 to 17.94 a share, Extreme Networks slid 4.44 to 31.69 a share and Sycamore Networks tumbled 3.31 to 23.69 a share, all on Nasdaq.</br></br>Electronics makers also lost more ground. Sanmina eased 1.88 to 36.25 a share and Flextronics fell 2.94 to 33.94 a share, both on Nasdaq, while Jabil Circuit declined 2.29 to 31.36 a share. | no | 0 |
Heavy Selling Develops | The market was. mixed at the outset although a tendency toward the downside was apparent. Early in the session some heavy selling hit steels. Thei flosses became infectious and the entire list sluffed off.</br></br>Key stocks lost from fractions to around 3 points. Only a sprinkling of the pivotal issues punched out gains and most of these were fractional.</br></br>The Associated Press average of 60 stocks fell 80 cents, to $176.20 withvthe industrials down $1.40, the rails down 90 cents and the utilities down 10 cents.</br></br>The most active stock was Studebaker-Packard, up Va at 7% on 77,700 shares. Second was U. S. Hoffman Machinery, up % at 13V4 on 37,600 shares: Third was U. S. Steel, off 1 at 63%. Bethlehem Steel, down around 3 t at one time, took a net loss of 2Vs. Youngstown dropped 2% and Republic Steel %.</br></br>Studebaker-Packard was the only steady ! member of the motor gfoup. Chrysler fell Vs. Ford and General Motors % each. | no | 0 |
Futures Shock: Chicago Merc to Buy Board of Trade; Linkup of Old Rivals Shows Fast Rise of Derivatives And Electronic Trading; Biggest Yet in a Merger Wave | The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. and the Chicago Board of Trade agreed to join forces to form the world's largest financial market, one that will dwarf exchanges in the U.S. and Europe -- even the New York Stock Exchange.</br></br>The Chicago Merc announced plans to buy the smaller CBOT Holdings Inc. for about $8 billion. As the biggest deal yet in a global consolidation of the financial-exchange industry, the plan sets aside more than a century of crosstown rivalry.</br></br>The agreement reflects the rapid growth in the investment industry's hottest sector: derivatives, or contracts whose value is derived from the movements in other financial instruments such as stocks and bonds. The linkup will make trading in many such derivatives a simpler matter, while also raising concerns that the increased power of the combined exchanges could lead to higher fees for traders.</br></br>Having grown far beyond their roots in putting together buyers and sellers of eggs, butter and corn, the Chicago exchanges, together, will trade some nine million futures contracts a day. Futures contracts give investors the right to buy or sell something later at a set price. Thus, they are used to hedge risk, allowing investors to enjoy smoother growth of their assets without the bumps that come with simpler investments on, say, a portfolio of stocks.</br></br>"Chicago used to be known as the hog butcher of the world. The city now will be known as the world's risk manager," said John F. Sandner, a Chicago Merc board member. | no | 0 |
Stock Prices Fall After Rally Flops; Dow Declines 2.18 | NEW YORK, Sept. 19 (AP) ÛÓ Stock market prices sagged for their fourth con-, secutive session today after an early rally effort fizzled. Trading was moderate.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks, up nearly 3 points in morning trading, closed with a 2.18 point loss at 943.18. Since last Thursday, prices had been edging -lower, but losses over the period amounted to less than 7 points' on the Dow.</br></br>The American Stock Exchange price-change index was off .01 to 127.-42. Declines held a 463-to-383 margin over advances, with 1,163 issues traded. Volume was 2.57 million shares, up from 1.78 million Monday.</br></br>ÛÏIt was a dull, cautious market, generally repeating the pattern we saw last week,Û said Newton Zinder, analyst with E. F. Hutton Co. Inc.</br></br>In the news background, the Federal Reserve Board reported that industrial production last month had its sharpest rise since April. | no | 0 |
Senate Presents Navy Two Ships Ordered by Shah: Senate Votes to Acquire 2 Unrequested Dest | The Senate last night overwhelmingly voted in favor of U,S. acquisition of two destroyers that the Navy never asked for until recently. The 62-to-26 vote could add $700 million to the federal deficit this year.</br></br>The issue under consideration was. whether the United States should pay Litton Industries the $700 million to acquire the two ships, originally ordered by the shah of Iran. The new. Iranian government has canceled the-order, leaving LittonÛªs Ingalls Ship-' building Division with four partially completed destroyers that do not meet U.S. Navy specifications.</br></br>In the Budget Committee several weeks ago, Sen. Donald W. Riegle Jr.' (D-Mich.) moved to eliminate from the Senate budget resolution $1.35. billion for the United States to acquire the ships. The motion carried, but due to a mistake or a mixup, the budget resolution reached the floor with money for two destroyers still included.</br></br>Riegle pleaded with his colleagues yesterday to eliminate that money. Approval of the $700 million would be "the most powerful symbolic message that comes out of the 1980 budget process,Û Riegle said, warning that the public would be outraged when it realized how the United States was bailing out Litton.</br></br>But Riegle was up against one of the last of the SenateÛªs powerful southern committee chairmen, John C. Stcnnis (D-Miss.l. Stennis chairs the Armed Services Committee, which has voted to acquire the lour Spruance-class destroyers, which are | no | 0 |
Ill-Timed Expansion: JWP Grew as Recession Loomed --- Firm Vows to Pare Non-Core Business, Trim Debt and Consolidate Operations | A string of problems at JWP Inc. has some analysts wondering if the company, which went on an acquisition spree just as the economy was heading into recession, didn't expand too much too fast.</br></br>In the past few months, the technical services giant has disclosed a chain of announcements that has sent its stock into a dizzying plunge, to a low of $5.75 in August from a high of $19 in January. It currently trades around $6 a share.</br></br>In April, JWP announced a $9.3 million charge to restructure a business; in July, it forecast a sharply lower profit outlook than analysts expected. And it subsequently reported a revised $13.9 million loss for the first quarter and a $48.8 million loss for the second quarter, after internal auditors raised questions about the value of assets in its information services unit; the charges totaled $64.5 million.</br></br>"JWP can't afford any more problems," says John Simon, an analyst at Seidler Amdec Securities Inc. in Los Angeles. The company in a sense agrees. "We tried to do too many things, tried to be good at too many things," says Andrew Dwyer, chairman and chief executive. But he insists "we certainly think all the bad news is behind us," and JWP now will be able to focus on its core business and rebuild earnings.</br></br>JWP acts as a subcontractor and superintendent to companies: it designs, installs and services a variety of electrical and mechanical systems -- from computerized lighting and security systems to plumbing, cooling and heating systems -- for everything from hotels to power plants. | no | 0 |
Reserve Soft-Pedals 'Easy Money' Policy: News Analysis | tern has quietly shifted its emphasis away from* easy money and thereby was taken a calculated economic and political risk.</br></br>The central bank has moved to a stance of less easy credit at the very time that the econ omy is sluggish.</br></br>The monetary authorities can make out an ingenious case for their new position. But if the current level of output and income persists or tails off into a decline in the next six months the FedÛªs shift could touch off a barrage from Democrats and professional economists that might drastically reshape the way the central bank docs business.</br></br>Chairman William Mc-Chesney Martin of the FedÛªs board is a man of deep conviction who is not unused to fire. There is no sign that he is flinching, and it is a safe bet that he fully appreciates the risks he is running.</br></br>For the past six weeks, the Fed has let the supply of money decline a little. Interest rates ,the price of money, have been moving up slowly. From the beginning of June to mid-July, the price that the Government has had to pay for 90-day loans has advanced from 2.656 per cent to 2.974 per cent; the yield on long-term Government bonds has moved up from 3.89 to 4.02 per cent. | no | 0 |
Consumer Prices Remain Flat | WASHINGTON--U.S. consumer prices remained flat in July, the fourth consecutive month that costs didn't increase, showing that inflation pressures are contained.</br></br>The index of consumer prices, which measures how much Americans pay for everything from groceries to cars, was unchanged in July from the prior month, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Prices grew 1.4% from a year earlier, the smallest annual gain since November 2010.</br></br>A 1.3% decline in electricity costs helped offset small increases to gasoline and food prices last month.</br></br>When removing volatile food and energy costs, consumer prices rose 0.1% last month from June and grew 2.1% year over year.</br></br>Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires forecast that both overall and core prices would rise 0.2% in July. | no | 0 |
Money Managers Could Hardly Miss in '85, But Some Picks Proved Better Than Others | With the market enjoying one of its best years ever, one might imagine that money managers found it as easy to pick winning stocks as to shoot fish in a barrel.</br></br>On the whole that was true. For the first time in a few years, most money managers' stock portfolios in 1985 matched or surpassed the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, which rose about 25%. The Nasdaq index of over-the-counter stocks gained about 30%. So it isn't surprising that the professional stock pickers featured early last year in The Wall Street Journal also look pretty good. But some did better than others.</br></br>At the end of 1984, we asked five investment managers to peer into their crystal balls and foretell which stocks and groups would likely be winners in 1985. The prophecies they shared with us don't necessarily represent a comprehensive investment strategy and so they're not reliable guides to the money managers' overall performance. Still, we thought it worth reviewing our report of their stock selections to see which worked out and which didn't.</br></br>Peter Lynch, who runs the Magellan Fund for Fidelity Management & Research in Boston, scored huge gains on six out of eight stocks he named. Like many investors, Mr. Lynch foresaw flat or declining interest rates in 1985, which led him to favor thrifts and some growth stocks. But his selections did much better than average, showing that stock picking is an art even in a bull market.</br></br>Mr. Lynch staked his money on little-known thrifts that had recently converted to stock ownership from operating as depositor-owned institutions. "It wasn't just an interest rate bet," he says. "I thought they would do better because the managers were now owners" of shares in a publicly traded company. "You had capitalism on your side," the money manager says. | no | 0 |
Wall St to Greenspan: The Price Is Right: Dow Jumps 82 Points; Nasdaq Hits New High | NEW YORK, Dec. 9ÛÓInvestors thumbed their noses today at Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan GreenspanÛªs warning of market inflation, pushing prices to the highest one-day gain in a month.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 82 points to close at 6463.94, wiping out all remaining losses from FridayÛªs brief panic, when investors feared Greenspan was threatening to raise interest rates.</br></br>The Nasdaq Stock Market, fueled by heavy buying of Microsoft and Intel shares, displayed even more disdain for the chairman. It jumped 28.59 points, or 2.22 percent, which Bloomberg Business News said was its biggest percentage gain since Aug. 2.</br></br>Analysts used an assortment of verbs to describe the contempt the market showed for GreenspanÛªs fear that overpriced stocks might lead to overpriced consumer goods and then an economic slump like that suffered by the Japanese. Greenspan was dissed, they said. He was scorned. He was ignored.</br></br>K. Miller, a portfolio manager at Trevor Stewart Burton and Jacobsen Inc. Pleasing economic data and a robust bond market made it impossible to resist stock buys, she said. | no | 0 |
Federal Reserve Adds 157 Stocks to List Of OTC Securities Under Margin Rules | WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve Board added 157 stocks to the list of over-the-counter securities falling under the board's margin, or credit, rules.</br></br>The stocks comprise 35 securities that meet the board's criteria and 122 that automatically are eligible because they qualified for trading on the National Market System of the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System.</br></br>The Fed also removed 43 stocks from the list for failing to meet its requirements. And 44 have been removed because they have been listed on a national securities exchange or have been acquired by another company, or for similar reasons.</br></br>The Fed's new list of 2,476 stocks will take effect Aug. 13. The Fed revises its over-the-counter list three times a year.</br></br>Under the Fed's margin requirements, anyone buying a stock on credit must make a cash down payment, currently at least 50% of the stock's purchase price. The same rule applies to stocks listed on national exchanges. | yes | 1 |
Dollar Eases As Profit-Taking Blunts Surge | The U.S. dollar eased against most major foreign currencies yesterday as dealers took profits from Tuesday's dollar surge.</br></br>The decline was minimal, however, with the dollar continuing to trade at more than 2.9 West German marks. Most traders said they expected the dollar to resume its upward course before long.</br></br>Gold rose 40 cents, to $344.40 an ounce, in response to the weaker dollar.</br></br>The dollar also was hurt yesterday by several large West German commercial orders to sell dollars and purchase marks. The mark is at its lowest level against the dollar in 11 1/2 years. "The size of these orders was such that they had the effect of depressing the dollar," said Francoise Soares-Kemp, a vice president and chief corporate trader at Credit Lyonnais in New York. "They certainly were enough to put a damper on things."</br></br>Attached to the orders, however, she said, were instructions to buy dollars if the U.S. currency falls to 2.89 marks and to sell more dollars if the exchange rate rises to 2.92 marks. "That could effectively, but not necessarily, put a trading range on the dollar for the remainder of the week at these levels," she added. The dollar was quoted at 2.9043 marks in late New York trading yesterday. | no | 0 |
Smaller Businesses Seeking Loans Still Come Up Empty | Small businesses expected 2011 to be the moment a years-long credit freeze would finally begin to thaw. But borrowing has only gotten worse.</br></br>Loans outstanding to small businesses totaled $609 billion at the end of March, an 8.6% drop from a year earlier, according to the most recent data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which analyzes loans of less than $1 million.</br></br>Another lending analysis, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, shows that big banks' outstanding loans to small businesses dropped 14% between March 2010 and March 2011, while loans by smaller lenders fell 3%.</br></br>Business owners rank access to capital as the most important issue facing privately held companies, according to a poll of 1,221 entrepreneurs released this month by Pepperdine University. In the past six months, only 17% of loan-seeking businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue landed bank financing, the study found.</br></br>"This area of the economy is in such crisis," says John K. Paglia, a finance professor and senior researcher for Pepperdine's report. The lack of credit "is improperly penalizing companies that will be very successful down the road." | yes | 1 |
Corporate News: Newsweek Cuts Summer Issue | Washington Post Co.'s Newsweek will cut an issue this summer, a spokesman for the magazine said, in another sign of the deteriorating advertising climate for print media.</br></br>The 76-year-old weekly typically skips a week of publication around Christmas, the Fourth of July and in August, printing a double issue to cover each two-week period. This summer, however, Newsweek readers will receive two double issues in August, on top of the one in July.</br></br>The decision comes less than a month after Newsweek unveiled a redesigned magazine in a move to adapt to the changing preferences of readers and marketers, whose gradual shift away from print has accelerated during the recession. In the overhauled Newsweek, the publisher has dropped its focus on breaking news in favor of columns and narrative features.</br></br>Newsweek said it also is curtailing its guaranteed circulation to 1.5 million readers from 2.6 million and targeting a more highbrow audience, including Beltway insiders and policy wonks.</br></br>"We've moved away from the remedial model of current events," Newsweek editor Jon Meacham said in a recent interview. | no | 0 |
REAL ESTATE MAILBAG | ADEAR ALTA: That's the shortest real estate question -- and one of the best -- I have ever received. I wish the answer could be so brief.</br></br>An "as is" real estate sale means the seller will not pay for any property repairs but must disclose all known defects.</br></br>Many sellers of older homes sell "as is" because they don't want to be inconvenienced with repairs or renovations, realize the buyers may want to tear down the house or remodel to their own preferences, and/or can't afford to make repairs.</br></br>Personally, I learned about "as is" home sales after I bought a foreclosure house from a bank. The realty agent marketing the residence emphasized that the sale was "as is" and that the bank wouldn't pay for any repairs. But the price was such a bargain that I was blindsided and failed to notice all the items that needed repair or replacement. Fortunately, I had plans to renovate the property, so it really didn't matter, and I eventually resold that property at a substantial profit.</br></br>Sellers of "as is" houses should realize that it is a red-flag warning to buyers, who usually expect a sales price discount from full-market value to compensate for the needed repairs. Buyers of "as is" houses can often obtain bargain purchase prices, but they should always make their purchase offer contingent on approval of a professional inspection report. | no | 0 |
Profit Taking Follows Tonkin Bay Incident | Troubled waters of the Bay of Tonkin rippled the stock market again last week. Shooting incidents have been the nemesis of securities prices in recent months rather than the state of business.</br></br>"The health of the economy is so good itÛªs not even a campaign issue,Û one broker com- upward progress. There were mented. further indications of an in-</br></br>News Friday of U.S. war- crease in capital spending, and ships once again confronting a Gå¡od increase in new car the Reds in Southeast Asia 8å£ues- immediately produced flus- Retail sales this year were tered selling. Coming as it did expected to increase 6 per with leading market averages cent from 1963 ÛÓ and run at or near all-time highs, many double the volume of 17 years investors had fat profits that ago. Industrial production could be taken. rose in August to a new rec-</br></br>averages, which had been monihly record, mildly up for the week, closed Even better, a panel of mixed. Standard & PoorÛªs in- economists at a one-day meet-dex of 500 stocks ended up ing of the National Industrial 0.03 to 83.48. The Dow-Jones Conference Board said: The 30 industrials dipped 2.01 to current economic expansion 865.12. towers over any previous</br></br>and then down. Turnover on further advance, the New York Stock Exchange Despite the less than spar-soared to 27.85 million shares, kling performance of the mar-In the previous week, short- ket this week, 18 of the 20 ened one day by the Labor most active stocks were up. Day holiday, 20.90 million Two were down (Pan Amer-shares traded. ican World Airways and West- The market, except for the inghouse Electric), late developing incident in Southeast Asia, had much favorable news to support its | yes | 1 |
The War of the Wages; Obama moves left on the economy to change the subject from ObamaCare. | For all of their mutual public admiration, Presidents Clinton and Obama react differently to political trouble. Bill moved to the middle, while Barack always moves left. So it's no surprise that Mr. Obama is responding to his ObamaCare rollout slump by doing his best Elizabeth Warren imitation.</br></br>Mr. Obama returned to his favorite theme of rising income inequality on Wednesday, which he called "the defining challenge of our time." He ought to know since few Presidents have done more to increase inequality than he has. Median household income has fallen since the economic recovery began, while the rich who own capital assets have done very well thanks to the Federal Reserve's focus on reflating stock and home prices. Mr. Obama is the Chief Economist of Nottingham posing as Robin Hood.</br></br>The President's political purpose here is what the pros call rallying your base. Many Democrats are as dismayed as Republicans at ObamaCare's rollout, so the White House wants to change the subject and give MSNBC viewers something else to debate. Mr. Obama didn't have much new to offer that would help the economy or the middle class, so instead he's decided to escalate that hardy liberal perennial, the minimum wage.</br></br>Earlier this year he proposed an increase to $9 an hour from the current $7.25. That has gone nowhere on Capitol Hill and Mr. Obama is less popular than he was, so the White House response is to raise the bidding to $10.10. If his popularity keeps falling, Mr. Obama will be demanding $15 by next November.</br></br>One liberal highlight from last month's elections was when 60% of New Jersey voters approved a state minimum wage hike to $9.25 an hour. Unions now plan to put wage increases of $9 to $10 an hour on the 2014 ballot in at least five states--Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts, Missouri and South Dakota. The President recently endorsed the bill by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Rep. George Miller of California to raise the wage floor to $10.10 by 2015 with automatic indexing for inflation thereafter. Look for Harry Reid to call it up for a Senate vote next week. | no | 0 |
Fashion Change: Hilfiger's IPO Is Shelved; Pullback Reveals Anxiety In Luxury-Goods Sector Amid Market Volatility | Global market turmoil claimed its first fashion victim yesterday as Tommy Hilfiger Corp. shelved plans for an initial public offering of its shares on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange.</br></br>The company and its owner, private-equity firm Apax Partners, said the decision to shelve the IPO came even though "investor feedback has been positive."</br></br>"Considering recent volatile market conditions, management and shareholders decided to postpone an IPO process until such time that market conditions have stabilized," they said.</br></br>The pullback illustrates how the once-confident luxury-goods industry is getting skittish about whether it can attract investors at a time of roiling global markets and looming recession in the U.S. It remains to be seen how the turmoil could affect Prada SpA and Salvatore Ferragamo SpA -- two of the industry's best-known brands, which are planning listings on the Milan stock exchange this year. Prada shelved a previous plan for an IPO after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S.</br></br>"We are working with our advisers to determine the best timing. No decision has been made," said Prada spokesman Tomaso Galli. A spokesman for Salvatore Ferragamo couldn't be reached for comment. | yes | 1 |
U.S. Trade Deficit Breaks Record;$19.2 Billion Shortfall in November Revives Protectionist Push | The United States trade deficit swelled to a record $19.2 billion in November, reversing three months of improving deficits and renewing congressional threats to pass protectionist legislation this year.</br></br>The November figure assures that 1986 will be the worst trade year in U.S. history. For the first 11 months of 1986 the trade deficit-the difference between exports and imports-was $159.1 billion. The current record deficit of $148.5 billion was in 1985.</br></br>If the deficit continued in December at the same rate it did for the first 11 months, the deficit for 1986 would be $173.6 billion.</br></br>Economists said yesterday they were surprised by the enormous deterioration in the trade picture. They said the increase in the deficit was at least partly due to special factors such as the hoarding of imports by businesses trying to beat the elimination of lucrative tax breaks under the tax revision act, which went into effect today.</br></br>"There was a time when a $19 billion deficit was horrendous for one year," said Commerce Undersecretary Robert Ortner. "Now we have to get accustomed to thinking of it as being horrendous for one month." | no | 0 |
Whirlpool to Invest in Tennessee Plant; Appliance Maker, Along With Other Big Exporters, Is Fueling Productivity Gains by Revamping Domestic Production | Author: Bob Tita</br></br>Whirlpool Corp. will disclose on Wednesday the planned construction of a new plant in Tennessee that will serve as the centerpiece of a $300 million upgrade of domestic manufacturing facilities at the world's largest household appliance maker by revenue.</br></br>The move highlights a shift by even export-driven U.S. manufacturers away from low-cost overseas locales in favor of rationalizing domestic operations to boost productivity.</br></br>Whirlpool considered sites in Mexico and elsewhere in the U.S. before opting to replacing a century-old factory in Cleveland, Tenn., where it assembles built-in cooking ranges and ovens. It will add 130 staff to an existing work force of 1,500.</br></br>The Benton Harbor, Mich., company has been aggressively reorganizing its North American assembly plants and distribution centers, consolidating smaller sites into larger facilities following its 2006 acquisition of rival Maytag Corp. It has closed plants in Evansville, Ind., Oxford, Miss., and recently outlined plans to close a Michigan plant. | no | 0 |
Interstate General to shift focus from home building | Like many real estate company executives, James J. Wilson, president and chief executive of Interstate General Co. L.P. in St. Charles, Md., worries about interest rates and federal policies that affect consumer demand for the homes his company builds and the lots it sells.</br></br>Wilson fretted so much about the federal budget deficit last year that he voted for Ross Perot, he said, even though he didn't want the Texan to win. "You have to know what's going on at all levels [of government]. It's going to come back and affect you," Wilson said.</br></br>He almost learned that lesson the hard way. Since going public in February 1987, the company Wilson founded in 1957 had posted a healthy string of profits until the fourth quarter of 1990, when it lost $473,000.</br></br>The last two years were difficult. The worst came in the second quarter of 1992, when the company lost $16.2 million. Interstate General would have filed for bankruptcy, like many other developers, except for its racetrack and off-track-betting operation in Puerto Rico, and the revenue it made on the 8,000 apartment units it owns, Wilson said.</br></br>Total revenue also declined, from a high of $64.4 million in 1990 to $41 million last year. Now, as quarterly profits are returning to the black ($2.3 million in the first quarter of the year), Wilson said he has decided to shift Interstate General's focus from home building and land development because they are so dependent on government actions. | no | 0 |
Dow Dops 47 in Late Sell-Off: Greenspan Remarks Hit Bonds Hard | NEW YORK, Jan. 29ÛÓWall Street investors, worried by comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that no new interest rate cuts are in the offing, sent stocks plummeting today after a midday rally of 27 points was cut short by a tumble in the Treasury bond market.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 47.18 points at 3224.96, its biggest fall since losing 120.31 points on Nov. 15. The blue-chip index closed at a record 3272.14 on Tuesday.</br></br>Losing stocks outpaced those that gained by nearly 2 to 1 on active volume of 249 million shares onthe New York Stock Exchange.</br></br>Greenspan told the Senate Banking Committee that he expects the economy to pick up in the spring and that nothing needed to be done now to get the economy moving, either on the fiscal or the monetary policy front.</br></br>The bond market, higher early in the session as traders reacted favorably to President BushÛªs new budget and tax proposals, took a sudden turn for the worse after Greenspan began testifying. | no | 0 |
DJIA's Fireworks: Best Week in Two Years | U.S. stocks notched their biggest weekly jump in two years, as investors pounced on fresh data suggesting the economy could be slogging its way out of its recent malaise.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up up 168.43 points, or 1.4%, to 12582.77 on Friday, for a 5.4% gain for the week, its best performance on a percentage basis since July 2009. By points--the Dow tacked on 648.19 in five days--the Dow had its best week since November 2008.</br></br>Driving the gains was an easing in anxiety over the U.S. economy and Europe's debt troubles. On Friday, an update on the U.S. manufacturing sector showed brisk expansion in June, representing one of the month's first prominent readings on the economy.</br></br>The report was especially well-taken a day after a regional manufacturing survey of Chicago-area purchasing managers for June that also handily beat economists' expectations.</br></br>"This is a great indication that the manufacturing sector is turning around," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "I expect manufacturing will take us out of the soft patch and lead economic growth in the second half of the year." | no | 0 |
Ahead of the Tape | [Today's Market Forecast]</br></br>A Chill Wind</br></br>With the Fed set to push up interest rates for the first time in over four years today, one little fact may have eluded many investors: The economy's growth rate already seems to be slowing down.</br></br>Start with consumer spending. When the Commerce Department released May spending figures Monday, it revised down its read on real personal consumption in April. This came hand in hand with warnings of slower June sales from General Motors, Wal-Mart Stores and Target, which account for about one-tenth of U.S. retail sales.</br></br>In the wake of the surprisingly strong consumer-confidence reading yesterday, some may see this as a mere blip. But there is further evidence of sluggishness. Tucked inside of last week's generally dismal May durable-goods report were unexpected declines in capital- equipment shipments and orders. | yes | 1 |
No Complacency on Asia | ASIA'S CURRENCIES have stabilized, and stock markets are bouncing back. The U.S. economy continues to roll, with 358,000 jobs created last month as wages rise, unemployment remains low and the Dow Jones average forges ahead. Maybe, a member of Congress might think, the Asian financial storm has blown past. Maybe we don't have to give the International Monetary Fund all those billions the Clinton administration is pressing for.</br></br>If only it were so. Unfortunately, on many levels, it is too soon to relax. For millions of workers and their families in Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and elsewhere, trouble is just beginning. Even if their nations' currencies and stock markets have bottomed out, the consequences of rising unemployment, slowed economic growth and declining standards of living have yet to unfold. To some extent, such consequences are unavoidable. But Americans have more than a humanitarian interest in mitigating Asia's pain.</br></br>So far, the economic impact on the United States has been, if anything, beneficial, as Asia's crisis dampens inflationary pressure here. But in the coming months the impact is likely to be less positive, as competitive pressures threaten some American jobs. And if the economic crisis worsens and provokes ethnic riots in Indonesia and social instability elsewhere, the national security and economic impact on the United States could be adverse in the extreme.</br></br>Moreover, the financial situation remains precarious. This is especially so in Indonesia, where the dictatorial President Suharto refuses to recognize the need for more democracy or to prepare the ground for a political transition. Democratic South Korea is in far better shape, thanks to the earnestness and skill with which President-elect Kim Dae Jung has devoted himself to far-reaching economic reform. But even South Korea remains vulnerable to shifts in fickle and sometimes irrational international financial flows. So do nations not yet infected, or barely infected, by the Asian "contagion," from China to Hong Kong to Russia to Brazil. Any one of these developing nations, or all of them, could be tripped up by a congressional refusal to support the IMF.</br></br>Critics attack the IMF, the international organization leading the financial rescues of Asia's economies, on two grounds. Some accept its importance but cite the mistakes it has made. It has made mistakes, and it does need to be more open in its functioning. But the reforms it's promoting this time around -- for less corruption and cronyism, greater openness, reliable unemployment insurance and more -- will promote democracy and social welfare if faithfully implemented. | no | 0 |
Pound Falls To Two-Year Low | The U.K. pound fell to a fresh two-year low against the dollar Friday after U.K. economic growth rates hit their lowest level since 1992, signaling a looming recession.</br></br>Broad strength in the U.S. dollar also pushed sterling lower, as a decline in oil prices Friday improved the overall U.S. economic outlook and hopes for a recovery, sending the dollar higher virtually across the board. Crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled at $114.59 a barrel, down $6.59.</br></br>The pound fell to as low as $1.8507 Friday, its lowest point since July 2006, and down 14% from a 27-year high of $2.1160 reached late last year.</br></br>Second-quarter gross domestic product data in the U.K. was flat, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, ending a streak of 63 quarters of economic expansion in the U.K. In annual terms, the U.K. growth rate stands at 1.4%.</br></br>"The data was quite weak, and suggests the U.K. could be hitting a recession," said Ian Stannard, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in London. | no | 0 |
Wall Street Sees Limited Storm Impact | Wall Street economists and money managers spent the long holiday weekend keeping close watch on the effects of Hurricane Katrina, with many saying that, despite the devastation, the long-term impact on U.S. and global economic growth should be muted.</br></br>But several analysts also warned that global stock, bond, currency and commodities markets may react sharply in the coming days and weeks to any signs of prolonged energy supply disruption, depressed consumer spending or rapidly rising unemployment.</br></br>"The economic and market implications of Katrina, and her ugly aftermath, remain highly problematic," Robert J. Barbera, chief economist at ITG-Hoenig, wrote in a report to clients over the weekend. "Most obviously, a slower trajectory for global growth now seems unavoidable. . . . U.S. consumer spending will take a hit in the months ahead."</br></br>Several Wall Street firms reduced their predictions for U.S. economic growth in the second half of the year, citing the impact of gas prices on consumer spending and the disruption of commodity shipments through the critical ports at the mouth of the Mississippi. Credit Suisse First Boston, for instance, reduced its estimated gross domestic product growth for the third quarter from 3.7 percent to 3 percent.</br></br>William C. Dudley, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs & Co., wrote in a research note that the reduction in economic output should be limited to the next few months. But he said such an outcome was not guaranteed. "The worst-case scenario is if the drop in consumer spending leads to significant [enough] job losses to push the unemployment rate materially higher. That could be sufficient to generate the type of dynamics that culminate in recession." | yes | 1 |
Separation of Stocks and Stock | The most arresting part of President Clinton's State of the Union message was his proposal to shore up the Social Security system. The president is correct in focusing on this challenge.</br></br>In 1950 there were 16 taxpaying workers for every retired person in the U.S. Today there are just over three workers per retiree, and the ratio is expected to fall below two during the next century. If Social Security benefits are to be maintained under present arrangements, substantial tax increases will be required on workers and companies -- a burden that will discourage employment. Alternatively, other government receipts will be required or large government deficits will reappear. Small wonder that Mr. Clinton has searched for a magic bullet that might painlessly avoid the hard choices.</br></br>There are two parts to the president's proposal. The first is to preserve the budget surplus and allocate a substantial proportion to the trust fund. The second is to shore up the system by investing $700 billion from the trust fund in the stock market over the next 15 years. Presumably by investing in stocks that historically have produced returns considerably above the yield on long-term Treasury bonds, the trust fund would grow more rapidly, and the date when the fund would run out of money would be pushed out much later in the century.</br></br>Mr. Clinton's proposal to invest part of the trust fund in equities is the more radical part of his plan. It is a bad idea with unpredictable and probably damaging consequences. Moreover, simply investing a part of the trust fund in stocks will not provide the extra resources to spare us from making hard choices during the next century.</br></br>Having the government invest in private securities runs against the principles of free markets and could well interfere with the efficiency of the capital-allocation process. While the government would undoubtedly propose that the funds be given to an independent or private agency that would invest in a very broad equity index of perhaps thousands of securities, such a plan would necessarily increase the allocation of capital to larger companies at the expense of very small entrepreneurial concerns that lack the liquidity to accommodate large government purchases. Many of these smaller start-up companies are responsible for important productivity improvements. | no | 0 |
Ford Motor Credit's Offering Of Debt Gets Warm Reception | Dow Jones Newswires</br></br>Emboldened by the recent turnaround in auto bonds after General Motors Corp.'s smooth transition to speculative-grade ranking, bondholders responded warmly to rival Ford Motor Credit's first foray into the corporate-bond market since Standard & Poor's lowered its credit ratings to junk in May.</br></br>The finance arm of Ford Motor Co. sold an unsecured offering of $1.5 billion, increased from $1 billion. Its three-year notes have a coupon of 6.625% at a price of 99.259, for a yield of 6.902%. That amounted to a yield margin of 3.30 percentage points over comparable Treasurys, in line with expectations. UBS and Lehman Brothers were the lead managers on the bond offering.</br></br>"In light of recent events, investors are increasing their risk appetite," said Brian Ropp, an auto analyst at T. Rowe Price in Baltimore. "This, and the attractive spread concession on Ford Motor Credit's new issue should see this deal do well," Mr. Ropp added. Spreads are the difference in yield between bonds and comparable U.S. Treasurys paid to investors for owning riskier corporate debt.</br></br>The $1.5 billion deal garnered around $4 billion in orders from investors, according to one market participant. The deal was put together partly in response to inquiries by investors about an offering from Ford, people familiar with the situation said. | no | 0 |
Playing Gold Without Getting Killed | Author: Brett Arends</br></br>In , I said there was a chance gold might be about to go vertical.</br></br>In , I explained why I don't trust it, and wouldn't want to risk a lot of my money on it.</br></br>Where does that leave you?</br></br>You can see signs of a gold rush everywhere, from the nonstop TV commercials in the U.S. to the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, where a vending machine now dispenses gold coins. | no | 0 |
OBITUARIES: George W. Mitchell Dies at 92; Bederal Reserve Board Official | Û¢ George W. Mitchell, 92, a former governor and vice chairman of the Fed-prdhRescrve Board and an early advo-</br></br>Û¢ George W. Mitchell, 92, a former governor and vice chairman of the Fed-prdhRescrve Board and an early advo- ferp; and he lectured widely during the 196Ps and 1970? on his vision of a ÛÏcBeckless, cashless society.Û Until 1990, he was a consultant to the Federal Reserve on electronic funds transfer . systems.</br></br>ÐÊ public finance, Mr. Mitchell carpe to Washington from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where he had served forilO years as vice president in charge of research. During that time, he also ! was an associate economist of the Fed-i era] Reserve Open Market Committee, the body with power to tighten or loosen credit, and lie was said to have been 1 one of only a few dozen economists with</br></br>He was a member of the Open Market Committee during his 16 years as a governor of the Federal Reserve Board.</br></br>I Earlier, Mr. Mitchell had been Illinois state director of finance during the governorship of Adlai E. Stevenson, who j was the unsuccessful Democratic presidential nominee in 1952 and 1956. Mr. | no | 0 |
Northwest Strike Hits Business Travelers --- Companies Return to Work To Find Few Options; Car Rentals Get Boost | The impact of the two-day-old pilots strike at Northwest Airlines will deepen today as employers in the markets it dominates return to work with few travel options.</br></br>Business travelers from Detroit and Minneapolis raced home Friday night to beat the midnight deadline for the strike. But as Sharon Yourth, a regional manager for Baxter International Inc., said upon returning that night to Detroit's airport: "What am I supposed to do next week?"</br></br>Now that next week has come, there is little hope of a quick resolution. The two sides haven't talked since the pilots walked out early Saturday. And Maggie Jacobsen, the federal mediator who supervised the talks, said in an interview that she had no plans at the moment to recommend that President Clinton invoke a rarely used law that would put the pilots back to work for 60 days, while a special panel investigates the deadlock.</br></br>In Detroit, where Northwest controls 75% of the flights, General Motors Corp. is instructing its employees to drive to Buffalo, N.Y., and Dayton, Ohio, to find a plane. Still, the auto maker expects that the strike means about 20% of its planned business trips cannot be made.</br></br>The situation is worse in Minnesota's Twin Cities, where Northwest controls about 80% of the gates at Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. Unlike Detroit, Minneapolis isn't located near other big cities, leaving big companies such as Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Co. and Dayton Hudson Corp. with no easy backup plan. | no | 0 |
Aftershocks Rock Local Economy; Travel, Tourism Jobs Bear Brunt of Cuts | They started lining up before dawn Monday outside the unemployment office in Alexandria, and it hasn't let up. Most had worked at hotels, at companies that refuel or make meals for airplanes, or in restaurants at the shut-down Reagan National Airport.</br></br>The agency has had to borrow vacant office space to handle the crowds -- the biggest since the early 1990s, said Nancy Dean, who manages the city's branch of the Virginia Employment Commission. "We're just trying to keep them moving through here," she said.</br></br>Aftershocks of last week's terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and in New York are being felt in every part of the local economy.</br></br>One expert said a third of the area's 150,000 hospitality jobs are at risk, as the closed airport and the security measures in downtown Washington keep tourists and business travelers away. US Airways' plan to lay off thousands of workers will contribute to what economists expect to be the first large jump in the region's unemployment rate in years.</br></br>Business leaders worry that there will be longer-term ramifications if Washington, once considered one of the dynamic markets in the country, is now seen as a viable target for terrorism. | no | 0 |
Economic Reports Put Stocks In a Spin | A series of discouraging reports on the economy, showing that productivity growth was slowing and that retail sales fell short of hopes, sent stocks into a sharp decline today.</br></br>The sell-off more than offset the market's big advance on Wednesday, which analysts had attributed to bargain hunters, not a solid investor commitment to stocks.</br></br>"Everyone is definitely looking at the data on the economy, and they really want to see some glimmers of hope that we are going to get a pickup in profit growth," said Joseph Keating, chief investment officer at AmSouth Asset Management in Birmingham.</br></br>The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 141.42 points, or 1.7 percent, at 8283.70. The loss wiped out Wednesday's 117.07- point gain, the Dow's only advance in seven sessions.</br></br>The broader market also dropped sharply. The Nasdaq composite index sank 41.31, or 3.2 percent, to 1251.00, its fifth loss in seven days. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 14.25, or 1.6 percent, to 879.15, its sixth loss in seven days. | yes | 1 |
Sears' Profits Increase 14.4% | Strong consumer spending boosted Sears, Roebuck & Co.'s second-quarter net income to $356 million (99 cents a share), a. 14.4 percent gain over second-quarter earnings last year, Sears reported yesterday.</br></br>Meanwhile, Standard Oil Co. (Indiana), the nation's fourth-largest oil company, reported its second-quarter profits rose 23 percent above year-earlier levels, while Atlantic Richfield Co., ranked sixth on the basis of sales, said its earnings nudged up 3 percent.</br></br>Uniroyal Inc., maker of chemical, rubber and plastic products, yesterday reported second-quarter net income increased 20 percent to a record $30.2 million (86 cents a share), while Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the world's largest rubber company, said its profits more than tripled in the second quarter.</br></br>Ohio-based Armco Inc., whose main business is steel, said that it narrowed its second-quarter loss to $14.1 million from a loss of $75.8 million in the same period a year earlier.</br></br>Sears' second-quarter net income in 1983 was $311.2 million (89 cents), the company said in a statement. | yes | 1 |
One Agency's Deception is Another's Anti-Inflation: FTC and COWPS Disagree On Kroger's Adver | The question is, which is worse, deceptive advertising or inflation? The answer depends on which branch of government you ask.</br></br>The Federal Trade Commission staff has contended that Kroger Co., the third largest retail food chain in the country, was deceiving consumers with its ÛÏPrice PatrolÛ advertising that purported to show KrogerÛªs prices were lower than its competitors.</br></br>The ads compared, on a weekly basis, the prices of 150 products at Kro-gers and several competitors on a weekly basis. The results, which invariably showed Kroger to have the lowest prices on most products, were advertised by Kroger, aiso on a weekly basis.</br></br>The problem, the FTC staff contended, was that Kroger didnÛªt mention that meat and produce were not included in the survey. And, the staff pointed out, the 150 products that were chosen for the survey were cho-</br></br>Consequently, the FTC staff has alleged that since July 1977, it was misleading for Kroger to state, as it did, that its survey proved ÛÏKroger is the Low Price Leader,Û or ÛÏThe Price Patrol Proves You Save More at Kroger," or ÛÏDocumented Proof: Kroger Leads in Lower Prices!Û | no | 0 |
Fed Is Halting Auctions Of Its Mortgage Bonds | The Federal Reserve Bank of New York suspended plans to auction off a large portfolio of mortgage bonds following weeks of turmoil in the credit markets, even as it rebuffed a fresh overture from American International Group Inc. to buy all the battered bonds.</br></br>Prices of bonds backed by subprime mortgages have plunged as much as 25% since the New York Fed and investment manager BlackRock Solutions began in April selling off assets in a vehicle known as Maiden Lane II.</br></br>In a conference call with Wall Street dealers and in a statement Thursday, the New York Fed said that, in light of "prevailing market conditions," it doesn't expect more sales until it believes it can fetch good value. It said there wouldn't be a fixed time frame for selling the rest of the portfolio.</br></br>The New York Fed had moved to sell the crisis-era portfolio piecemeal after rejecting a $15.7 billion offer from AIG in March to buy all the assets. At the time, Maiden Lane II held securities with a face value of about $30 billion. The assets were moved onto the Fed's balance sheet during the financial crisis as part of its bailout of AIG. AIG is 77% owned by U.S. taxpayers.</br></br>From April to June, the Fed sold $10 billion of bonds to Wall Street banks and investors in a series of auctions that went well initially, but by June saw lackluster demand. | yes | 1 |
Dow Rises 9.96, Cutting Loss for Week to 4.62 | NEW YORK, Nov. 18ÛÓThe stock market struggled to a modest gain in light trading today, encouraged by hopes for a steadier dollar.</br></br>The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 9.96 to 2062.41, trimming its loss for the week to 4.62 points.</br></br>Advancing issues outnumbered declines by about 3 to 2 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Ex-change-listed stocks.</br></br>Volume on the floor of the Big Board came to 119.32 million shares, down from 141.28 million in the previous session. Nationwide, consolidated volumd in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled appeared to be a concerted effort to intervene in foreign exchange markets to support the slumping dollar.</br></br>Analysts, however, said many traders were waiting to see whether the dollar could manage a sustained period of recovery on its own. | no | 0 |
Jobless Rate Drop Improves Outlook; Labor Numbers Assuage Investors | U.S. unemployment dropped slightly last month and hourly wages rose, evidence of a still-healthy labor market that eased many investors' concerns about a possible economic slowdown.</br></br>New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the unemployment rate fell to 4.5 percent, from 4.6 percent the month before, as businesses and government created 97,000 new jobs. Hiring in the health and hospitality industries and a spike in government employment made up for a drop in construction jobs and a continued decline in manufacturing employment.</br></br>Average hourly wages paid to non-supervisory and production workers rose 6 cents, to $17.16, a 4 percent increase from a year earlier.</br></br>Though the pace of job creation was slow compared with recent months, the overall report was stronger than expected on Wall Street, giving a small boost to markets that had begun to take a dimmer view of the U.S. economy. Recent reports on economic growth and orders for capital equipment, among other things, pointed to a possible slowdown and contributed to recent volatility in the stock market.</br></br>Bolstering the outlook further: The monthly U.S. trade deficit fell nearly 3.8 percent in January, to $59.12 billion. Buoyed by overseas sales of airplanes and computers, exports increased $1.4 billion, to $126.7 billion; imports fell by about $1 billion, to $185.8 billion. | yes | 1 |
CDW to Be Acquired for $7.3 Billion | Continuing the resurgence of technology retailers in a complex market, CDW Corp. late yesterday said it agreed to be acquired by Chicago buyout firm Madison Dearborn Partners LLC.</br></br>Madison Dearborn, of Chicago, agreed to acquire CDW for about $7.3 billion, or $87.75 a share. The purchase price represents a 16% premium to CDW's closing stock price of $75.56 a share Friday. CDW shares were up $7.55, or 10%, at $83.11 yesterday in 4 p.m. Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading.</br></br>CDW said its board has approved the deal and said it will urge shareholders to approve the acquisition, which is expected to close near the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.</br></br>Before approving the agreement, CDW said its board conducted an auction process in which a number of potential bidders participated. Under the agreement, CDW will solicit proposals from third parties during the next 30 days, with the assistance of its financial adviser, Morgan Stanley, a move common in private-equity deals. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s J.P Morgan Securities Inc. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. advised Madison Dearborn.</br></br>CDW is one of the country's largest resellers of computers, software and related equipment, primarily for large corporations and the government. Founded in 1984, CDW reported net income of $266.1 million on sales of $6.79 billion last year. | no | 0 |
Profit-Taking, Trader Jitters Pull Dollar Down --- But U.S. Currency Expected To Resume Its Upward Trend; Gold Gains $2.60 | The U.S. dollar declined yesterday in response to both profit-taking and trader fears of renewed central bank intervention. But the U.S currency recovered some ground in late New York trading.</br></br>Gold rose for the first time so far this year, gaining $2.60 an ounce in response to the dollar's fall, also the first this year.</br></br>Though the dollar fell back slightly in foreign-exchange trading yesterday, many dealers said they felt it had only halted briefly and might even resume its upward course later in the week.</br></br>"Each of the currencies had its own little reason for strengthening against the dollar (yesterday)," said Fred Katzman, a vice president in New York for Midland Bank of Britain. "There was a rumor that West Germany's Lombard rate (one of that country's two key interest rates) would be raised (when the West German central bank meets a week from tomorrow). And there was also talk about a British base rate increase, which would make sense." The British base rate is a theoretical figure on which all British interest rates are hinged; the most credit-worthy customers usually pay one percentage point more.</br></br>But the fact remains, he added, that "the dollar didn't take enough of a downturn yesterday to justify people unwinding their positions. So the dollar is still a 'buy', in the language of foreign-exchange dealers, and if you're long (bought) on dollars you should hold onto them." | no | 0 |
Kelly's Deficit Forecast: $1 Billion Over 2 Years; Mayor Urges Statehood as Answer to `Crisis' | D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly yesterday forecast a nearly $1 billion budget deficit for the District over the next two years, and urged residents to support her calls for D.C. statehood to give the city the tools to overcome "the worst financial crisis in our history."</br></br>Kelly, speaking on her monthly cable television program, attributed most of the deficit - more than double the D.C. Council's estimate - to the continued economic recession, which is driving up the city's costs and sapping its revenue, but she also blamed the District's legal inability to tax the income of suburban residents who work in the city.</br></br>"We cannot afford one more day of this colonial status and second-class citizenship," Kelly said. "We need statehood, and we need it now. The ability to determine our own economic course would probably mean not having this type of budget crisis."</br></br>Kelly said she has not decided how to close the projected budget gap, but would be examining all options, including higher taxes, changes in laws and "the complete elimination of some services and probable job loss."</br></br>Kelly's critics have charged that she has not done enough to rein in spending and reduce the size of the city's payroll of 47,000 workers. | no | 0 |
Anti-Inflation Tax on Sales Is Proposed | An industry-supported research group yesterday suggested consideration of a type of Federal sales tax as a way to fight inflation and help finance the fighting in Vietnam.</br></br>The suggestion was offered in a paper filed with the Senate-House Economic Committee, on behalf of the Committee for Economic Development.</br></br>Supporting the proposal, the research group said inflationary pressures are building up and expressed doubts about the continued effectiveness of voluntary guidelines on wages and prices.</br></br>T. O. Yntema submitted the-statement as chairman of the i groupÛªs research and policy committee. Yntema holds a doctorate in economics, and is a vice president of Ford Motor Co.</br></br>He recalled that CED has previously suggested ÛÏa broad-based, low-rate general business receipts tax as a partial substitute for the corporate income tax.Û ÛÏIn present circumstances such a lax could be used, within limits, in place of reimposition of discriminatory excise taxes, an increase in the corporate income tax, or an increase in the personal income tax," he wrote. "As the needs for revenue subsided, this tax could be retained as a substitute for part of the cor-iporale income tax.Û | no | 0 |
Jobs Report Bears Signs of Being Market Pivot Point | Author: Tomi Kilgore</br></br>The government's February payrolls report looks like it might finally be the game-changer that Wall Street has been waiting for.</br></br>Investors have been skittish in recent weeks as Mideast turmoil and fluctuations in oil prices assaulted hopes that the U.S. economy is on the cusp of self-sustained growth. Major stock indexes responded by falling hard last week and powering back in recent days, indicating the market appears to have reached a crossroads.</br></br>"The current pattern is a tug-of-war between the bull trend of the past three months and the possibility of a correction," said RBC Wealth Management technical analyst Bob Dickey.</br></br>The highly anticipated data from the Department of Labor, scheduled to be released at 8:30 a.m. New York time today, could give bulls and bears alike the cues they have been waiting for. Investors rallied ahead of the report with Thursday's near-200-point jump in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with some betting the report might beat projections after a string of disappointing monthly reports. | yes | 1 |
Bonds End Little Changed Despite a Big Jump In Stock Prices, Lukewarm Response to U.S. Sale | NEW YORK -- Bond prices ended little changed despite soaring stock prices and a tepid response to a Treasury sale of new 30-year bonds.</br></br>Elsewhere, the corporate debt market continued to see a spate of offerings. Issuers view borrowing conditions as favorable now and worry that interest rates could rise, pushing up the cost of tapping the market.</br></br>In the Treasurys market late yesterday, the outstanding 30-year Treasury bond's price was unchanged at 98 7/32. Its yield stood at 5.361%, also unchanged and around its highest for 1999 so far.</br></br>Meanwhile, in when-issued trading, the newly sold 30-year Treasury was quoted at a yield of 5.298%.</br></br>Early in the day, Treasurys reacted little to evidence of healthy consumer demand and a robust labor market. Government data showed January retail sales up 0.2% and weekly claims for state unemployment-insurance benefits falling to their lowest level in a year and a half. | no | 0 |
Fishmarket Complex Closes Amid Dispute, Slack Attendance | The Fishmarket, Baltimore's new $25 million entertainment complex near the Inner Harbor, closed abruptly last week, the victim of spotty attendance and a rancorous dispute between its owners and managers over multimillion-dollar losses.</br></br>Opryland USA Inc., the Fishmarket's management company, shut the doors Tuesday, laying off about 400 employees and taking customers by surprise.</br></br>The action drew immediate fire from Fish Market Limited Partnership, the Boston-based group that owns the complex. The group accused Opryland of violating an agreement to underwrite operating expenses and debt service for one year.</br></br>Nashville-based Opryland denied the charge, contending that the owners failed to provide daily expenses, requiring Opryland to add $4.5 million to the operation in non-contractual obligations. The entertainment center also has been hit by a dozen lawsuits by contractors ranging from architects to trash haulers for nearly $1 million in alleged nonpayment of services.</br></br>The two sides are continuing to negotiate, but Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke said he holds out little hope of a settlement. | no | 0 |
Xerox Remake Progresses | Xerox Corp.'s reinvention of itself as a business-services outsourcer after a century focused on selling printers and copiers has shown signs of promise, but some investors remain unpersuaded about the company's growth prospects.</br></br>"Xeroxing" a document has become synonymous with photocopying it -- an increasingly irrelevant concept in today's digital-document age for the iconic Norwalk, Conn., company that has become a leader in the digital-imaging industry.</br></br>To boost its competitiveness, Xerox built a business that offers services to companies. That business now accounts for about half of the company's total revenue. This includes managing New Jersey's E-ZPass toll collection system and administering Procter & Gamble Co.'s employee benefits.</br></br>The cornerstone of Xerox's services strategy was its $6.4 billion acquisition last year of outsourcer Affiliated Computer Services, which more than doubled Xerox's headcount and has helped boost revenue in recent quarters. ACS handles business processes and information technology for companies and government agencies to help them cut costs and focus on their core operations.</br></br>Xerox has forecast revenue will rise 4% to 6% next year, as it expects both itself and ACS will win contracts that neither business could have competed for individually. Xerox also said the ACS deal would improve margins and bring in recurring revenue streams that generate a lot of cash for potential share buybacks. | no | 0 |
Coke, Citi, AIG Rise; Lehman Falls 6.7%; Ford Drops on Rush To Sell to Kerkorian; Energy Shares Slide | Most U.S. stocks fell because of inflation fears, although one beneficiary of a weak dollar -- Coca-Cola Co. -- helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average hold its head above water.</br></br>On top of the long-running worries about gasoline prices, a weakening labor market and the credit crisis, markets are now absorbing the impact of the commodity boom and inflation world-wide. Riots and protests over the cost of rice and fuel have erupted around the globe, most recently in Cameroon and Spain. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned the surge in oil prices had increased risks of inflation.</br></br>"Oil's a tremendous pressure on [economic] activity generally. That, plus the fact that it's starting to feed into the consumer-price index globally, puts you in the worst-of-all-possible-worlds situation," said a veteran trader at a midsize Wall Street firm. "I mean, we're talking 1972, 1973 here," he added, referring to a prior era of "stagflation."</br></br>Shares of Coke rose 2.15, or 3.9%, to 58.01 after Deutsche Bank raised its rating on the beverage maker to "buy" from "hold," saying the depressed dollar and emerging-market growth will help its exports. The Beijing Olympics likely will help sales in China, the broker added.</br></br>The second-best percentage gainer on the Dow was Citigroup, which rose 66 cents, or 3.4%, to 20.26. American International Group added 79 cents, or 2.4%, to 34.28. | no | 0 |
Obama Dances Awkwardly With Bush Policies | No matter which way he turns, President Obama can't seem to shake the legacy of George W. Bush's presidency. On two issues this week, the Obama administration broke with and embraced the policies of his predecessor, drawing criticism on successive days from both ends of the political spectrum.</br></br>The biggest break came with the decision Monday by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to initiate an investigation into allegations of detainee abuse by CIA interrogators and contractors.</br></br>Obama, who in his first days as president ordered an end to the agency's harshest interrogation techniques, has said repeatedly that he does not wish to re-litigate the past or subject officials to criminal prosecution if they believed they were operating within parameters approved by their superiors. Holder's decision undercuts Obama's desire to move forward.</br></br>The appointment of career prosecutor John H. Durham to determine whether there is enough evidence to warrant prosecutions does not guarantee that criminal charges will be filed. But the decision keeps the controversy alive indefinitely at a time when Obama has more than enough controversies to occupy him.</br></br>The decision pleased neither liberal nor conservative critics. Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, argued that there is more than enough evidence to warrant prosecutions and accused Holder of "appeasing the political interests in Washington." | no | 0 |
Fed to Make $200 Billion Available To Lenders; Bank Seeks to Loosen Credit | The Federal Reserve took strong action yesterday to restore order to frazzled lending markets while a new report showing unexpected job losses underscored the toll that credit markets are taking on the economy.</br></br>The world's financial plumbing is so clogged that the central bank sees a need for new steps to clean it out to prevent severe damage. Mounting panic in the credit markets is making it harder for Americans to get mortgages and is increasing the rates they must pay on credit cards and auto loans. Even solid businesses are finding it difficult to raise money to expand.</br></br>The nation shed 63,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported, the second straight month of losses and the worst monthly decline since March 2003. The construction and manufacturing industries continued to shed positions, as they have for months, but the decline broadened to include big job cuts by retailers and temporary help services.</br></br>Forecasters had expected a modest employment gain, and the weak numbers prompted many top economists to conclude that the U.S. economy is now in recession.</br></br>"You've now strung together three months in a row of private-sector job losses," said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist of PNC Financial Services Group. "That doesn't happen unless you're in a recession." | no | 0 |
JANE APPLEGATE: Looking for Ways to Cut Costs? Just Ask Your Employees | Faced with intense pressure from office supply discount superstores and the worsening recession, the Miller family, owners of Quill Corp., challenged their employees to launch a dramatic cost-reduction program.</br></br>In good times, itÛªs easy to exceed budgets and encourage spending to grow your business. But, in these tough times, cutting . fixed and variable costs may be the only way to keep your doors open.</br></br>DL, grew quickly, selling office supplies to thousands of businesses nationwide, through mail and telephone orders. But aggressive moves by.some discount office supply chains,, such as Office Chib and Staples, forced QuillÛªs owners to competein a new ballgame..</br></br>new, lower prices cut deeply into QuillÛªs profit. QuillÛªs founder and president. Jack Miller, turned to his employees to help him save time, money and their jobs. Challenged and encouraged to think creatively. QuillÛªs employees came up with scores of money-saving measures.</br></br>ÛÏWe are a much better company now than we were before 1990,ÛªÛª Miller said. ÛÏThe management set the major goals, but the people really doing the work are below management level. They are meeting, using their brains and coming up with tremendous solutions.Û | no | 0 |
Dollar Falls on Softer Inflation, Weak U.S. Data | Dow Jones Newswires</br></br>NEW YORK -- The dollar fell Friday after a softer-than-expected September core-inflation reading and generally weak U.S. data.</br></br>In volatile morning trading, the dollar tumbled as the data were released, briefly bounced back and then fell to fresh session lows by midday. In the end, the dollar was far off the two-year high it tapped Thursday against the yen, while the euro gained more than a cent from its session low and briefly topped $1.21.</br></br>In late New York trading, the euro was at $1.2087, up from $1.2033 late Thursday. The dollar sank to 114.01 yen from 114.32 yen and to 1.2834 Swiss francs from 1.2877 francs. The pound was fetching $1.7699, up from $1.7563.</br></br>Although overall consumer prices rose 1.2% in September, the core number -- excluding food and energy -- rose just 0.1%. A 0.2% rise in retail sales in September also put pressure on the dollar; a 0.4% increase had been expected. The 1.3% drop in industrial production in September and the University of Michigan's mid-October consumer- sentiment index were both worse than expected. | yes | 1 |
Treasury Bill Yields Fall To Lowest Levels Since '77 | ÐÊ Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in yesterdayÛªs auction to the lowest levels in almost nine years.</br></br>The Treasury Department sold $7.4 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 5.78 percent, down from 5.85 percent last week. Another $7.4 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 5.80 percent, down from 5.85 percent last week.</br></br>The rates for three-month bills were the lowest since Sept. 2, 1977, when they averaged 5.55 percent. Rates for six-month bills were the lowest since they sold for 5.68 percent on Aug. 8,1977.</br></br>In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills was 6.29 percent last week, down from 6.36 percent the previous week. This interest rate often is used to set rates for adjustable home mortgages.</br></br>ÐÊ First Boston Inc. yesterday announced it has completed a leveraged acquisition of Union Carbide Corp.Ûªs home and automotive products business for $800 million and the assumption of additional undisclosed liabilities. | no | 0 |
Number Crunchers vs. Recession; Seeking Official End, Panel Wrestles With One Stubborn Stat | The arbiter of when U.S. economic recessions begin and end, the Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research, has laid the groundwork for calling an official end to the slump that began in March 2001.</br></br>It could be weeks or months before that happens, but the committee has found a way around the fact that its key monthly indicator, payroll employment, has continued to decline long after the economy resumed growing.</br></br>The committee designated March 2001 as the beginning of the recession primarily because that was when the number of payroll jobs began to drop, a decline of 2.6 million so far.</br></br>If the committee were to rely on the same indicator to date the end of the slump, the recession would already have lasted for two years and three months, making it the longest since the vastly more serious downturn that began in 1929 and became the Great Depression.</br></br>Until the 2001 recession, the employment number and other indicators used by the committee have done a generally good job of tracking the rise and fall of the nation's economic output. This time, however, changes in payroll employment have not been a good proxy for economic growth, because productivity -- the amount of goods and services produced for each hour worked -- has continued to increase through the economy's contraction in 2001 and sluggish expansion since. That has allowed companies to increase production while cutting their workforces. | no | 0 |
Bond Trading Is Reviving, Boosting Wall Street | One of Wall Street's most important profit engines is revving back up.</br></br>Rising appetites for borrowing and investing are fueling a bond market revival, lifting revenue at Wall Street firms that took a beating last year.</br></br>For the first time in a year, traders and bankers are optimistic following a dark second half of 2011. Layoffs, pay cuts and public outrage against the financial industry undermined morale at banks and securities firms, while economic malaise throttled banking and trading businesses. But with investors and companies putting more money to work, the mood is brightening.</br></br>Gains in the financial firms' fixed-income businesses, which can account for as much as half of revenue, are putting companies including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and the J.P. Morgan unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on track to report their strongest numbers since the first quarter of 2011, said bankers and analysts.</br></br>The clouds over the industry have only partly cleared. Businesses such as deal making remain depressed. Many traders and bankers still worry about Europe's debt woes and regulatory risks in the U.S. With three weeks left in the first quarter, overall revenue at many securities firms is expected to be lower than a year ago. | no | 0 |
Large Stock Focus: Credit-Card Stocks Fall As Bank-Overhaul Rises | Stocks sank as concerns over European debt and the advance of financial-overhaul legislation sent investors scuttling away from American Express, Visa and MasterCard.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 162.79 points, or 1.5%, to 10620.16. Still, the measure ended up 2.3% on the week, its biggest point and percentage gain since the week that ended March 5.</br></br>The Standard & Poor's 500-share index tumbled 21.76 points, or 1.9%, to 1135.68, but closed the week up 2.2%. The Nasdaq Composite slid 47.51 points, or 2%, to 2346.85, but climbed 3.6% on the week, also its biggest point and percentage gain since the week ending March 5.</br></br>Credit-card issuers weakened after the Senate voted to allow the Federal Reserve to regulate fees on debit-card transactions. The measure also will allow retailers more leverage in negotiating with credit-card firms and banks over the fees for card transactions.</br></br>Visa tumbled $8.47, or 9.9%, to $77.26, while MasterCard dropped 19.86, or 8.6%, to 212.45. American Express declined 2.17, or 5.1%, to 40.64. | no | 0 |
Indecisive Market Lower for Week: Denfensive Issues Rise | NEW YORK, Nov. 19 (AP)ÛÓThe stock market moved indecisively ovdr a narrow range this week. At the finish it was a little under last Friday, making the first down week after three advancing ones.</br></br>The market dipped Monday on unfavorable business news emphasizing the recession in business, particularly the capital goods industries. Tuesday saw a good rally and was notable for the emergence of some old glamor groupsÛÓbowling, vending, photographic supplies.</br></br>The rally lasted just one day. It couldnÛªt, continue over to Wednesday or Thursday, when stock eased both days. Selling pressure wasnÛªt urgent and volume dwindled to the lowest^ level since Oct. 19.</br></br>On Friday the market came back a bit. Gains werenÛªt spectacular but the bulls derived some encouragement from the fact trading picked up a little on the advance.</br></br>The basic business news was none too encouraging, but the market appeared to be at a point where it could take some of the distressing | no | 0 |
Tax Bill Offers Provisions For Consumer Protection | WASHINGTON -- A House tax panel intends to consider a bill to expand various taxpayer rights, including a measure aimed at curbing predatory "tax refund anticipation" loans.</br></br>The House Ways and Means Committee is to consider today the Taxpayer Protection Act of 2007. A description of the draft bill offers eight taxpayer-rights provisions, all of which have either no or negligible revenue effects, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.</br></br>The item aimed at refund anticipation loans would prohibit the Treasury secretary from providing a "debt indicator" to tax preparers involved in preparing such loans with high fees or interest rates. Refund anticipation loans are short-term loans keyed to a person's pending tax refund. Consumers groups say many refund anticipation loans carry excessive interest rates.</br></br>A debt indicator helps in the granting of refund anticipation loans because it tells whether a taxpayer has any offsetting debts to the federal government that could first be claims against a tax refund, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. The debt indicator therefore reduces a lender's risk because it shows whether the government will seek to intercept part of the tax refund.</br></br>The bill would prohibit the Treasury secretary from providing a debt indicator to any person involved in making refund anticipation loans with "predatory" charges and fees. | no | 0 |
Yeltsin Vows to Begin Broad Economic Reform; State Controls on Prices to Be Lifted | Russian republic President Boris Yeltsin, moving to reassert his authority after nearly 100 days in office, promised today to push ahead with far-reaching economic reforms including the liberalization of virtually all prices and progress toward a separate Russian currency.</br></br>Speaking in an interview with Russian television, Yeltsin also promised to put an end to political squabbling among his closest aides by forming a new "government of popular confidence" in the next few days. He said an atmosphere of near-crisis had developed during his two-week Black Sea vacation because of differences about the future direction of Russia and the course of economic reform.</br></br>"People will suffer, but we have to go through with this," said Yeltsin, announcing that state controls on prices would be lifted soon in order to allow them to rise to free-market rates.</br></br>A former Communist Party bureaucrat with only a limited grasp of capitalist economics, Yeltsin had earlier shown little enthusiasm for implementing the painful measures associated with the transition to a market economy. But he has evidently concluded that short-term sacrifices will be necessary to rescue Russia from its deepening economic crisis and give people some long-term perspective of a better life.</br></br>Yeltsin, 60, who in June became the first popularly elected leader in Russia's 1,000-year history, has been strangely passive since he played the key role in defeating a coup attempt by hard-line Communists in August. His actions led to criticism that his character and political talents are more suited to the role of leader of the opposition than president of a huge country with vast problems. | no | 0 |
Chrysler, AT&T, Coke post strong earnings | NEW YORK, Jan. 28--To a corporate landscape spoiled by signs of decay and despair at IBM, Sears and other large victims of recession comes a fresh breeze full of good news.</br></br>Chrysler Corp., AT&T and Coca-Cola Co. all reported healthy quarterly earnings today, a reward for quality improvements and brutal cost cutting that many analysts predict will soon put the U.S. economy on its strongest footing in years.</br></br>"The U.S. economy is emerging from its recession quicker than the rest of the world because we have been quicker to downsize and restructure," said John Mueller, vice president and chief economist of Lehrman Bell Mueller Cannon Inc. of Arlington.</br></br>Companies such as Chrysler that shunned the lure of business in what are now shaky European economies did well, while firms that are heavily involved in Europe, such as General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., did not. Companies such as AT&T and Coca-Cola that focused on quality and aggressive promotion found their profits rising, while companies slow to adjust, such as International Business Machines Corp. and some defense contractors, did not.</br></br>"The good managers were early in appraising the situation, setting goals for where they wanted to be and peeling off layers between the operating divisions and the decision makers at the top," said Robert H. Stovall, president of Stovall/21st Advisers Inc. | yes | 1 |
Forget Europe. How About These Allies? | Terrorists buy a national election in Spain for the price of 10 backpack bombs and remove a "crucial" pillar of the Western coalition in Iraq. Predictably, op-ed columnists and talking heads raise the cry for the Bush administration to "save the Western alliance." This is a knee-jerk response that reflects historical habit more than strategic logic.</br></br>Clinging to the Western alliance isn't the way to win the global war on terrorism. In fact, it's a backward-looking approach that's certain to doom our efforts in this conflict. Combating transnational terrorism in the era of globalization will be a decades-long task, and anything that long and complex requires a genuinely grand strategy, something this country has lacked since the end of the Cold War.</br></br>Grand strategy is about figuring out what kind of global future is worth creating, understanding which states have the incentive to build that future, and concluding the bargains necessary to keep them on board for the duration. The Bush administration has declared its intention to "transform" the Middle East, but beyond merely stating that goal and offering regimes there a "to-do" list for democracy, it remains unclear what constitutes the finish line in this global war on terrorism. Defining happy endings is important, because it can help America understand who its true allies in this great historical struggle should be -- not globalization's old core of Europe but its new pillars in Asia and elsewhere.</br></br>During the Cold War, the United States was able to enlist the long-term support of Western Europe because those nations felt most under the gun from the Soviet bloc's military threat. All they had to do was to peer behind the Iron Curtain to envision the future they wanted at all costs to avoid.</br></br>Europe today faces no such threat. All the Islamic terrorists demand is that Europe remain on the sidelines while they wage "holy war" against American "imperialism" in the Persian Gulf. Al Qaeda wants to drive the West out of the Middle East so that it can drive the Middle East out of the modern world. Osama bin Laden has seen our future and prefers Islam's past, and many in Old Europe are willing to agree to his offer of civilizational apartheid, preferring to concentrate on inwardly perfecting the European Union, where they have their hands full merely integrating the former East Bloc states. And if Turkey remains "too different" for that club, you can imagine how any effort to connect Iraq to the West seems like a bridge too far. | no | 0 |
Policy Decisions Await Fed at Mid-Year Meeting: Analysts Are Divided ... | As they approach a key mid-year policy-making meeting this month, several Federal Reserve officials have indicated that there are distinct limits to how much money tliey are willing to pump into the economy. If that is not enough to keep interest rates from rising, then so be it.</br></br>ÛÏWe are supplying enough money and credit to finance a sustainable rate of economic expansion, and we intend to continue doing so,Û Fed Gov. Lyle E. Gramley declared recently. "But we do not intend to waste the substantial gains in the battle against inflation that have been won at such enormous cost during the past few years.Û</br></br>A few days later, Chairman Paul A. Volcker told a Senate subcommittee, ÛÏOur recovery has been proceeding rapidly, with little acceleration of inflation. But the combined credit demands of the federal government and the private sector have generated disturbing pressures on interest rates, on developing countries and on exchange rates.</br></br>"In concept, we can visualize an economic expansion characterized by relatively high interest rates and by strong private consumption and a large budget deficit,Û Volcker continued. ÛÏThat is what we are having. But it has costsÛÓ-costs reflected in huge trade deficits and net borrowing from abroad, potential problems for housing and other interest-sensitive sectors, and risks of exchange rate and financial instability!Û</br></br>Last week, when major banks raised their prime lending rate from 12Vi percent to 13 percent, the White House rejected Volcker's . logic while trying once again to protect the president from any fallout for rising interest rates. However, this time presidential spokesman Larry Speakes blamed the higher rates on the nationÛªs banks rather than the Fed, which had felt the administrationÛªs anger during a brief confrontational episode in May. | no | 0 |
Shamir's Government Wins Confidence Vote by 61-54 | ^JERUSALEM, Oct. 19 (UPI)ÛÓIsraeli Prime, Minister-Yitzhak Shamir easily defeated a no-con^, fwience vote today, in parliament -that challenged5' hisÛª^O-day old government* shaken by the coun-try^jeconomic crisis*</br></br>^JERUSALEM, Oct. 19 (UPI)ÛÓIsraeli Prime, Minister-Yitzhak Shamir easily defeated a no-con^, fwience vote today, in parliament -that challenged5' hisÛª^O-day old government* shaken by the coun-try^jeconomic crisis* |H$ew Finance Minister Yigal Cohen-Orgad ÐÊ promised the government would solve the turmoil 5 through austerity. Û¢ "Jgy a 61-to-54 vote, the parliament beat back an qflBfosition effort to topple the government to pro- Ûª finite: handling of the- economy. The opposition t^fged the leadership of the ruling Likud coali-tjgBShad squandered the nationÛªs resources.</br></br>:^he no-confidence motion, filed by the Labor P3Efy, the Shinui factions and the Communists,-ni/SSthe first test for Shamir. In last winterÛªs parliamentary session, then-prime minister Q&nachem Begin had to surmount six such votes.</br></br>! 'Cohen-Orgad, wrapping up the four-hour debate on the motion, -$aid he had already invited the heads of the. nationÛªs powerful Histadrut Labor Federation and the ManufacturersÛª Asso-' iaaffons for talks on new economic strategy. ^Slsrael has the healthy economic foundationÛ to overcome its problems if all sectors of the economy cooperate, he said.</br></br><** Kor specifics, Cohen-Orgad quoted from Sha-mir?s speech last week, calling for sacrifices from geople with higher incomes. He said there were segments of the Israeli population that could afford to freeze a high standard of living. | no | 0 |
Rotterdam Shapes Up to Keep Shipping In --- In Competitive EU, Dutch Port Works to Stay Afloat | ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands -- It's something everyone in this job-hungry city would like to see more often: newly hired employees cheering as fireworks burst overhead to celebrate the birth of a new business at a muddy building site.</br></br>Franklin Mint, a U.S. mail-order company selling jewelry, figurines and collectibles, is investing $10.5 million and hiring 150 people to set up a new, pan-European distribution center. The company, a unit of Roll International Corp., is joining a growing list of multinational firms -- such as Swedish ball-bearing maker SKF AB and Merisel Inc., a California-based personalcomputer wholesaler -- that have decided to centralize their European logistics operations near Rotterdam, the world's largest harbor.</br></br>"Our three largest markets are the U.K., Germany and France. So what better place is there to be in than Rotterdam? This is the gateway to Europe as far as we're concerned," said Frank Clesse, Franklin Mint's vice president for worldwide distribution.</br></br>Port officials boast that means Rotterdam has just scored another point in the intensifying competition for business and investment among European ports. But other harbors dotting Europe's coast are catching up fast. During the first half of 1994, the amount of cargo shipped through Rotterdam rose a stronger-than-expected 5% from the year before, fueled by Europe's economic recovery and growing world trade. However, that's only about a third of the increase reported by smaller competitors such as Antwerp, Belgium, or Bremen, Germany, reflecting the Dutch port's eroding competitive position.</br></br>In the past four years, traffic volume in Rotterdam rose a meager 1.6%, compared with 9.4% in Hamburg, Germany, 9% in Antwerp and 13% in Zeebrugge, Belgium, according to the Antwerp-based European Port Data Association. In the fast-growing and highly competitive container-shipping business, Rotterdam's market share in the Le Havre-to-Hamburg arc of Northwest Europe slipped to 36% in 1993 from 41% in 1974, according to a study by the Port of Antwerp. | no | 0 |
Less-Known GOP Tax Plans Could Have Very Big Impact | If you're thinking of dying, don't. At least, not yet. Lurking among the the Republicans' tax overhaul plans is a new incentive to live.</br></br>In fact, largely obscured by the debate over capital gains taxes and budget-balancing plans and other high-visibility items are a substantial number of GOP tax change proposals that would provide important benefits to millions of Americans if they become law.</br></br>Most are expensive, of course, and whether the net benefit to taxpayers would exceed the harm that might be caused by federal spending cuts or deficit increases that would necessarily accompany these changes is unclear.</br></br>These proposals are laid out in a sheaf of bills that the Republican leadership has been circulating in recent weeks. These measures have titles such as the Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act, the Senior Citizens' Equity Act and the Fiscal Responsibility Act.</br></br>+ Raise the Social Security earnings limit to $30,000 from the current $11,160 and repeal the tax increase enacted last year on better-off Social Security recipients. | no | 0 |
Fed Official Urges Reallocation Of Funds for Statistical Studies; Blinder: More Data Needed on Key Sectors | Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Alan S. Blinder suggested reallocating government spending on economic statistics to more accurately represent various sectors of the economy.</br></br>Speaking to a Commerce Department symposium on economic statistics, Blinder noted that about 15 percent of federal funds for economic statistics is used for agriculture and another 10 percent for energy and mining.</br></br>"In an economy in which agriculture and mining each represent only 2 percent of real GDP, I believe that we must ask whether a reallocation of funds is in order," he said.</br></br>The GDP, or gross domestic product, is the total output of goods and services in the United States and the broadest measure of the nation's economic health.</br></br>Blinder asserted that federal agencies are unlikely to see any big increases in their budgets for monitoring economic performance. Thus, to achieve any improvements, "we must take a serious look at how funding for economic statistics is allocated," he said. | no | 0 |
Bentsen Is Examining Ways for Senate To Cut Capital Gains Taxes This Year | WASHINGTON -- Chairman Lloyd Bentsen of the Senate Finance Committee is examining ways to reduce capital gains taxes, increasing the chances that such a cut could be enacted this year.</br></br>In a telephone interview yesterday, the Texas Democrat said he intends to ask his tax-writing panel to devise a bill that would raise federal revenues about $8 billion in fiscal 1990, which begins Oct. 1. That would be enough to meet deficit-reduction targets while extending several soon-to-expire tax breaks, including the credit for research and development expenditures.</br></br>As part of the tax package, a cut in the capital gains tax "is one of those things we'll have to take a look at," Sen. Bentsen said, citing President Bush's eagerness to include it.</br></br>The Finance Committee chairman specifically praised a possible method of cutting capital gains taxes advanced by the House's top tax-writer, Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D., Ill.). The senator said he is willing to take a "serious look" at an unusual part of Mr. Rostenkowski's proposal that, in certain circumstances, would define the taxable gain on long-held capital assets as a percentage of the price at which the assets are sold. He also said he is "intrigued" by Mr. Rostenkowski's plan to reduce capital gains taxes to offset the effects of inflation.</br></br>Sen. Bentsen said many lawmakers find the Rostenkowski plan deficient because it would apply only to newly acquired assets. But he noted that it would be difficult to include currently held assets, too, because doing so would substantially increase the long-term cost of such a plan. "Then the problem is limiting the cost," he said. | no | 0 |
Abreast of the market: Stock prices finish mostly lower in volatile, high-volume session | NEW YORK -- Inflation fears, soaring commodity prices, a bleak interest-rate outlook and concerns about the technology sector combined to send the stock market on dizzying spins throughout its busiest day in almost a month.</br></br>In the end, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 5487.07, up just 1.09 points, while other major indexes finished lower. The session started with gains, as oversold conditions from the three-day sell-off that took 200 points off the Dow industrials sent blue chips on what looked to be a heartening rally.</br></br>But once the advance faltered, waves of sell programs sent the market spiraling lower, traders said. The choppy session saw the market twice trigger the New York Stock Exchange's 50-point "collar," bringing to 41 the number of times that curbs on certain program trading have kicked in this year.</br></br>Jeffrey Applegate, chief market strategist at Lehman Brothers, said investors' confused, sometimes conflicting takes on the state of the economy have contributed to the volatility in the market.</br></br>"This lack of consensus [about the strength of the economy] creates opportunities to make these kinds of sharp changes in trading patterns, because there is less conviction in the trades themselves," Mr. Applegate said. | yes | 1 |
Consumer Spending: A Sentimental Journey? | New York -- The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 were followed by understandable predictions of a plunge in consumer spending. Those forecasts were based partly on various readings of consumer sentiment, which dropped sharply. Goodbye to one of the few pillars holding up a wobbly economy, observers prematurely concluded.</br></br>Truth turned out to be stranger than fiction. October 2001 will go down in economic history as the month Americans purchased the greatest number of autos -- ever. While that was largely attributed to auto makers' 0% financing offers, it still leaves unanswered why supposedly depressed Americans were plenty willing to visit -- of all places -- car dealerships. Harder to explain still is why the level of retail spending, after falling in September, has been higher in every succeeding month than it was in August. Indeed, even excluding autos, retail sales grew in every month during the past half-year compared with a year ago. All this while the most closely watched of the two main confidence gauges still hasn't topped pre-Sept. 11 heights.</br></br>Could it be that consumer sentiment isn't so closely tied to spending behavior after all? And if so, what does that mean for the U.S. economy now? Carl Steidtmann, chief economist of Deloitte Research, jointly owned by the accounting firm Deloitte & Touch and Deloitte Consulting, believes he has an answer.</br></br>Mr. Steidtmann compared changes in consumer confidence and consumer spending over the past 20 years. His finding: There is very little, if any, relationship between confidence and spending. There are a number of possible explanations for the disconnect, but the most important is that "spending and confidence are driven by a different set of factors," he says. Specifically, politics, disasters and war drive confidence, Mr. Steidtmann concludes, while cash flow drives spending. The twain may or may not meet.</br></br>After Sept. 11, consumer sentiment was buffeted by the terrorist attack, the anthrax mailings and fear of a second blow. But at the same time, cash flow was bolstered by lower interest rates, tax rebates, mortgage refinancings and lower energy prices. | no | 0 |
Cysive to Lay Off 40 to 50 Workers; Restructuring to Cost Up to $8 Million | Cysive Inc., a Reston Internet consulting firm, yesterday announced its plan to lay off workers for the first time in its seven- year history and lowered projections for its revenue and earnings in the quarter that ends Dec. 31.</br></br>The company expects to cut 40 to 50 non-engineers, or 13 percent to 16 percent of its staff. Cysive also will freeze additional hiring, company officials said.</br></br>The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring effort that will cost Cysive up to $8 million before taxes. Between $1 million and $2 million will go toward severance pay, the rest toward bad debt and real estate restructuring.</br></br>Cysive, which customizes software systems, is reeling from cancellations, delays and spending freezes among some of its customers. In August the company dropped its largest customer in a payment dispute and said it would forgo nearly $4 million in revenue in the third quarter and another $1.5 million this quarter. At least one Cysive client could possibly file for bankruptcy protection, Cysive officials said yesterday in response to questioning from analysts.</br></br>As a result, the company lowered its fourth-quarter revenue expectations to $9 million from $14 million. It dropped its projections for net income to a loss of 10 to 12 cents per share, before the restructuring charges, compared with the loss of 2 to 3 cents per share expected only a few weeks earlier. | no | 0 |
F.W. Dodge Report Ties Rise To Less Severe Weather; Residential Jobs Strong | NEW YORK -- New construction contracts climbed a seasonally adjusted 12% in January from the previous month, reflecting improved weather conditions, F.W. Dodge Co. said.</br></br>In its monthly survey of construction-contract activity, the forecasting unit of McGraw-Hill Inc. said new construction in January totaled $13.75 billion. The rebound "seemed to confirm that the unusually severe weather early in the winter upset the seasonal rhythm of the construction business," said George A. Christie, vice president and chief economist for F.W. Dodge.</br></br>Mr. Christie noted that when the January and December contract totals are averaged, the rate of activity has been nearly level since last summer, when interest rates stabilized. "Whether constuction activity advances or recedes from this plateau will depend mostly on the next development in the credit market," he said.</br></br>Residential building contracts were particularly strong in the January rebound, Dodge said. The value of contracts for one-family homes, apartments and condominiums, hotels and motels was $6.6 billion in January, up 16% on a seasonally adjusted basis.</br></br>Nonresidential building contracts, particularly for factories, warehouses and offices, also rebounded sharply in January, rising an adjusted 14% in January to $5.3 billion after an 8% decline in December. | yes | 1 |
Sorting Out Debt-Relief Promises | Author: Jennifer Waters</br></br>Consumers will be protected from debt-relief companies that charge hefty upfront fees and make questionable claims, thanks to new government rules that take full effect in late October.</br></br>"The new rules are a huge first step," says Lauren Bowne, staff attorney for Consumers Union. "They're going to prevent companies from charging upfront fees until they actually do something for you."</br></br>But consumers shouldn't get too complacent. The amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule, or TSR, apply only to for-profit companies and do not cover ambiguous claims that might be made by such companies on the Internet or in face-to-face meetings.</br></br>The rules come amid a growing number of consumer complaints, and as the number of companies promising consumers relief has skyrocketed in the recession. In 2002, for example, there were only eight debt-relief companies in the business. Today there are at least 2,000, and they're managing a total of about $20 billion in credit-card and other unsecured debt, according to the Association of Settlement Companies, a trade organization. | no | 0 |
President Of Johnston, Lemon Quits; Patrick Ryan to Join New Investment Firm | Patrick C. Ryan, president of the Washington stock brokerage Johnston, Lemon & Co., is leaving the firm to join a relative newcomer to the local investment banking business.</br></br>Ryan, a longtime stock trader and brokerage executive here, will join the McLean-based firm of Hartley & Lee, which will be renamed Ryan, Hartley & Lee Inc., the firm said yesterday.</br></br>"He did an excellent job here and we are sorry to see him go," said Lemon, chief operating officer at Johnston, Lemon. "I don't think his leaving, however, signals anything. It's business as usual."</br></br>Others in the investment banking business said Ryan's departure may signal Johnston, Lemon's further retreat from the high-risk brokerage and trading business and a stronger focus on managing its multibillion-dollar Washington Mutual Investors Fund.</br></br>That change in focus left Ryan, who has 31 years of experience in the brokerage and trading business, without a place to practice fully what he knows best, they said. | no | 0 |
November Retail Sales Rose a Strong 0.9% | After two months of weak gains, a rebound in automobile purchases helped retail sales to a strong 0.9 percent increase last month as the Christmas selling season got going, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.</br></br>Sales were also strong at building supply and furniture stores, and those selling general merchandise and apparel.</br></br>In a separate report, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.1 percent last month while the core portion of the consumer price index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.2 percent.</br></br>Over the past 12 months, the core CPI rose 2.1 percent and the overall index was up 2.6 percent. The difference was due primarily to a 10.5 percent year-over-year increase in energy costs, which constitute about 7 percent of the CPI.</br></br>In a third economic report released yesterday, Commerce said the United States had a record $89.9 billion deficit in its international transactions in the third quarter. | no | 0 |
The Federal Reserve's Policy Dead End | The Federal Reserve recently announced that it will increase or decrease the size of its monthly bond-buying program in response to changing economic conditions. This amounts to a policy of fine-tuning its quantitative-easing program, a puzzling strategy since the evidence suggests that the program has done little to raise economic growth while saddling the Fed with an enormous balance sheet.</br></br>Quantitative easing, or what the Fed prefers to call long-term asset purchases, is supposed to stimulate the economy by increasing share prices, leading to higher household wealth and therefore to increased consumer spending. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has described this as the "portfolio-balance" effect of the Fed's purchase of long-term government securities instead of the traditional open-market operations that were restricted to buying and selling short-term government obligations.</br></br>Here's how it is supposed to work. When the Fed buys long-term government bonds and mortgage-backed securities, private investors are no longer able to buy those long-term assets. Investors who want long-term securities therefore have to buy equities. That drives up the price of equities, leading to more consumer spending.</br></br>But despite the Fed's current purchases of $85 billion a month and an accumulation of more than $2 trillion of long-term assets, the economy is limping along with per capita gross domestic product rising at less than 1% a year. Although it is impossible to know what would happen without the central bank's asset purchases, the data imply that very little increase in GDP can be attributed to the so-called portfolio-balance effect of the Fed's actions.</br></br>Even if all of the rise in the value of household equities since quantitative easing began could be attributed to the Fed policy, the implied increase in consumer spending would be quite small. According to the Federal Reserve's Flow of Funds data, the total value of household stocks and mutual funds rose by $3.6 trillion between the end of 2009 and the end of 2012. Since past experience implies that each dollar of increased wealth raises consumer spending by about four cents, the $3.6 trillion rise in the value of equities would raise the level of consumer spending by about $144 billion over three years, equivalent to an annual increase of $48 billion or 0.3% of nominal GDP. | no | 0 |
A.T. & T. Hop Marks Modest Stock Upturn | NEW YORK, Aug. 16 MVÛÓIn its second straight day of recovery, the. stock market ad-1 vanced moderately today, but! the rise was hampered by several tired areas.</br></br>Steels, motors, oils, utilities., rubbers, radio-television, and; aircrafts all made good progress, and there were a number of outstanding individual perform-J ers.</br></br>American Telephone hit a new high of 162% and closed up 1% at 162%. It was the 13th most active issue in the list and showed by far the biggest gain of the 15 most active issues.</br></br>' In Wall Street a number of possible reasons for the buying popularity were discussed. The j first rumor to pop up was the frequently heard split possibili-l ty. Company officials have always denied their intention of breaking up the big shares into i smaller ones.</br></br>Still another reason assigned; for the buying was the fact that learnings and dividend record of , the company have been maintained despite the increase in !thc companyÛªs capital structure j through the issuance of debentures convertible into common Ûª stock. j | no | 0 |
All Is Not Mink and Diamonds For Professional Models Here: | A typical day at Models Guild, Inc., finds agency registrants receiving assignments, lining up jobs or just waiting, like Mr. Mi* cawber, for something to turn up. From</br></br>A typical day at Models Guild, Inc., finds agency registrants receiving assignments, lining up jobs or just waiting, like Mr. Mi* cawber, for something to turn up. From left to right: Barbara Sacco, Dorothy Marek, modeling school Manager Joy Kops, Movie Bobrow, Maureen Gale and Iole Grazier.</br></br>Despite its cosmopolitan air, its ladies of fashion, its better-than-average per capita income, Washington is some- # Helene Williams asserts an sonal charm is a strong theme Ihrive on I Utorillg alumna of her Southeastern running through each, how-University Û÷'finishing school ever, and a course of study and fashion model courseÛ may dip into more than one now makes in New York. category.</br></br>says, run from a teen-age fin-Actually. full-time work Is a ishing class at $155 to $402 for delusion. ItÛªs a seasonal pro- a 59-hour combination of self-fession with practically no ac-, improvement and basic model-tivity during the summer and ing (prices are higher for time thing less than a model city periodic doldrums throughout payments). A girl can spend where the modeling business is the rest of the year. ! considerably more if she wants</br></br>Take a girl accustomed to photographic work a girl courses as photographic mod-making $50 to $75 an hour in might? get as little as $5 for cling and TV techniques. New York posing for a com- a picture or as much as 575 Brckke says he believes his mercial photographer. She in one of the exceedingly rare; prices are a little higher than comes to the Nation's Capital instances of a national adver- those of most other schools, and is paid as little as $10 an Using job; but the average1 Brekke claims enrollment at hour for the same work, runs about $10 to $15 an hour, the school has doubled in the WhatÛªs more, she finds she Fashion shows bring anywhere Past six years and he looks for can't afford to specialize here; from S10 to $25 apiebe with cveti greater increases as the to eke out an existence she perhaps a bit more going to result of growing difficulty must run the gamut from the top four or five girls in ft iris find in gaining admit-fashion show runways to scrv- demand. Convention work.itnnce to college. The school ing as a convention hostess or such as manning exhibit Crosses about $200,000 a year | no | 0 |
Indonesia Dollar Bond Sale Disappoints | Indonesia's attempt to sell bonds to local investors fell flat Monday, stymieing the government's effort to reduce the volatility of its currency.</br></br>The Ministry of Finance had been looking to raise $450 million through its first-ever offering of bonds denominated in U.S. dollars to local investors. But weak demand for the bonds, with a coupon rate of 3.5%, meant the government was only able to raise $190 million--less than half its target.</br></br>The bond sale comes as investors around the globe are waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve to start cutting back on its massive stimulus effort. Indonesian markets have been among the hardest hit by expectations the Fed will soon pull back on its $85-billion-a-month bond-buying program, a move that is expected to send U.S. interest rates higher and make emerging markets less attractive. Countries with both a fiscal deficit and current-account deficit, like Indonesia, rely heavily on foreign investment and can see their currencies plunge if investors flee.</br></br>The debt sale was part of an effort to stabilize Indonesia's currency, the rupiah, which has already fallen by more than 20% against the dollar this year. The sale of the bonds was designed to increase the pool of dollars in the country to help meet local demand for the U.S. currency. Having more dollars on hand can help lessen the currency shock when foreign investors depart.</br></br>Already, Bank Indonesia has raised its benchmark interest rate by a percentage point since late August, to 7.5%. Higher interest rates tend to draw overseas investors, and the move was widely seen as an effort to shield the economy from the turbulence that is expected when the Fed winds down its easy-money program. | no | 0 |
U.S. Will Stress Global Growth At G-7 Summit --- Bentsen Expects Germany To Cut Rates Further; Russia Aid to Fall Short | WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen said the U.S. will emphasize the urgency of reviving the global economy at next week's summit in Tokyo, and predicted that Germany will cut interest rates again to that end.</br></br>"You've seen . . . the consensus across Europe that rates should be lowered. Frankly, I think they'll be lowered some more," Mr. Bentsen said in an interview. The German Bundesbank's policy makers meet today, but Mr. Bentsen wouldn't say if he expects an interest-rate cut that soon. Asked if the U.S. will press the Japanese at the summit to do more to stimulate its economy, the secretary replied: "I've never stopped asking."</br></br>Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who will meet with the G-7 leaders next week, will come away with far more than his predecessor, Mikhail Gorbachev, got at the London summit two years ago, Mr. Bentsen said. For instance, U.S. officials say the G-7 has agreed to open an office in Moscowo coordinate aid.</br></br>And yesterday, the directors of the International Monetary Fund, as expected, approved a $1.5 billion loan for Russia, the first under a new fund created at the urging of the G-7 to assist Russia and other formerly Communist countries.</br></br>Unable to make as much progress as they had hoped in presummit talks aimed at opening the Japanese market to imports, breaking the deadlock in the world trade talks, and getting other G-7 countries to come up with money for Russia, U.S. officials are now talking about the primacy of economic-growth issues. | no | 0 |
Canada's GDP Rise In 3rd Period Led By Exports to U.S. | OTTAWA -- Canada's gross domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2.4% in the third-quarter, led by strong exports to the U.S., Statistics Canada, a government agency, said.</br></br>The July-September period was the 10th consecutive quarter that Canada has recorded an increase in its GDP, the total value of goods and services produced in the country.</br></br>Exports rose at an annual rate of 7.8% in the third quarter in response to the U.S. economic advance. The U.S. takes more than 80% of Canada's exports.</br></br>Strong business spending on machinery and equipment also contributed to third-quarter growth, Statistics Canada said. Consumer spending, damped by recent tax increases, showed only a modest gain.</br></br>Economists predict that Canada's economic growth will accelerate in coming months as a result of growing U.S. demand for autos, building materials and other goods, which Canada exports. The U.S. economy will remain Canada's driving force into 1994, said John Clinkard, senior economist at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. | no | 0 |
r> atomics and the Recession: Recession Reagan's No. 1 Problem | For the moment, how to cope With recession is Ronald ReaganÛªs biggest problem. The slump this year has brought activity down to a point just, over the levels prevailing three years ago. ThatÛªs stagnationÛÓit started with Jimmy CarterÛªs endorsement of a tight monetary policyÛÓand represents millions of lost jobs and billions of dollars in lost output and federal revenue.</br></br>The housing industry, says Michael Sumichrast, economist for the home buildersÛª association, is ÛÏdecimated,Û with starts in October at the lowest level in 15 years. The spill-over effects of what amounts to a deep depression in the construction industry are widespread, including a devastating but little-noted impact on the lumber industry in the Northwest.</br></br>of the PresidentÛªs Council of Economic Advisers, now admits that the recession will be neither mild nor brief, but equal to at least the average contraction during the postwar period. Instead of a real growth rate of 4.2 percent in 1982 (a question- able forecast the administration used early in the gameÛÓremember the ÛÏRosy ScenarioÛ?), Weidenbaum now admits that the growth rAte will be only 1 percent next year.</br></br>And that rate assumes a smart recovery in the second half of 1982, with ÛÏthe worst of the recession . .</br></br>. hopefully behind us as 1982 unfolds.Û But the trouble is that once itÛªs under way, no one can predict | yes | 1 |
Howard Baker Quashed Idea of Closing Big Board in Talks With Phelan Oct. 20 | WASHINGTON -- New York Stock Exchange Chairman John Phelan called the White House the day after the stock market crash and discussed closing the exchange, but White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker quashed the idea, administration officials said.</br></br>The discussion took place in a series of phone calls around noon on Oct. 20, the day after the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 508 points in the worst market slide in U.S. history. By midday on Oct. 20, the market had turned sharply downward after a brief recovery and many major stocks had stopped trading.</br></br>The new details of these and other phone conversations Oct. 20 provide further evidence of how close the major financial markets came to closing on that chaotic day, and show the role played by the White House in attempting to prevent a financial collapse.</br></br>White House officials said Mr. Baker was deeply worried about the psychological impact of closing the markets, and feared a closing would touch off a panic that would make them difficult to reopen. Administration officials briefly discussed whether the White House had the legal power to force the markets to stay open, but ultimately Mr. Baker used only what one aide called "moral authority" to argue in favor of keeping open.</br></br>"I'm not going to say John (Phelan) was in favor of closing," Mr. Baker said in an interview. "I think he was saying it might come to that." Mr. Baker said he was "greatly apprehensive" about closing the stock market and argued: "Don't close it unless it's absolutely essential." | no | 0 |
Other Views on the Value of the SAT | Since you asked for our feedback about your article on SAT tests ["What the SAT Tests Are Really Scoring," Fairfax Extra, Sept. 8], I will give you my two cents as a parent of a Madison High School senior.</br></br>First of all, unlike you, I am a fan of the SAT. I think it's critical to efficiency in college admissions, given that some school districts practice rampant grade inflation and others (including Fairfax County) do not. Without the objectivity of having SAT grades, colleges would be missing a critical piece of information in their admissions processes. As I am sure you know, studies have indeed found the SAT to be a good and useful predictor of how well kids do in college.</br></br>On the other hand, I agree with you that the average SAT grade of a school's students doesn't tell one much about whether that school is a good place to learn. After all, even with the changes, it's still pretty much an aptitude test. Thus, it's going to correlate more with IQ than with the quality of teachers. Moreover, if one's goal is to get into the most selective college possible, I think there's probably a decent argument to be made that one may be better off in one of the less elite high schools, taking as many tough courses as possible and perhaps standing out more from the pack.</br></br>Your Sept. 8 column was a good piece, but it was incomplete because it did not include several relevant factors affecting SAT scores. While poverty does correlate with SAT achievement, a more powerful correlation appears to be culture.</br></br>Asians in general and the immigrants from some Latin countries have a deep cultural reverence for education that transcends economic status. On the other hand, domestic underclass culture, particularly that of many African Americans, denigrates promising black students as "acting white," as if scholarship was a racial characteristic. | no | 0 |
Gambling on Procter's Return | The recession knocked Procter & Gamble's stock out cold. Have the smelling salts finally arrived?</br></br>Shares of the world's largest consumer-products company have gained just 2% since the start of 2009, compared with a 22% rise for rival Colgate-Palmolive. The latter relies less on high-end products that consumers have forgone and has a stronger emerging-markets position. Since long before the economic crisis unfolded, Colgate's shares have traded at a premium price/earnings multiple.</br></br>Procter should have a healthier glow when both companies report quarterly earnings Thursday. Price reductions appear to have helped Procter win back market share in recent months, which should have underpinned strong sales. But those price cuts have been limited to about 10% of the company's portfolio and could damage Procter's margins and brands if extended much further.</br></br>The bigger question for Procter is whether consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe are ready to trade back up to its premium products. A survey of both high and low-income groups shows consumers have become willing to spend more on consumer products in the last two months, according to Bill Pecoriello of Consumer Edge Research. That could drive an impressive sales recovery, but only if developed economies stay on course and labor markets improve steadily.</br></br>Colgate's prospects look more dependable. Unlike Procter, which is saddled with low-growth products such as diapers and toilet paper, Colgate has a smaller portfolio generating faster sales increases. | no | 0 |
What's Happening | "SMALL TREASURES" -- 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and noon- 6 p.m. Sunday, through Jan. 8. Andrei Kushnir and Michele Taylor's annual small works show, with pieces by members of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters and other artists. 8289 Main St., Ellicott City. Free. Call for holiday hours. 410-465-4467.</br></br>"ALL THE HORSES" -- 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. today, tomorrow, Tuesday- Dec. 30 and by appointment, through Dec. 30. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Equine paintings by Rana Geralis. American City Building, 10227 Wincopin Cir., Columbia. Free. 410-740-8249.</br></br>SKATING -- 2-5 p.m. Sunday. A community roller-skating event sponsored by Howard County Hadassah and the Jewish Federation of Howard County. Proceeds will go to Hadassah Hospital in Israel. Supreme Sports Club roller rink, 7080 Deepage Dr., Columbia. $20 per family; skate rental is additional. 410-418-9262 or www.hocohadassah.org.</br></br>"MAME" -- 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday, and 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and Sunday, through Feb. 19. No shows Saturday, Sunday or Jan 1. Auntie Mame becomes the guardian of her 10-year- old nephew, then sees her life turned upside down with the 1929 crash of the stock market. Toby's Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Rd., Columbia. $41-$46 for adults; $27.50-$46 for children 12 and younger. Call 800-888-6297 or www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.</br></br>"JINGLE BELL ROCK" -- 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, 2 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, next Thursday and Dec. 30. The Young Artists Theatre presents a modern musical based on Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol." Routes 29 and 216, Cherry Tree Center, West Laurel. $8; $7 for groups of 10 or more. Reservations required. 301-604-2844. | no | 0 |
Investors in Stock Market Find Comfort As Long as Rubin, Greenspan Are There | Stock-market investors, surprised by the quick delivery of a special prosecutor's report late Wednesday, found themselves sharing some of President Clinton's pain yesterday.</br></br>But while more could be in store in the event of a protracted battle over Mr. Clinton's future, some Wall Street strategists say the market has a salve: the continued presence of Robert Rubin as Treasury secretary and Alan Greenspan as Federal Reserve chief.</br></br>"It is times like these that you value people like Greenspan and Rubin, and we've got to make sure they don't resign or we're really in the soup," says Thomas Galvin, chief investment strategist for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.</br></br>Market strategists and other experts were quick to point to such factors that could cushion the market from the impact of scenarios ranging from censure to resignation to a full-blown impeachment proceeding stemming from the president's relationship with a White House intern.</br></br>"For the financial markets, the most important thing is that Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Rubin are still there, and are visible and active," says Prudential Securities market strategist Greg Smith. And in that case, "I don't think there will be quite the sense of hopelessness that nobody is in charge." In the end, he adds, unless the Clinton affair prompts either of those two "to resign or be ineffective," the president's problems are largely "an unpleasant side show." | no | 0 |
Letters to the Editor: Judicious Protectionism Can Work | Milton Friedman says that blaming the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act for the 1929 stock-market crash and the subsequent Depression gives it too much "credit." ("Outdoing Smoot-Hawley," editorial page, April 20.) No doubt that's because the act wasn't passed until a year after the crash and simply gave a final boost to the very high tariffs of the prosperous '20s. But "protectionist" policies don't have to lead to a '30s-type contraction in world trade as Mr. Friedman warns.</br></br>Mr. Friedman says that despite Japanese auto restraints, the U.S. auto industry has prospered only by selling overseas or building cars with mostly Japanese parts. That's certainly not true in Chrysler's case -- our vehicles contain almost 90% domestic content (averaging in built-up cars and engines we import), our sales are almost totally North American (though we plan to move back into Europe), our productivity soared by more than 45% over four years, and our quality is back to world standards. Chrysler is living proof (and so is Japanese industry, which grew behind protectionist barriers) that selective government interventions can have positive outcomes if carefully applied.</br></br>The administration's recent decision to put 100% tariffs on certain items has already elicited from Japan more promises for systemic change than years of trade negotiations. But those promises won't translate into real change unless they are backed by a clear and consistent legislative policy, such as that contained in the much-misrepresented Gephardt amendment. Other policy tools have failed (sectoral negotiations) or been pushed to near their practical limits (exchange-rate adjustments). Allowing America's huge trade imbalance to persist will produce far less palatable adjustments (high interest rates, U.S. or even world economic contraction) than would the sensible assertion of this country's bottom-line interests.</br></br>Robert A. Perkins</br></br>Vice President, Washington Affairs | no | 0 |
Sharing in the Bounty and Drought; Farm Members Connect to Nature | Getting kids to eat the vegetables they are familiar with is hard enough. When Cindy Bjornsen was having bushels of kale delivered to her doorstep in Broadlands, making her kids clean their plates got even harder.</br></br>Bjornsen was a member of a community-supported agriculture plan, designed to assure farmers a steady flow of revenue. Members pay a fee to a local farm and in return receive the farm's best crops of that season.</br></br>For someone who wants to support local business and make a connection to the farming community, such plans can be attractive. But they are less than ideal for a household whose main goal is to keep the refrigerator well-stocked, because variables, such as the weather, make it hard to predict what the season's harvest will bring.</br></br>Two years ago, when Bjornsen arranged to get produce from Great Country Farms in Bluemont, a drought caused farmers in the region to produce an unusually large amount of kale, a vegetable from the cabbage family.</br></br>The bushels were too big for her family to finish. She gave away some of the produce to neighbors and did not renew her membership. | no | 0 |
Tobacco Bonds Hold Steady on Win; Scrapping of Damage Award Frees Money for Payments To Back States' Debt Issues | Tobacco bonds issued by states, counties and cities held steady as the tobacco industry chalked up another win with the long-awaited verdict in the Engle class-action lawsuit in Florida.</br></br>Tobacco bonds are trading at their tightest levels in a long time, with investors having flocked to these bonds as the legal tide appeared to be turning in favor of the tobacco industry.</br></br>The Engle case, the latest ruling to favor the industry, was a class-action personal-injury lawsuit brought against the five largest cigarette manufacturers in the U.S. The lawsuit generated the largest punitive-damage award in history -- $145 billion -- before being overturned by an appellate court in 2003, a decision supported yesterday by the Florida Supreme Court.</br></br>The verdict keeps money in the industry's pocket that will help pay for about $25 billion in tobacco bonds, so called because they are backed by the flow of future payments from tobacco companies under terms of a 1998 legal settlement with 46 states.</br></br>Prices of the tobacco bonds were steady in the wake of yesterday's decision. Investors noted that little scope existed for further gains given the very narrow yield differential between the triple-B or triple-B-minus tobacco bonds and other municipal securities. | no | 0 |
Industrials Move Up 11.18 Points; Takeover Speculation Fuels Shares | NEW YORK -- Program trading and takeover speculation in media and entertainment stocks fueled a stock rally.</br></br>In one of the market's busier Mondays this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 11.18 to 2304.80. Most of that gain -- which gave the average its first close above 2300 in about three weeks -- was made in late morning when rallies in bond futures triggered futures-related program buying of stocks.</br></br>Not all the program buying was futures-related; some involved large purchases by institutional investors that had put off buying until yesterday's beginning of the new quarter.</br></br>Despite a host of negative market factors, Nancy Gallagher, stock-index futures analyst at Thomson McKinnon Securities, says she sees "some willingness on the part of money managers to breathe easier and come into the market." Even though there's "nothing cooking" in the actual stock market, she says, the program activity involving purchases of baskets of big stocks might give stocks "a real short-term gain here."</br></br>Stocks could use such a push, say traders, who complain that individual-investor interest remains low. Still, the market's first-quarter performance wasn't shabby: Standard & Poor's reported yesterday that first-quarter total return on the S&P 500 index -- used by some $150 billion of "index funds" as their benchmark -- was 7.09% with dividends reinvested and 6.17% without reinvestment. | no | 0 |
(H)f tonsliiiifllon post | Marriott Corp. yesterday agreed to sell its Great America theme park in Santa Clara, Calif., to the city of Santa Clara for $101 million. Marriott officials said the sale of the California park will not affect its other amusement park near Chicago, but that facility too is reported to be for sale. Both parks have been profitable, a spokesman said.</br></br>Marriott said it will get more from the sale than it has invested in the park, but the amount of the gain has not yet been determined. The company said the decision to sell the park ÛÏresulted primarily from substantially increased land values in Santa Clara.Û</br></br>When the sale is completed next September, Marriott will get $70 million in cash and $31 million in short-term notes from the city for the 195-acre park. Marriott will continue to run the park for the 1984 season.</br></br>Planning Research Corp. yesterday announced plans to repurchase up to $5 million of the companyÛªs stock at market prices. At the current market price of about $15.25 a share, the purchases would involve about 327,000 of the 6.97 million outstanding shares.</br></br>A group of investors led by the Bass family of Texas said yesterday it had raised its stake in Texaco Inc. to 9.8 percent from 7.2 percent. | no | 0 |
Industrials Close 0.17 Point Higher After Erasing Losses of Morning | Stock prices recovered from an early morning bout of selling yesterday, but couldn't sustain a late afternoon rally and closed marginally higher.</br></br>The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose a mere 0.17 to 1879.31, with advancing issues outnumbering declining stocks 791-729. Volume was moderate at 158.1 million shares, down from 181.7 million shares Wednesday.</br></br>Analysts said yesterday's performance was encouraging, in that it may mark a halt to the steady weakening of share prices. "We're getting near the levels where you might expect to see the downward selling pressure abate a bit," said Brian Luedtke, a technical analyst at Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Inc.</br></br>Mr. Luedtke said that even when stock prices were lower in the morning, it was the first time this week that technology stocks began turning upward before the broader market. Technology issues were the focal point of much the selling pressure early this week, as analysts and investors were disappointed by some of the industry's fourth-quarter results, especially International Business Machines' performance.</br></br>Fredric Russell, who owns a money-management firm in Tulsa, Okla., said that while stock prices "might not be in bargain territory, there is so much discouragement that it gives the serious investor some real opportunities." He said the nearly flat performance of the Dow Jones industrials yesterday indicates that some of those investors are taking advantage of the lower prices for many stocks. | no | 0 |
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