Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Fri, Feb 28 1992 Date: Fri, 28 Feb 92 05:50:42 EST Message-ID: 02-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Feb. 28-March 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS RISE: The number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits jumped 7,000 to 459,000 the week ended Feb. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average remained near the 450,000 mark. Claims above 400,000 are considered recessionary. About 8.9 million people are unemployed in the USA and 3.3 million receive jobless benefits. HOME SALES DROP IN JANUARY: Sales of existing homes fell 1.5% in January - the first drop in four months - but were up 12% from January 1991, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Sales of previously-owned homes totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.22 million, down from 3.27 million in December. Also, median prices of existing homes rose 2% to $102,300 last month. SMALL STOCKS UP, DOW DOWN: Small stocks rose and large stocks fell Thursday, sending the Dow down slightly in slow trading. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.87 points to 3269.45. But the NASDAQ composite index of small company stocks gained 1.55 points to 633.95. Advancers still beat decliners 912 to 810 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 215.1 million shares. FOCUS ON SMALL STOCKS: Interest in stocks was reserved for small stocks Thursday, as investors apparently were locking in gains of blue-chip stocks, which rose 25 points Wednesday. Trude Latimer, trader at Josephthal Lyon & Ross, said, "The only buying interest was in the smaller stocks," which have been strong all year. Investors are apparently awaiting more corporate earnings and economic data, analysts said. BANKRUPTCY FILINGS INCREASE: The number of companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection hit a one-month record in January, according to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Last month, 212 companies filed for protection. The number of companies filing has been on the rise since 1989. For the year ending June 30, 15,461 companies filed in 1989, 17,475 in 1990 and 19,540 in 1991. LAWYERS SAY MILKEN TO HAVE LESS: Lawyers said Thursday that jailed financier Michael Milken will be poorer than recently estimated by Judge Milton Pollack after paying $500 million to settle lawsuits. Lawyers for his former firm, Drexel Burnham Lambert, say after settling the suits accusing him of defrauding investors, Milken will be left with $125 million. Pollack said last week that Milken will have $225 million left. SENATE CONFIRMS GREENSPAN: The Senate voted without debate Thursday to confirm Alan Greenspan to a second four-year term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. Though Greenspan has broad support, he has been accused by some lawmakers of being too slow to cut interest rates. Also, the Senate confirmed Barbara Franklin to succeed Robert Mosbacher as secretary of commerce. RTC GETS $25 BILLION: A House subcommittee voted Thursday to give the Resolution Trust Corp. $25 billion to continue closing sick savings and loans. That was less than half the $55 billion the Bush administration had asked for. But the panel was swayed by a recommendation from the General Accounting Office, Congress' watchdog agency. GAO said the RTC should only get enough money to last through spring 1993. JAPANESE RAISE CAR PRICES: Honda boosted car prices 1.7% Thursday, and Nissan says it probably will be next. Toyota announced a 3.2% increase Feb. 14. Toyota's Lexus luxury cars went up 5%. Besides boosting profits, higher prices could help solve "a big problem" for Japanese automakers in the USA by making American cars more competitive, says Nissan spokesman Shuji Kawasaki. OIL PRICES RISE: Oil prices rose Thursday, led by a strong rally in gasoline. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in April settled at $18.75 a barrel, up 29 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in March settled at 56.28 cents a gallon, up 1.71 cents. Home heating oil for delivery in March settled at 51.24 cents a gallon, up .37 cent. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3269.45, after closing down 13.87 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.75, down 0.48. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 416.09, up 2.12. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 633.95, up 1.55. DOLLAR OPENS MOSTLY DOWN: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Friday. It opens at 0.5701 British pounds, down from 0.5721; 5.5928 French francs, down from 5.6389; 129.40 Japanese yen, up from 129.35; and 1.6435 German marks, down from 1.6495. (As of 3 p.m. Thursday. Source: First American Bank of New York.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Money Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Banking & Economy Editor: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM