Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.comment From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 16:22:11 EST Message-ID: \SE C;COMMENTARY;MONEY;BUSINESS ROUNDUP \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Market posts modest losses NEW YORK - Blue-chip stocks fell modestly yesterday, but the market was underpinned by broad strength in technology companies and other smaller issues. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 6.76 points to close at 3,233.03 for a loss of 7.03 points on the week. Gainers led losers 922-839 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 192.3 million shares. The S&P 500 fell 0.44 to 422.43, while the NASDAQ index rose 2.79 to 637.16 and the AMEX added 0.46 to 389.69. S=NEW STORY Mortgage rates creep higher Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.32 percent this week, up from 8.29 percent last week, according to a national survey released yesterday by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the highest since rates averaged 8.48 percent June 26. Lenders sought an average initial rate of 5.20 percent, up from 5.17 percent, on one-year adjustable mortgages. S=NEW STORY Chevy ready to pare work force WARREN, Mich. - General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet division said yesterday it will restructure its sales and service divisions in the United States with a target of reducing staff by 17 percent. The central office staff and branch offices in eight cities, including Washington, will be affected. Most reductions will come from early retirement and attrition. S=NEW STORY Humana cuts dividend for spinoff LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Humana Inc. directors voted yesterday to eliminate the health care company's dividend, saying they wanted to provide more capital for a spinoff planned for next year. Humana stock dropped $4 a share to close at $19.88 on the New York Stock Exchange, where it was the most active issue. The planned spinoff will divide Humana into two separately traded public companies, one for its 78 hospitals and the other for its health plan operations. S=NEW STORY Local execs see slow improvement Washington-Baltimore area executives expect business conditions to improve within 10 months, but they're less optimistic than they were eight months ago, according to the Washington-Baltimore Regional Association. Of the 850 executives who responded to the survey, 18 percent said jobs could be added in their companies in the next six months, while 12 percent anticipated a decline. Forty percent said business had improved in the past six months; 25 percent disagreed. S=NEW STORY Antonelli plan 10 days from OK Two real estate partnerships that have objected to bankrupt developer Dominic F. Antonelli's proposed reorganization have 10 days to win a stay by posting a $7.5 million bond, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul S. Mannes ruled yesterday. At issue in the area's largest personal bankruptcy case is how much control the liquidating trust will have over decisions Mr. Antonelli makes as a general partner in those real estate partnerships. Attorneys for the partnerships said it is unlikely that their clients will post the bond. S=NEW STORY Money measures rise NEW YORK - The two broadest measures of the nation's money supply rose for the week ended Nov. 2, the Federal Reserve Board reported yesterday. M2 rose to a $3,508.9 billion from a revised $3,497.0 billion. A broader measure, M3, rose to a $4,191.2 billion from a revised $4,186.4 billion. The narrowest measure, M1, rose to a $1,017.4 billion from $1,009.1 billion. M1 includes cash and checking accoung deposits. M2 is M1 plus accounts like savings deposits and money-market mutual funds. M3 is M2 plus less-liquid accounts. S=NEW STORY Boeing's bolt woes grow ZURICH - Swissair canceled two flights to the United States yesterday after it discovered a damaged bolt in the engine-wing assembly of one of its Boeing 747 jets. Swissair said it ordered another test of its five 747s, which passed a Boeing-ordered inspection two weeks ago. The bad bolt Swissair found was not on the checklist Boeing provided. S=NEW STORY Honeywell plans to trim 400 jobs CLEARWATER, Fla. - Honeywell Corp. is planning to cut some 400 jobs over the next year to reduce costs because of a declining business outlook, company officials said. The cuts, amounting to about 18 percent of the work force, will leave 1,850 employees at a plant which had 4,000 workers only three years ago. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM