Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Mon, 26 Oct 92 14:37:03 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN;MONEY;BUSINESS ROUNDUP \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Machine tool orders rise Orders for U.S. machine tools rose in September because of a surge in business at the industry's biennial trade show that is expected to spill over into October orders, the industry's trade group said yesterday. Orders rose from both domestic and foreign customers, according to the monthly figures reported by the McLean-based Association for Manufacturing Technology. So far this year, export orders totaled $269.05 million, 32.8 percent below the $400.55 million in orders through September last year. Many economists consider the statistics a barometer for industrial production because machine tools make a broad range of goods. S=NEW STORY Disney roars in court LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney Co. won the right to have studios at its movie theme parks bear the name MGM even though MGM has nothing to do with the movies produced there. The decision Friday, by Superior Court Judge Curtis Rappe, was a victory in Disney's fight with MGM Studios over use of the MGM name and famous lion logo that now appear at the Disney-MGM Studios tour in Florida. MGM and Disney signed a deal in 1985 allowing Disney to use the lion logo and clips from its film library at the Florida Disney site. S=NEW STORY Citicorp still top U.S. bank NEW YORK - Citicorp retains its position as the nation's biggest banking company, according to third-quarter asset figures, but if current trends continue it is only a matter of time before another bank takes over, analysts say. Citicorp ended the quarter with about $222.9 billion in assets, leaving it easily ahead of second-ranked BankAmerica Corp. of San Francisco, with $186.6 billion. But Citicorp's rivals are moving ahead aggressively with acquisitions. S=NEW STORY Facts, not sensation, urged LOS ANGELES - In final maneuvers before Charles H. Keating Jr.'s federal fraud trial, his attorney will urge a judge today to bar Keating's previous legal troubles as evidence. Attorney Stephen C. Neal maintains Keating will be found not guilty if the jury focuses on relevant evidence. He said prosecutors would do their best to offer sensational but irrelevant details. Keating was convicted of 17 state counts of misleading small investors about the safety of high-risk bonds. S=NEW STORY Most employees are in an HMO NEW YORK - Most Americans who obtain health insurance through their employers are enrolled in a managed care plan such as a health maintenance organization, according to a new study. The survey of 1,057 large and mid-sized companies by accountants KPMG Peat Marwick showed that 55 percent of employees were enrolled in an HMO, preferred provider organization or similar, compared with 29 percent in 1988. S=NEW STORY Icahn faces suit on TWA pensions The government may sue Trans World Airlines' owner Carl Icahn to cover more than $1 billion in pension payments to retired employees of the troubled carrier, the head of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp said yesterday. The unit has told Mr. Icahn he must fully finance a $1.2 billion gap in TWA pensions or face suits that could wipe out his fortune by taking funds from his other companies, PBGC director James B. Lockhart III said in a telephone interview. S=NEW STORY Japan brokerages hit by losses TOKYO - Nearly all of Japan's biggest brokerages lost money in the first half of the 1992 fiscal year because of Tokyo's stagnant stock market, the firms said. Of the so-called Big Four, only No. 2 Daiwa Securities Co. - which reported a zero profit - avoided an after-tax loss during the April-September period. 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