Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks,americast.usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Thu, Aug 20 1992 Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 04:20:23 EDT Message-ID: 08-20 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Aug. 20, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TRADE GAP NARROWS: The U.S. trade deficit shrank 7.7% in June as exports and imports climbed to record highs, the Commerce Department says. The gap between exports and imports totaled $6.6 billion, down from $7.1 billion in May. Exports reached $38.3 billion while imports rose to $44.9 billion. EXPORTS ARE USA'S `TRUMP CARD': Economists say the cheap dollar is making U.S. goods more affordable abroad while the record level of imports signals some strength in the weak U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Barbara Franklin called exports an important economic trump card for the USA. The trade deficit is running at a $70.9 billion annual rate. Last year's gap: $65.4 billion. CHRYSLER TRIES TO BOOST SHARE: Chrysler's Chairman-elect Robert Eaton says the No. 3 automaker's new models should be good enough to boost Chrysler's share of the U.S. car and truck market to 15% by fall 1994, when the 1995 model year begins. That would be a 43% jump from its current 10.5% share. Eaton is banking on strong sales of the midsize Dodge Intrepid, Eagle Vision and Chrysler Concorde sedans. GM KEEPS PLANTS ALIVE: GM has given some breathing room to five assembly plants mentioned as candidates to be shut under GM's massive restructuring plan. The Doraville, Ga., plant is scheduled to build minivans for the 1996 model year, which begins Oct. 1, 1995. Four other plants - in Fairfax, Kan.; Oklahoma City; and two in Oshawa, Ontario - have been assigned cars that will keep them working through 1995. CAR LOANS FALLING FAST: Since the beginning of August 1991, rates on new-car loans have fallen faster than rates on other consumer loans - including mortgages. The average rate on a four-year new-car loan has dropped 2 percentage points, to 9.66% from 11.66%, according to Bank Rate Monitor. That's the lowest new-car rate since May 1972. COMPETITION SPARKS LOW RATES: Behind the decline in bank rates for auto loans: Fierce competition from automakers' finance companies such as General Motors Acceptance Corp. and Ford Motor Credit Corp. Bank of New York has a fixed rate of 9.65% on four-year new-car loans and a variable rate of 8.5%; First Interstate Bank in Los Angeles offers a rate of 8.95% with down payments of 20% and monthly drafting. LAYOFFS TRAVEL TO JAPAN: The USA isn't the only country affected by layoffs, cutbacks and temporary shutdowns. Japan, land of corporate anthems and company loyalty, is also being hit. On Wednesday, Oki Electric Industry said it will cut 2,000 jobs by March 1995. Electronics giant Hitachi reportedly plans to furlough 2,200 workers, at 90% pay, for four days this fall. Japan is dealing with an economic slowdown. BANK CD YIELDS FALL: Bank CD yields fell this week, according to Bank Rate Monitor. Average yields on certificates of deposit: six-month, 3.28%, vs. 3.30%; one-year, 3.56%, vs. 3.60%; 2 1:2-year, 4.33%, vs. 4.39%; five-year, 5.54%, vs. 5.61%. STOCKS FALL IN LATE SELL-OFF: Stocks fell Wednesday in a last-hour sell-off. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 22.42 points to 3307.06. Broader indexes also fell. Losers trounced winners 1,132 to 584 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 187 million shares. Stocks barely moved until the last hour of trading, when several computerized trades drove prices down. GOLD UP, SILVER UNMOVED: Gold rose Wednesday, but silver was essentially flat. Gold was up $2.10 to $337.90 on the Comex. Gold rose in London to $338.45 from $336.00. In Zurich, the metal rose to $338.00 from $335.60 and in Hong Kong, gold rose $1.78 to close at $337.98. Silver bullion in London was unchanged at $3.80. On the Comex, silver was quoted at $3.772, up slightly from $3.771. OIL PRICES FINISH LOWER: Crude oil prices settled lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange under pressure from falling petroleum products prices. Heating oil futures fell on the weekly American Petroleum Institute report that showed distillate stocks, made up mainly of heating oil, rose 2.7 million barrels last week. Heavy profit-taking sent gasoline futures lower. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3307.06 after closing down 22.42 points Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 230.41, down 1.49. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 385.89, down 0.92. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 567.61, down 3.26. DOLLAR OPENS MIXED OVERSEAS: The dollar opens mixed on Thursday. It opens at 0.5171 British pounds, down from 0.5179; 4.9533 French francs, up from 4.9400; 1.4526 German marks, down from 1.4563; and 126.30 Japanese yen, up from 126.07. (As of 3 p.m. Wednesday. 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: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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