Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.banks,americast.usa-today.banks Subject: banks Fri, Aug 28 1992 Message-ID: Date: 28 Aug 92 08:57:03 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 120 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 08-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Aug. 28-30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network OTS REPORTS JULY ACTIONS: The Office of Thrift Supervision Thursday reported that it completed 71 enforcement actions in July. So far, the office has completed 461 enforcements this year. The listings are available by type of enforcement and alphabetically by thrift. Write: Information Services Division, Office of Thrift Supervision, 1776 G St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20552, or phone 1-202-906-5900. TISCH GROUP CUTS CANARY BID: A Wall Street investor group sharply cut its bid Thursday to rescue the troubled Canary Wharf project in London, the Associated Press says. The group, including CBS Chairman Lawrence Tisch and former Salomon Bros. vice chairman Lewis Ranieri, lowered its bid to $464 million from $692 million. O&Y put Canary Wharf under British insolvency protection after talks with creditors collapsed. INVESTORS FAVOR MUTUAL FUNDS: Investors poured more money into stock and bond mutual funds last month than in June: $18.6 billion total, compared with $13.6 billion in June and $10.6 billion a year ago. Bond funds were especially hot as banks further lowered yields on certificates of deposit. CORPORATE PROFITS A RECORD HIGH: Corporate profits climbed 2% to a record high the second quarter, the Commerce Department says. The jump in profits to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $235 billion follows an 11% increase the first quarter, the best quarterly results in four years. Economists say profits are improving despite the sluggish economy because lower interest rates have cut borrowing costs. IDS FINANCIAL TO SETTLE SUIT: IDS Financial Corp. said Thursday it has agreed to make a $35 million settlement in a nationwide age-discrimination suit. IDS is a unit of American Express Co. The class-action suit was filed in 1989 by 32 former IDS division managers and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. IDS agreed to internally audit personnel practices and procedures. JOBLESS NUMBERS DOWN AFTER JUMP: The number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell in mid-August to the lowest level since October 1990. Weekly claims dipped to 382,000 Aug. 15 - the first time claims have been below 400,000 since July 1991, the Labor Department said Thursday. The plunge is almost entirely due to General Motors workers, who were laid off for two weeks, were no longer asking for benefits. CITIBANK SETS BRAZIL BOND DATE: Citibank said Thursday that it has set Sept. 10 as the signing date for a final agreement to issue $7 billion of Brazil past-due interest bonds for 1989 and 1990. The bonds will be issued once banks holding 95% of Brazil's previously restructured commercial bank debt have signed the documents covering the agreement on the 1989:1990 past-due interest. AMEX MIAMI BRANCH REOPENS: American Express Bank Ltd. said Thursday its Miami branch was operational after it closed Monday because of Hurricane Andrew. The bank belongs to its subsidiary, American Express Bank International. The Miami office will be open Saturday and Sunday to assist clients affected by the hurricane. REAL ESTATE RECOVERY SLOWS: The real estate industry's recovery apparently is slowing, according to a survey released Thursday by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The agency found that bank and thrift examiners were less upbeat in the May-July period than in the survey released in May. About two-thirds said commercial conditions were unchanged, meaning there's still too much office space on the market. EX-IM BANK GUARANTEES REPAYMENT: The Export-Import Bank Thursday guaranteed Giddings and Lewis Inc. repayment for millions of dollars worth of automotive equipment exports to Russia, Bloomberg Business News reported. The guarantee is part of a $102 million plan to promote the sale of American goods in the former Soviet republic. Russia's central bank, the Vnesheconombank, will act as the obligor. 30-YEAR T-BONDS DOWN; GOLD UP: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 7.83 points to 3254.64. The NASDAQ composite index gained 4.47 points to 563.27. Yields on 30-year Treasury bonds fell to 7.39% from 7.41%. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills held at 3.15%. Comex gold rose 90 cents to $339.20 an ounce. Light sweet crude oil dipped 8 cents to $21.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3254.64 after closing up 7.83 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 227.73, up 0.25. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 381.00, up 1.35. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 563.27, up 4.47. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Friday. It opens at 0.5054 British pounds, up from 0.5033; 4.8168 French francs, up from 4.7890; 1.4090 German marks, up from 1.4053; and 124.88 Japanese yen, up from 124.75. (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: Beth Mann. (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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