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 Wed, Sep 30 1992 Date: Wed, 30 Sep 92 04:52:36 EDT Message-ID: 09-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Sept. 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CONSUMER CONFIDENCE FALLS: Consumer confidence fell again this month - a third straight decline. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its confidence index hit 56.4, lowest this year. When there was a reading below 100 on the eve of the past five presidential elections, it has spelled defeat for the incumbent party, says the Conference Board, a business research group. (For more, see special Consumer package below.) SEARS GETS OUT OF REAL ESTATE: Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s decision to scale down to a retail-only corporation leaves its real estate division for sale. Coldwell Banker and Sears Mortgage are so well-known in residential real estate that they could garner some hefty bids from financial services companies looking for a large chunk of the real estate business. Any buyer will have to be big. COLDWELL SHOULD DRAW OFFERS: Coldwell Banker and Sears Mortgage Corp. are up for sale by Sears, Roebuck and Co. Laurie Moore, editor of Real Trends newsletter, says GE Capital, Ford Credit, GMAC Credit, Primerica and American Express may be interested. Moore figures the entire Coldwell residential division will sell for between $610 million to $732 million. SALOMON MAY FACE MORE PROBLEMS: Despite a $290 million settlement with government regulators last May, Salomon Brothers Inc. could still face penalties or charges of tax fraud, Jerome Powell, Treasury undersecretary for finance, said Tuesday. Powell said in written testimony to a House subcommittee that the settlement agreement doesn't preclude potential adjustments to Salomon Brothers' tax liability. OFFICE OF THRIFT PRINTS RULES: The Office of Thrift Supervision Tuesday published a final rule outlining steps federal regulators will take when a savings institution becomes undercapitalized. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Federal Reserve Board approved very similar rules earlier this month. The regulations the three agencies approved will go into effect Dec. 19. JAPAN CONCERNED BY HIGH YEN: Some of Japan's top economic policy-makers spoke Tuesday about their unhappiness with the record high yen, hoping to discourage further buying of the currency. Despite the verbal attacks on the yen, the dollar closed at a record low of 119.25 yen in New York. Japanese Finance Minister Tsutomu Hata suggested the government intervene in foreign markets to stop a further slide in the dollar. GOLD, SILVER MIXED: Gold and silver prices varied Tuesday. On the Commodity Exchange, gold for current delivery ended at $348.20, up 40 cents. Republic National Bank quoted a price of $348.50, up 65 cents. Gold fell in London to $347.45 from $348.00. Silver bullion dropped slightly in London to $3.73 from $3.74. On the Comex, silver was quoted at $3.762, up from $3.74. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CONSUMER: CONFIDENCE WAS 72.6 IN JUNE: The Conference Board said Tuesday its consumer confidence index hit 56.4 in September, the lowest this year. It reached 72.6 in June - from a February low of 47.3 - before heading south. The index was 59 in August. The survey of 5,000 households is a good predictor of consumer spending, which is two-thirds of economic activity, says Fabian Linden, economist at the Conference Board. ECONOMY MAY DOOM BUSH: When there was a reading below 100 on the eve of the past five presidential elections, it has spelled defeat for the incumbent party. A stalled economy and high unemployment make a rebound in the index to 100 before the election "highly unlikely," Linden says. Contributing to that pessimism: a 0.2% drop last month from July in the index of leading indicators. ECONOMISTS AREN'T OPTIMISTIC: Economists also were concerned by the drop in August's index of coincident indicators, a measure of current economic activity. That index fell 0.9% in August from July to 124.1, below the 125.7 reading of March 1991, when many economists say the recession ended. "There's a definite risk of returning to a full-fledged recession," says Allen Sinai of Boston Co. Economic Advisers. (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3266.80 Wednesday after closing down 9.46 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.90, up 0.20. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 375.61, down 1.64. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 577.63, up 2.29. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens mostly down on Tuesday. It opens at 0.5621 British pounds, down from 0.5789; 4.8200 French francs, down from 4.8940; 1.4125 German marks, down from 1.4518; and 119.37 Japanese yen, down from 119.77. (As of 3 p.m. Monday. 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: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY downdate (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes 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