Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.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, Oct 15 1992 Date: Thu, 15 Oct 92 04:48:41 EDT Message-ID: Lines: 117 10-15 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Oct. 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MUNI BONDS EVER MORE TEMPTING: A flood of city and state debt refinancing has created a rare opportunity to invest in municipal bonds at fire-sale prices and super-attractive yields. High-grade, three-year munis yield 4%. That's 90% of what four-year Treasury notes yield. Historically, they yield 80% of Treasuries pay. Ten-year munis yield 5.3%, or 82% of what 10-year T-notes pay, up from the traditional 75%. BOND ISSUANCE LOOKS LIKE 1985: As interest rates have fallen, an oversupply of municipal bonds has kept muni prices from rising as much as prices on taxable bonds. This has made tax-frees more attractive than ever. Not since 1985 when local governments hoped to beat the 1986 Tax Reform Act rules have so many tax-frees hit the market at once. About $170 billion of new munis have been issued this year through Sept. 30. RETAIL REVENUE EDGES UP: Retail revenue edged higher last month, boosted by Hurricane Andrew rebuilding in Florida and Louisiana. And wholesale prices rose slightly. The modest 0.3% gain in retail revenue from August follows a flat August and a 1% gain in July, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. August revenue was revised to unchanged, from an earlier estimate of a 0.5% decline. DURABLE GOODS SALES JUMP: Revenue from sales of durable goods - items expected to last three years or more - jumped 0.8% last month, boosted by a 2.6% jump in the sale of building materials. The report shows sluggish economic growth continues, economists say. That's why they aren't worried about the slight 0.3% rise in wholesale prices last month from August - biggest monthly gain since April. BANK CD YIELDS SLIDE: Bank certificates of deposit continued their year-long slide this week. Average yields, according to Bank Rate Monitor: Six-month, 3.00% vs. 3.02%; 1-year, 3.23% vs. 3.25%; 2 1:2-year, 3.92% vs. 3.94%; 5-year, 5.24% vs. 5.24%. RTC STOPPAGE WAS ILLEGAL: A federal court judge Wednesday ruled the Resolution Trust Corp. illegally stopped payment on $2.9 billion of Franklin Savings Association's bonds. The judge ruled that the federal agency failed to follow proper procedures when it curtailed interest appreciation on three zero-coupon bond issues. The bank filed the suit on behalf of its bondholders. SEC COMMISSIONER URGES TALK: Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Schapiro says that communication among regulators and the securities industry must be increased to prevent sales practice abuses. Schapiro told a securities conference in Denver the scenario in sales practice abuses could be prevented if the industry addressed such issues as better hiring practices and the role of rating agencies. GOLDMAN SACHS NAMES PARTNERS: Goldman Sachs Group LP said Wednesday it has elected 35 new general partners. The private partnership in the investment banking community and the second-largest U.S. securities company said it names a new group of partners every two years to replace those who retire. The elections must be approved by the New York Stock Exchange. If approved, the elections are effective Nov. 28. AG MINISTER HOPEFUL ON TALKS: British Agriculture Minister John Gummer said Wednesday he's "very hopeful" that there soon will be an agreement between the United States and the European Community over stalled talks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The sides have been in negotiations in Brussels this week. At issue: Farm subsidies for farmers in European Community countries. LONG-TERM BOND YIELDS SLIDE: The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds fell to 7.49% from 7.53%. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills rose to 2.93% from 2.88% at Tuesday's auction. Light sweet crude oil dipped 1 cent to $22.08 a barrel on the N.Y. Mercantile Exchange. GOLD MIXED, DOWN OVERSEAS: Gold prices were mixed overseas but declined in domestic dealings. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion settled at $342.80 a troy ounce, off $1.20. Republic National Bank said gold fell $1.05 an ounce to $342.75. Silver prices declined. On New York's Comex, silver settled at $3.688 a troy ounce, down from $3.695. In London silver fell to $3.71 from $3.72. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3195.48 Thursday after closing down 5.94 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.39, up 0.08. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 366.17, down 0.66. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 576.22, down 0.22. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Thursday. It opens at 0.5870 British pounds, down from 0.5824; 4.9640 French francs, down from 4.9870; 1.4635 German marks, down from 1.4650; and 121.18 Japanese yen, down from 121.25. (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: 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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM