Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Fri, Apr 24 1992 Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 05:26:46 EDT Message-ID: 04-24 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update April 24-26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DURABLE GOODS ORDERS UP: A sharp rise in aircraft orders lifted durable goods orders last month to $122.6 billion - a 1.6% gain over February, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The rise follows a flat February and a 2.4% increase in January. Excluding transportation, which gained 6.3% because of aircraft orders, durable goods orders showed a 0.1% gain. NEW UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS DOWN: The Labor Department reported Thursday that first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell 12,000 to 404,000 the week ended April 11 - the third straight weekly drop and a six-month low. The less-volatile, four-week average also fell to 427,250 from 438,000. Economists say claims need to stay at this level or improve to indicate improvement in the labor market. LATE RALLY LIFTS DOW: A rally in the last hour of trading pushed the Dow into positive territory Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 9.84 points to 3348.61. Other indexes were narrowly mixed. Advancing issues lagged losers 830 to 857 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 238 million shares. DROP IN RATES SPURS STOCK: A pullback in bond rates spurred a late stock rally Thursday on Wall Street. After Treasury bond yields surged early in the day, they fell, but were still up. The 30-year T-bond yield finished up at 8.04% from 8.03% Wednesday. The drop in rates from about 8.10% earlier in the day sparked a stock rally, says Al Goldman, chief market technician at A.G. Edwards. CAR, TRUCK SALES CAUSE WORRY: Combined car and truck sales by five major companies rose just 7.5% in mid-April from miserable 1991 levels, carmakers said Thursday. Even though four of the carmakers reported increases, they are misleading because of how bad things were in 1991, analysts say. "The numbers are not good at all," says Michael Luckey of the Luckey Consulting Group. Job fears were blamed. FORD LEADS BIG THREE: Sales of small and medium-sized trucks, sport utility vehicles and minivans jumped 20% in mid-April, automakers said Thursday. Also, in mid-April: GM sales rose 5.2%, while Ford sales rose 16.5%. Chrysler sales rose 8.6%, according to Ward's Automotive Reports. Chrysler doesn't report 10-day sales. Sales by Toyota fell 6.6%, but Honda sales rose 2.5%. VOTERS CONSIDER ECONOMY: In a USA TODAY:CNN:Gallup poll out Thursday, President Bush has regained the confidence of some voters on his ability to manage the economy. The poll of 1,004 registered voters shows 36% say Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton could do a better job handling the economy, down from 49% a month ago. But nearly three-quarters disapprove of how Bush is handling the economy. Margin of error: 3%. DR PEPPER-7 UP TO OFFER STOCK: Dr Pepper-Seven Up, the fourth largest U.S. soft drink company, says it will sell 29.8 million shares to the public. The offering, first announced earlier this month, is expected to raise about $600 million for the company. The money will be used to pay debt. Dr Pepper, 7-Up and other brands produced by the company accounted for 6% of the U.S. soft-drink market last year. EXXON, TEXACO EARNINGS WEAK: Exxon and Texaco, joining other major U.S. oil companies, reported weak first-quarter earnings compared with a year earlier. Net income for Exxon, the USA's largest oil company, dropped 40% to $1.4 billion or $1.07 a share from $2.2 billion or $1.78 a share a year earlier. No. 3 Texaco's net income fell 52% to $200 million or 68 cents a share from $415 million or $1.51 a share a year earlier. MORE LAYOFFS EXPECTED: Martin Marietta and Alcan Aluminum said Thursday they expect to cut jobs soon. Martin Marietta says it is likely to cut 3,600 jobs by year's end, about 6% of its workforce, because of cuts in military spending. Alcan says it expects to cut more than 1,000 jobs from its 50,000 member workforce to meet cost-cutting goals. Declining aluminum prices forced Alcan to cut 4,200 jobs last year. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3348.61, after closing up 9.84 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.16, up 0.74. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 386.26, down 0.09. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 576.05, down 2.18. DOLLAR OPENS UP: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Friday. It opens at 0.5666 British pounds, down from 0.5675; 5.6180 French francs, up from 5.6150; 134.80 Japanese yen, up from 134.15; and 1.6698 German marks, up from 1.6630. (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: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution 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