Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Thu, May 21 1992 Date: Thu, 21 May 92 05:20:57 EDT Message-ID: 05-21 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update May 21, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TRADE DEFICIT SOARS: The strengthening U.S. economy pushed demand for imports up, driving the trade deficit higher in March. The gap between exports and imports jumped 76% to $5.8 billion from $3.3 billion in February. Exports fell 1.8% to $37 billion. Imports climbed 4.5% in March to $42.8 billion, the highest in 16 months. The $5.8 billion deficit in March was the highest since October. DOW DOWN SLIGHTLY: The Dow pushed above 3400 during trading Wednesday, but profit-taking knocked it down below another record close. The Dow Jones industrial average, up 21.96 points to a record 3397.99 Tuesday, slipped 4.15 to 3393.84. Broader indexes closed mixed. Losers edged gainers 881 to 821 on the New York Stock Exchange on volume of 199 million shares. LITTLE ACTION EXPECTED: Analysts do not see much activity on Wall Street for the rest of the week. There is still hope the Federal Reserve will move to ease interest rates. "But the Fed probably won't do anything between now and the weekend," says Daiwa Securities trader Ned Collins. He adds that a lot of people are already leaving for the Memorial Day weekend, which will also slow the market. SALOMON TO PAY $290 MILLION: Salomon Inc. will pay $290 million in civil penalties to settle charges from a Treasury auction scandal 10 months ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday. Salomon, which will not face any criminal charges, admitted in August that it made unauthorized bids in Treasury securities auctions and bought more notes than allowed by law. BREEDAN ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT: In announcing a $290 million settlement with Salomon Inc., SEC Chairman Richard Breeden said Salomon made 10 false bids in nine Treasury auctions August 1989 through May 1991. The bids totaled $15.5 billion and allowed Salomon to buy $9.5 billion in Treasury securities. Former chairman John Gutfreund and President Thomas Strauss uncovered the bad bids but didn't tell the SEC for months. GM OFFERING IS BIG HIT: General Motors' offering of 55 million shares of common stock netted the automaker $2.1 billion. The huge offering began Tuesday night, when GM officials and investment banks it hired to conduct the sale set a price of $39 a share. The shares were distributed to pre-arranged institutional buyers starting Wednesday morning. The stock traded smoothly all day and closed down 1:4 at $39. BANKS GET $54 MILLION: Investment banks that led GM's offering of 55 million shares of common stock received $54 million of the $2.1 billion gross, leaving the automaker with more than $2 billion in cash proceeds. That makes it the biggest stock offering ever by a U.S. company - though only the ninth-largest globally. Proceeds from the offering are needed to help GM make up a $4.5 billion loss in 1991. BANK CD YIELDS DOWN: Bank certificate of deposit yields fell in the week ending Wednesday, according to Bank Rate Monitor. Average yields: six-month, 3.76%, vs. 3.79%; one-year, 4.07%, vs. 4.10%; 2 1:2-year, 5.01%, vs. 5.02%; five-year, 6.18%, vs. 6.22%. PRICES UP IN QUIET TRADING: Crude oil futures gained slightly on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday in quiet trading as the market awaits the outcome of the midyear conference in Vienna of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery rose 5 cents to $20.40 a barrel. GOLD, SILVER PRICES MIXED: Gold and silver prices were mixed Wednesday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery ended at $338.00, up 20 cents. Gold fell in London to $338.10 from $338.65. On the Comex, silver bullion settled at $4.080, up from $4.079. In London the metal eased to $4.07 from $4.09. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3393.84 after closing down 4.15 points Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.94, down 0.38. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 392.15, down 0.22. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 580.29, up 2.24. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Thursday. It opens at 0.5472 British pounds, up from 0.5439; 5.3920 French francs, up from 5.3460; 1.6032 German marks, up from 1.5911; and 129.62 Japanese yen, up from 129.05. (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: 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