Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Mon, Jun 29 1992 Date: Mon, 29 Jun 92 05:27:36 EDT Message-ID: 06-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update June 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CONSUMERS HAVE MORE CASH: U.S wallets were a little fatter in May. The Commerce Department says consumers had more cash last month - the fourth consecutive monthly rise. Incomes rose 0.3%, respresenting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of slightly more than $5 trillion. INVESTORS LIKE WRAP ACCOUNTS: Investors are flocking to wrap accounts. The accounts offer investors who have a minimum of $100,000 a chance to break from the traditional stockbroker-client relationship. With a wrap account, the broker acts as an adviser who helps the client pinpoint investment goals and select a private money manager. The money manager then picks and trades the investments, not the broker. (For more, see special Wrap package below.) CIGARETTE PRICES ON THE RISE: The number of cigarettes sold in the U.S. has dropped each year since 1981, but tobacco companies continue to wring big profits from sales, mainly by raising prices. In 1961, the average cost of a name-brand pack of cigarettes was 27 cents. That rose to 40 cents in 1971. In 1981, the average cost was 70 cents. Last year, the average cost of a pack of cigarettes was $1.82. BABY-SELLING BUSINESS GETS BLOW: The New York Assembly passed a bill Friday outlawing surrogate mother contracts. The bill, passed by the Senate Thursday, would outlaw payments to surrogates mothers, effectively stamping out a burgeoning baby-selling business in the city. The Baby M case drew national attention. LOCAL CABLE NEWS GETS NEW ENTRY: The latest entry in the local cable news channel field, Time Warner's New York 1 News, premieres in September. New York 1 News joins Washington's NewsChannel 8, California's Orange County News Channel, the New England News Channel and Long Island's News 12 in providing local news. HAND CAMS USED MORE: One difference for the Time Warner entry in the local cable news field is that its reporters will double as camera men and women, using 8mm camcorders. It'll save money, compared with the traditional three-person news crew. But New York 1 News could just be the beginning. "The super 8 cameras are going to be the future of a lot of what you see on the air," says ABC's Ted Koppel. WOMEN RECEIVE MOST MEDICAID: Women - after child-bearing years - receive nearly twice as much public health care as men. That's according to the U.S Census Bureau. It finds slightly more than three million women older than 45 receive public health care in the form of Medicaid. By comparison, only about 1.5 million men do the same. MOST S&LS IMPROVED LAST YEAR: The financial health of most savings and loans improved last year, according to an analysis by USA TODAY of the nation's 2,188 S&Ls at the end of last year. Most built capital, reduced problem loans and reported improved earnings. But analysts warn that the S&L recovery is fragile - vulnerable especially to swings in interest rates. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON WRAP: RECENT POPULARITY SPARKS SURGE: Wraps were introduced in the mid-'70s. But they have only recently become very popular with investors. Account assets now total $30 billion - up 750% since 1988. Dean Witter Reynolds is opening 2,500 to 3,000 wrap accounts each quarter. Shearson Lehman, which created the wrap concept, says 17,000 investors have opened wrap accounts this year through May. BROKERS, INVESTORS IN SAME BOAT: What makes wrap accounts so attractive: They're insurance against churning - when brokers urge you to buy and sell securities just to generate fees. "It puts the broker on the same side of the table as the investor," says Bill Conrad, vice president at Rittenhouse Capital Management, a money management firm. DRAWBACK TO WRAP ACCOUNTS: Investors interested in wrap accounts can choose from a range of money managers who specialize in everything from small-company stocks to municipal bonds. When compiling the list, the broker considers a manager's record and strategy for controlling risk. But there are drawbacks. Investors cannot select just any money manager. They must choose one from a list provided by the broker. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Michele Coleman. (1-919-855-3491) 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