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Date: Thu, 26 Nov 92 10:44:02 EST
Message-ID: <19.1992Nov26.104402@AmeriCast.com>
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 Mortgage rates fell this week. Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages
averaged 8.29 percent, down from 8.32 percent last week, the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. On one-year adjustable
rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of
5.34 percent, up from 5.32 percent last week.<Campbell Soup said
Australian regulators have given it more time to mail takeover
documents to shareholders of Arnotts, the nation's largest cookie
maker. The documents were scheduled to be in shareholders' hands
yesterday, but Campbell said the Australian Securities Commission
gave it an extension until Dec.  11.<Comptronix, a contract
manufacturer for the electronics industry, suspended its chair-
man, president and controller after finding that the executives
had improperly overstated the company's financial health.<Moody's
lowered its credit ratings for Japan's top four securities firms,
citing their declining commissions and heavy overhead. Moody's
maintained its rating of Nomura Securities' short-term debt but
lowered the rating for its long-term debt. Daiwa Securities, Nik-
ko Securities and Yamaichi Securities had short-term and long-
term credit ratings lowered.<TV Guide on Screen, a video version
of the magazine, will be test-marketed in the Denver area next
year.  Tele-Communications, the nation's biggest cable TV system
operator, plans to offer the guide, for $2 to $6 a month.<Berlitz
and Fukutake Publishing of Japan agreed to amend their merger
agreement after a weakened financial report by Berlitz. The new
plan reduces the per-share cash consideration Berlitz sharehold-
ers would receive to $19.50 from $21.62.<Unocal is selling its
140 truck stops for $180 million to a group that includes their
operators.  Institutional investors, led by the Clipper Group, a
New York limited partnership, also contributed to the deal.<Many
Japanese people believe the same system that made Japan an
economic superpower has saddled them with living standards well
below those of other industrialized nations, a government survey
showed.<END NOTESMattel said it expects to report record 1992
results, exceeding last year's earnings of $112.8 million on
sales of $1.65 billion. It predicted a record holiday selling
season, with sales of its Barbie doll exceeding $1 billion.<END
NOTESSyntex, maker of the anti-arthritis drug Naprosyn, reported
a $6.1 million loss in its first fiscal quarter, citing the costs
of closing plants and eliminating 1,600 jobs.<Wella, the German
cosmetics and hair-care conglomerate, said pretax profit climbed
by 5.5 percent in the first nine months of the year.<Gerald
Ratner, who gained unwanted publicity last year when he ridiculed
his jewelry company's products, resigned from the board of
Britain's Ratner Group.<The New York Stock Exchange< said it will
close two hours early tomorrow and on Christmas Eve. It would be
the first time the exchange has shortened trading on the day
after Thanksgiving, usually a very slow day.<<<<<02:15 11-
26C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
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