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, Jul 9 1992 Date: Thu, 9 Jul 92 05:13:14 EDT Message-ID: 07-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update July 9, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WORRIED MARKET FINISHES LOWER: Stocks finished slightly lower Wednesday amid continued concern about corporate earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.89 points to 3293.28. Broader indexes were up a bit. Losers beat winners 897 to 834 on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts said traders were looking ahead uneasily to corporate earnings reports for the second quarter, due over the next few weeks. EXPERTS MIXED ON MARKET: Derby Securities trader Todd Savastano says he thinks the market is bottoming out. He has seen a pattern of sell-offs followed by short rallies, which suggests to him that investors do not perceive stocks to be overvalued. Others are bearish. The market has made too many assumptions about the strength of the economic recovery, says Ricky Harrington, strategist at Marion Bass Securities. BUSINESS FAILURES GROW: There have been 42,118 business failures this year, 16% more than the same period last year, Dun & Bradstreet says. Though the overall economy has begun to improve modestly, growth has come too late for many financially troubled companies, says Joseph Duncan, vice president at Dun & Bradstreet. The sharpest increase in bankruptcies came in the mid-Atlantic states, up 40%. MORE JOBS CUTS ANNOUNCED: More signs of a recovery in critical condition came Wednesday with the announcement of 9,600 job cuts by two giant U.S. oil companies. Amoco says it will eliminate 8,500 jobs by the end of next year. Los Angeles-based Unocal announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs over five years. "It's more of the constant drumbeat of restructuring," says economist Robert Dederick of Northern Trust. CONSUMER DEBT FALLS: Consumer installment debt - credit-card debt, personal loans and auto loans - fell $2.4 billion in May, a seasonally adjusted annual drop of 4%, according to figures released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve. That's the fourth straight monthly decline, following a $3.6 billion plunge in April - the steepest drop in 12 years. Total consumer debt stands at $721.4 billion. CREDIT CARD DEBT ADVANCES: While consumer debt had its steepest drop in 12 years in May, the news isn't as good as it looks. Credit-card debt increased $155 million in May, to $246.1 billion. In April, credit-card debt soared $646 million. What fell: Auto loans, down $1.7 billion to $258.7 billion. Other installment loans - the Fed's catchall category - fell $865 million to $216.7 billion. JAPAN TRADE SURPLUS GROWS: Japan's merchandise trade surplus swelled to $10.1 billion in May, nearly double the $5.5 billion surplus a year earlier. The growth was fueled by brisk exports and sluggish import demand. Economists say they don't expect the trend to ease soon because of the continued sluggishness in Japan's economy. Japan's surpluses have become a source of tension with its trading partners. CD YIELDS FALL SHARPLY: Bank certificate of deposit yields dropped sharply this week, Bank Rate Monitor says. Average yields on six-month CDs are at 3.56%, vs. 3.68% last week. One-year CD yields, 3.89%, vs. 4.03%; 2 1:2-year, 4.76%, vs. 4.91%; five-year, 5.96% vs. 6.10%. GOLD, SILVER UP: Gold and silver prices rose Wednesday. On the Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $347.60, a troy ounce, up $1.40. Republic National Bank said gold rose 80 cents to $347.00. Gold rose in London and Zurich. Silver rose in London to $3.91, up from $3.88. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $3.883 a troy ounce, up from $3.873. PRICES END MIXED: Oil prices finished mixed Wednesday, influenced largely by the results of a weekly industry supply report that showed tighter domestic inventories of crude but a glut of gasoline. Light sweet crude oil for August delivery settled at $21.41 a barrel, up 1 cent, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Wholesale unleaded regular gasoline dropped 1.38 cents a gallon to 58.53 cents. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3293.28 after closing down 1.89 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.49, up 0.34. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 379.86, down 0.40. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 557.57, up 0.16. DOLLAR OPENS MIXED OVERSEAS: The dollar opens mostly down on Thursday. It opens at 0.5189 British pounds, down from 0.5232; 5.0225 French francs, down from 5.0320; 1.4908 German marks, down from 1.4947; and 124.66 Japanese yen, up from 124.30. (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: William Snoddy. (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