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 Mon, Feb 17 1992 Date: Mon, 17 Feb 92 06:46:35 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Feb. 17, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DOWN: Industrial production fell 0.9% in January, the biggest slowdown in 11 months, the Federal Reserve said. Also, December's production report was revised to a 0.4% drop, steeper than the 0.2% decline first reported. Factory use fell to an 8 1:2-year low, with plants running at just 78% of capacity. Factory use was 78.8% in December. Production was down in nearly every industry. BUSINESS INVENTORIES INCREASE: The Commerce Department said business inventories posted their fourth straight monthly rise in December. Stocks of unsold goods rose 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted $817.4 billion. Some economists said January's cutback in production reflected attempts to reduce inventories. INFLATION REMAINS LOW: Wholesale prices - led by food and energy prices - fell 0.3% in January, the biggest drop in 10 months, the Labor Department said. Excluding volatile energy and food prices, the producer price index rose 0.3%. Analysts believe the consumer price index for January, due Wednesday, also will show low inflation. Despite low inflation, analysts do not expect the Fed to cut interest rates soon. SLIGHT GAIN IN CONFIDENCE: Consumer confidence rose slightly in early February, but still remained low, according to a University of Michigan report. The university's index of consumer confidence rose to 68.1 the first 10 days of February from 67.5 in January. The index had risen to 83 in September but has been in the mid-60s since November. Paying subscribers to the study reported the results. PRIMARY COULD HURT MARKET: At least one investment analyst says the outcome of the Republican primary in New Hampshire Tuesday could have a negative impact on the stock market. Frank Burgess, president of Madison Investment Advisors in Madison, Wis. thinks if Pat Buchanan gets 40% of the vote, the Dow Jones industrial average will drop 15% the next four to six weeks due to lack of confidence in President Bush. DOW GAINS FOR WEEK: Auto stocks rolled up strong gains Friday, but the rest of the market drifted in the grip of interest-rate worries. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials slipped .68 to 3245.97, finishing the week with a net gain of 20.57 points. The Big Three car makers' stocks rose for a second straight session. General Motors rose 1 3:8 to $38; Chrysler 1 1:4 to $16 3:8, and Ford 1 7:8 to 37 1:8. LESS TIME BETWEEN JOBS: An encouraging sign on the unemployment front is that job searches for unemployed workers are running between 7.2 months and 7.9 months, down from 8.2 months last fall, says William Morin, chairman of outplacement firm Drake Beam Morin. "It's getting a little better," says Morin. "But it's tough to say there's a recovery." In good times searches take three or four months. MORTGAGE RATES GAIN: Fixed mortgage rates rose last week for the first time in two weeks, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said. Thirty-year mortgages averaged 8.73%, up from 8.67% the week before. One-year adjustable mortgage rates averaged 5.78%, down from 5.87% the week before. BONDS MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN CDS: So-called penalty rates on Series EE U.S. Savings Bonds are becoming more attractive in light of sinking yields on certificates of deposit. After six months - the shortest period of time you must hold a Savings Bond - the Series EE Bond's yield is 4.16%, vs. 3.9% on average for a six-month CD. For one year, the bond rate is 4.27%, vs. 4.1% for a one-year CD. STUDY SHOWS WORKERS OVERWORKED: A study by the Economic Policy Institute out Sunday finds the average U.S. worker is overworked. Economists Juliet Schor and Laura Leete-Guy, authors of the study, say: U.S. men and women worked an average 158 hours more in 1989 than workers 20 years earlier. Fully employed women worked 287 more hours each year than in 1969 - men, 72. OIL PRICES DOWN: Oil prices settled lower in choppy trading Friday. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in March, which jumped 41 cents a barrel, fell 22 cents to settle at $19.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, North Sea Brent Blend crude oil for delivery in March settled at $18.43 per barrel, off 7 cents, at the International Petroleum Exchange. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Monday at 3245.97 after closing down 0.68 Friday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.16, down 0.57. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 414.27, down 1.00. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 636.43, down 2.67. 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. 08:0002170000D0217 LEGA-R G OSHA-to-study-workplace-smoking....... A D0217 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