Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.banks,americast.usa-today.banks From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: banks Thu, Sep 10 1992 Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 05:44:18 EDT Message-ID: 09-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Sept. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GROWTH PREDICTIONS ARE SLASHED: Economists have slashed forecasts for third-quarter economic growth, an early sign of damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew and unabated layoffs. Blue Chip Economic Indicators reports Thursday that the average forecasts among 52 economists is for a 2.1% annual growth rate for gross domestic product. That's down from 2.6% from the late July-early August survey. PREDICTION WAY DOWN FROM MARCH: Blue Chip Economic Indicators' is also down from 3.3% predicted for the quarter back in March. The Commerce Department will release its third-quarter GDP report Oct. 27, one week before the Nov. 3 election. ECONOMISTS LEAN TOWARD CLINTON: Economists are starting to favor Bill Clinton as the victor in this year's presidential race, a stunning shift. A survey from Blue Chip Economic Indicators shows that of 52 economists surveyed in late August and early September, 53% say the Democratic candidate will win; 22% say President Bush. In April, 84% of the economists believed Bush would be re-elected. CONFIDENCE TAKES A DIVE: Business executives' optimism about the economy has eroded in the last three months, a survey by the Conference Board said Wednesday. The board's Business Confidence Index was 62, down 8 points from the previous three months. A score higher than 50 indicates a surplus of positive responses. BANK PROFITS SET RECORD: Profits at commercial banks soared to a record high this spring, pushed by the lowest deposit rates in generations, the government said Wednesday. The 11,685 banks in the USA earned $7.9 billion in the April-June quarter, breaking the previous record of $7.6 billion set in the first quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. ANNUAL RECORD COULD FALL: The banking industry appears on track to break the annual earnings record of $24.9 billion, set in 1988, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday. Banks earned $7.9 billion in the April-June quarter. The FDIC attributed the improvement to fewer bad loans and to an increase in the difference between what banks pay on deposits and what they earn from investments. BANK OF BOSTON TO GET MULTIBANK: Bank of Boston Wednesday said it will acquire Multibank Financial, based in Dedham, Mass., in a $258 million stock swap. Bank of Boston will exchange 1.125 shares for each of Multibank's 9.2 million shares outstanding. If Bank of Boston's stock falls below $16 before closing, Multibank can cancel the agreement. Multibank also operates a trust unit with $1.3 billion. SEC PROBES DERIVATIVES USE: The Securities and Exchange commission says it's investigating the use of derivative products by mutual funds. In an interview with Global Investment Technology out this week, SEC spokesperson Marianne Smythe says the SEC is "interested in seeing what is going on in that area ... (we are) not too thrilled with the idea of those companies becoming heavily involved in (derivatives)." SEC TO MOVE SLOWLY ON PROBE: The Securities and Exchange Commission says it will move slowly on any regulatory action in its investigation of mutual funds using derivative products. Derivatives are a wide family of financial contracts used to transfer market risk between institutions. INTUIT IS OFFERING CREDIT CARD: A software company is getting into the credit-card business. Intuit of Menlo Park, Calif., will market a credit card along with Quicken 6.0, the latest version of Intuit's personal finance software for IBM personal computers. The company is joining forces with Visa and Primerica Bank to offer a card with a 14.75% interest rate and no annual fee. ARGENTINA TO TOUGHEN PUNISHMENT: Argentina's securities commission plans to beef up its rules against insider trading by dramatically increasing fines and broadening the definition of illegal activities, government officials told Bloomberg Business News Wednesday. The Comision Nacional de Valores will submit a bill this week raising the maximum fine to $5 million or five times the funds generated. TREASURY RESULTS ARE UP: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.80 points to 3271.39 Wednesday. The NASDAQ composite index climbed 3.72 points to 574.89. The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds rose to 7.23% from 7.22%. The discount rate on three-month T-bills rose to 2.91% from 2.90%. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum was up 20 cents to $361.90. GOLD DOWN; SILVER MIXED: Gold prices fell Wednesday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $342.20, down from $342.50. Republic National Bank quoted a price of $342.00, down from $342.10. In London, gold rose to $342.65 from $342.45 and silver bullion rose to $3.74 from $3.73. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $3.709, down from $3.711. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3271.39 Thursday after closing up 10.80 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 229.10, up 0.73. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 382.82, down 0.54. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 574.89, up 3.72. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Thursday. It opens at 0.5053 British pounds, up from 0.4986; 4.8055 French francs, up from 4.7405; 1.4063 German marks, up from 1.3922; and 122.92 Japanese yen, up from 122.75. (As of 3 p.m. Tuesday. 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: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY downdate (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