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 Mon, Sep 28 1992 Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 04:52:55 EDT Message-ID: 09-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update Sept. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FIVE KEY REPORTS DUE THIS WEEK: This could be the most important week between now and the Nov. 3 election for voters who believe the economy is the campaign's crucial issue. Five major economic reports are due this week. And it's unlikely there will be much good news in them. Potentially hottest are Friday's reports, the last pre-election reports on unemployment. It will be "just awful," says one economist. UNEMPLOYMENT REPORT OUT FRIDAY: Economists expect the Labor Department to say in a report out Friday that the jobless rate rose to 7.7% this month from 7.6% last month. A bad jobs report might spur the Federal Reserve to push down interest rates, says Norwest economist Sung Won Sohn says. Another stab: The average fixed-rate mortgage popped up above 8%. But economists expect the uptick to stop there. ANDREW BLOWS AWAY EARNINGS: Hurricane Andrew hurt Americans' total personal income in August, wiping out what would have been a healthy increase, the government said Friday. Two other reports on the month - one showing a small but unexpected decline in factory orders for durable goods and the other a 3.2% drop in existing home sales - added to economic gloom and President Bush's political troubles. INCOME DROP WORST IN 19 MONTHS: Personal income plunged 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted rate of $5.03 trillion, the worst drop in 19 months, the Commerce Department said Friday. If not for Hurricane Andrew, income would have increased 0.7%, the best in six months. Some economists were cheered by the income report, but others said the economic disruption caused by the hurricane shouldn't be ignored. GERMANY, FRANCE PLAN JOINT BANK: Germany and France have plans to set up a joint central bank should a broader European monetary union fail, Der Speigel said in its edition to be published Sept. 28. A German government spokesman said the report was "freely invented and devoid of truth." The news weekly said German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President Francois Mitterrand agreed on setting up the monetary institute. COMMERCIAL LOANS RISE: The Federal Reserve System said Friday that commercial and industrial loans rose to $275.453 billion the week ending Sept. 16. The total doesn't include $1.599 billion of bankers' acceptances and commercial paper. KOHL VOWS TO UPHOLD MAASTRICHT: German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and four other European Community leaders vowed to uphold the Maastricht Treaty on closer European unity despite recent turmoil surrounding its ratification. Kohl and the prime ministers of The Nethelands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Greece called on all 12 EC-member countries to ratify the treaty by the end of the year. BOOK VALUE RELATES TO STOCK: Financial experts say that book value as it relates to stock analysis refers to a company's assets minus liabilities, divided by the number of shares of common stock. Think of it as a way to determine what the company, not the stock, is worth. If a company's stock is trading below its book value, some investors would say the stock is undervalued. JAPANESE BANKS MAY EASE RULES: Japan's Daily Yomiuri newspaper Sunday reported that Japan's Ministry of Finance might not invoke a regulation imposed in January to limit loans from financial institutions to real estate-related companies. The ministry is considering a relaxation of the real estate lending restrictions to make it easier for government bodies to purchase land for future public works projects. DOW DOWN 76 POINTS FOR WEEK: The Dow Jones industrial average slid 37.55 points to 3250.32 Friday, dragging the Dow down 76.73 points for the week. The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds tumbled to 7.36% from 7.41%. The discount rate on three-month T-bills plunged to 2.80% from 2.89%. The dollar closed lower against most major currencies. On the N.Y. Merc.: Platinum fell $1.50 to $372.20 an ounce. GOLD UP; SILVER MIXED: Gold prices rose slightly Friday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, current gold bullion settled at $349.30 a troy ounce, up 10 cents from Thursday. Republic National Bank of New York quoted $349.30 a troy ounce, up 20 cents. Silver bullion rose in London to $3.82 a troy ounce, up from $3.81 bid Thursday. On the Comex, current silver bullion was at $3.79 a troy ounce, down from $3.814. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3250.32 Monday after closing down 37.55 Friday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 227.73, down 2.25. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 378.49, down 2.45. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 577.20, down 8.73. 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 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