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 Tue, Jun 16 1992 Date: Tue, 16 Jun 92 05:20:20 EDT Message-ID: 06-16 0000 DECISIONLINE: Banking & Economy USA TODAY Update June 16, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOW EDGES HIGHER: The summer doldrums set in early on Wall Street as stocks barely moved Monday in slow trading. The Dow Jones industrial average inched up 0.54 points to 3354.90 after sagging in early trading. Other indexes also were little-changed. Losing stocks beat winners 932 to 742 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 164 million shares. STOCK MARKET CALLED HO-HUM: Investors see little reason to push stocks higher or lower, analysts say. James Andrews, trader at Janney Montgomery Scott, says there is an absence of solid reason for investors to act in one direction or the other. "There's no good news for people to get excited about and no bad news to get worried about," he said. "It's a ho-hum market." CAR, TRUCK SALES HIGHER: Car and light-truck sales by five major automakers in the USA maintained a late-spring rally, rising 2% in early June. Ford sales rose 7.8% June 1-10 while GM's fell 2.6%. Chrysler doesn't report 10-day sales, but Ward's Automotive Reports estimates sales rose 6.5%, boosted by strong truck sales. Toyota edged up 2% and Honda fell 2.5%. U.S. FIRMS TURN TO FOREIGN BANKS: Foreign banks made nearly half of all loans to U.S. corporations last year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Monday. The Fed said foreign banks made 45% of loans to U.S. companies last year, much higher than expected. Behind the unexpected increase: The Fed counted previously unreported loans by foreign banks to U.S. companies operating abroad, says American Banker. STOCK INCOME NOT TAXABLE: The Supreme Court Monday said states generally can't tax out-of-state businesses for income they make from selling stock in other companies. The justices voted 5-4 against New Jersey's efforts to collect $1.8 million in taxes from Bendix Corp. after Bendix sold stock it owned in two other companies. Bendix is now a unit of Allied Signal Inc. BANKRUPTCY FILINGS UP: A record 252,000 individuals and businesses filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors the first quarter, the American Bankruptcy Institute said Monday. Bankruptcy courts are "dangerously overloaded," says ABI President Sam Gerdano. The biggest increase was in Delaware, where the number of cases filed rose 38.5%. DISCOUNT RATE DOWN: The Treasury Department sold $11.7 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.66%, down from 3.71% last week. Another $11.7 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.75%, vs. 3.83% last week. OIL PRICES HIGHER: Oil prices rose slightly Monday in slow trading. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, the price of light sweet crude for July delivery rose 6 cents a barrel to settle at $22.36, after falling 5 cents a barrel. A report of slightly increased May output by OPEC had no impact on trading. GOLD MIXED, SILVER UP: Gold prices were mixed and silver prices were up slightly Monday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $343.10 a troy ounce, up 20 cents. Republic National Bank said gold held steady at $342.50. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.132 a troy ounce, up 1.1 cents. In London, silver rose to $4.10, from $4.07. FOREIGN MARKETS LOWER: Stocks closed lower on foreign markets Monday. Fading hopes for easier credit dampened sentiment and left Tokyo stocks sharply lower and the Nikkei average under 17,000 for the first time since April 22. A fall in share prices of major chemical and pharmaceutical firms left Frankfurt stocks lower. London stocks closed lower. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3354.90 after closing up 0.54 Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.62, up 0.11. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 388.78, down 2.54. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 569.01, down 0.51. DOLLAR OPENS MIXED OVERSEAS: The dollar opens mixed on Tuesday. It opens at 0.5404 British pounds, down from 0.5409; 5.3025 French francs, down from 5.3130; 1.5750 German marks, down from 1.5780; and 127.02 Japanese yen, up from 126.60. (As of 3 p.m. Monday. 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: Jason P. Smith. (919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution 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