Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.invest From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: invest Thu, Jun 18 1992 Date: Thu, 18 Jun 92 05:09:16 EDT Message-ID: 06-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update June 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STOCKS BROADLY LOWER AGAIN: Mounting worries about the outlook for Federal Reserve credit policy drove stocks lower Wednesday, extending the slide that began early last week. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials fell 41.73 points to 3,287.76, bringing its net loss over the past seven sessions to 116.37 points. Losing stocks swamped winners 1,426 to 379 on the New York Stock Exchange. SELLING ABROAD BLAMED FOR LOSS: Some traders blamed Wednesday's drop in the stock market to selling on foreign exchanges. The Tokyo stock exchange fell 508 points, or 3%, to 16,446. European stock markets also sagged. But analysts say what really unnerved U.S. investors was the Mexican stock market, which plunged 5.9%. Further selling in foreign markets could cause more trouble for U.S. stocks. TYCO HAS SECOND STRAIGHT DROP: Word from analysts that there's nothing fundamentally wrong at Tyco Toys did little to keep the toymaker's shares from falling for the second straight day. Wednesday, the stock fell 2 to $16. Tuesday, shares fell 2 to $18. Rumors that influential money manager Ken Heebner was a big seller of Tyco both days continued to circulate, analysts say. Heebner declined to comment. HEALTH-CARE COMPANIES SLAMMED: Shares of Medical Care International and Critical Care America took a pounding Wednesday after announcing they would merge. Medical Care fell 6 1:2 at $48 1:2, while Critical Care dropped 3 7:8 at $35 3:8. Todd Richter of Dean Witter Reynolds says there are no near-term benefits to the deal. He advises laying low until the tax-free stock-pooling merger is complete in a few months. AMERICAN SEES LOSS: AMR, parent of American Airlines, says it "almost certainly" will lose money the second quarter - a peak travel time. "If you don't make money in the second quarter, things are really bad," says Lee Howard of Airline Economics. Analysts expect AMR to lose at least 20 cents a share the second quarter, vs. net gains of 15 cents a share a year ago. AMR fell 1 1:8 Wednesday to $62 5:8. SEC TO CONSIDER PROXY PROPOSAL: The Securities and Exchange Commission will meet Tuesday to consider proposals designed to make it easier for people to find information on executive pay in proxy reports. The changes also would make it easier for shareholders to communicate with one another about a company. PIER 1 PROFIT DROPS: Pier 1 Imports Inc. reported its first-quarter profits fell 30% due to weak sales growth in California and the Northeast. The retailer of home furnishings reported earnings of $8.1 million, or 22 cents a share, in the three months ended May 30, down from $11.6 million, or 31 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Sales rose to $152.1 million from $144.9 million. FIDELITY FUND REOPENED: Fidelity's Low-Priced Stock Fund is open again to new investments. The fund, which doubled in size to $750 million in assets Dec. 31 through March 31, stopped taking new cash from March 6 through May 29. The no-load fund will pick up a 3% sales charge in January. The fund has gained 11.4% this year, vs. a loss of 2.2% for the average stock fund. Minimum initial investment is $2,500. NO-FRILLS FUNDS OFFERED: Dreyfus has rolled out two no-frills money-market funds, called BASIC funds. Lowering fund expenses raises yields, Dreyfus says - a big consideration when the average money fund yields 3.5%. Dreyfus guarantees that total expenses won't exceed 0.45% of fund assets. Call 1-800-645-6561. GOLD, SILVER MOSTLY LOWER: Gold prices were mostly lower Wednesday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $341.20 a troy ounce, off $1.00 from Tuesday. Republic National Bank said gold fell 65 cents a troy ounce to $341.35. Gold rose in London but fell in Zurich. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.084 a troy ounce, down from $4.12. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3287.76 after closing down 41.73 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 221.45, down 3.27. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 379.74, down 6.38. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 553.24, down 10.83. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Thursday. It opens at 0.5394 British pounds, up from 0.5366; 5.3110 French francs, up from 5.2665; 1.5767 German marks, up from 1.5645; and 127.27 Japanese yen, up from 126.56. (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. Personal Investing Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) 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