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 Wed, Jun 24 1992 Date: Wed, 24 Jun 92 05:16:10 EDT Message-ID: 06-24 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update June 24, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SEC LOOKS OUT FOR SHAREHOLDERS: The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday took giant steps toward making it easier for shareholders to find out what top executives are paid. It also moved toward corporate democracy in releasing for public comment rules that make it easier for shareholders to communicate with one another. That could lead to talks about shareholder resolutions. COMPENSATION WOULD BE UNDERSTOOD: Shareholders have to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission to communicate with more than 10 other shareholders. New SEC rules would ease the restrictions. Also, the SEC proposed Tuesday that companies annually provide a single table giving dollar values for every type of compensation for top executives, including stock options. STEEL INDUSTRY COMING BACK: Investors who think the economy eventually will roar, try investing in the battered-but-recovering steel industry. The largest steel companies have taken big hits in recent years. But as the economy rises, so do analysts' expectations. In recent weeks, several brokerage firms have been calling attention to these companies, among the last stocks to benefit from a recovery. STOCKS HAVE HAD RUN-UPS: Most steel stocks already have had strong run-ups this year and some think they're a choice for investment. Commonly touted stocks include giants USX, Bethlehem Steel and Inland Steel, as well as niche players such as Allegheny Ludlum. Steel industry bulls are focusing on the price of steel, lately inching upward, and cost reductions that have the industry poised to benefit from demand. FUEL SUPPLIER STOCK DIVES: International Recovery shares went through the floor Tuesday on earnings news, dropping 6 5:8 to $12 3:8. The New York Stock Exchange halted trading for an hour. The aviation fuel supplier and oil recycler said that first-quarter earnings will be much lower than expected - possibly 10 cents a share vs. an expected 35 cents -mainly because of higher fuel prices. PUT-CALL RATIO JUMPS: Options investors are overwhelmingly bearish, commonly regarded as healthy for the stock market. A typical ration on the Standard & Poor's 100 index is 70 puts for every 100 calls. Put options let investors sell stock at a preset price before a given date. Call options let stock be sold that way. And last week, puts on the index outnumbered calls 111 to 100, a bet for prices to drop. MORGAN KEEGAN SAYS BUY LITTON: Morgan Keegan recommends buying stock in Litton Industries (LIT), whose businesses include natural resources exploration services. The brokerage says the stock is undervalued because Litton is valued as a conglomerate despite LIT's strong growth prospects. Best prospects are in the three-dimensional seismic survey business, where it is the leader, Morgan says. BANK SHARES READY FOR TRADING: Trading in shares of Southwest Federal Savings is expected to begin Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EDT, OTC trader Randi Mason told Bloomberg Business News Tuesday. The savings bank sold 2.8 million shares at $10 each, all to Southwest depositors, Mason said, so Southwest did not need a community offering. Southwest Bancshares Inc. is the holding company and will trade under the symbol SWBI. SEC FILES INSIDER-TRADING SUIT: The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday filed a civil suit against Swiss lawyer Kurt Naegeli, alleging insider trading of Combustion Engineering stock. The SEC said Naegeli participated in a scheme that raised $2.59 million on knowledge that a Swedish-Swiss company proposed to acquire Combustion Engineering. The commission alleged that Naegeli helped in improper purchases. DISCHARGE NEWS MAKES STOCK DIVE: AES stock plummeted 9 1:2 to $17 Tuesday. The power company said it had discovered that some employees at the Shady Point Plant in Oklahoma had doctored water discharge samples January through April 1992 to avoid reporting pollution violations. The company said it does not believe there would be "material:financial impact from this matter." CENTERIOR EXTENDS BUYBACK: Centerior Energy Corp. Tuesday said it extended a 1.5-million-share common stock buyback program two years. The deadline now is June 30, 1994. About 130,000 shares have been purchased under the program begun last July 23. The utility company said that the buyback is aimed at enhancing investor value and improving future per-share earnings. AT&T INCHES HIGHER: AT&T stock was fractionally higher Tuesday on buys before Wednesday's dividend announcement. AT&T is the most actively traded stock on the U.S. composite, with more than 6.6 million shares changing hands. Freddie Mac was the next most actively traded, on reports that the Senate will resume reviewing a bill aimed at enhancing financial soundness of government-sponsored agencies. STOCKS HALT SLIDE, BARELY: Stocks edged up Tuesday as investors sought bargains in a weak market. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.82 points to 3285.62. Broader indexes also gained. Gainers beat losers 1,011 to 721 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 191 million shares. Large investors buying stocks beaten down the past few weeks accounted for much of the trading. GOLD UP, SILVER MIXED: Gold advanced worldwide but silver slipped Tuesday. On the Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $344.50 a troy ounce, up 80 cents. Republic National Bank said gold added 90 to $344.10. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.030, down from $4.035. In London the metal slipped to $4.04 from $4.05. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3285.62 after closing up 4.82 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 221.99, up 0.43. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 376.74, down 1.12. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 553.36, up 3.63. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Wednesday. It opens at 0.5362 British pounds, down from 0.5373; 5.2540 French francs, down from 5.2750; 1.5635 German marks, down from 1.5667; and 127.07 Japanese yen, down from 127.10. (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. Personal Investing Editor: Beth Mann. (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