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 Fri, Jul 31 1992 Date: Fri, 31 Jul 92 04:32:20 EDT Message-ID: 07-31 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update July 31-Aug. 2, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network MUTUAL FRENZY BEGINS TO EASE: Like Ol' Man River, that ol' mutual fund industry just keeps on rolling. Last month, $14.3 billion flowed into stock and bond funds, the Investment Company Institute reported Thursday. But the inflow to stock funds has eased somewhat, while the surge to bond funds grows. In the first half, stock and bond fund purchases totaled $89.2 billion, close to last year's $106.4 billion. INVESTORS CHEER IMPERIAL: Imperial Chemical's American depository receipts surged as investors shrugged off its poor earnings and cheered tentative plans to create a separate company. The British company's ADRs surged 5 5:8 to close at $89 3:4 Thursday in active trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The company would consist of Imperial Chemical's fastest-growing units. ROSS STORES SHARES CLIMB BACK: Shares of Ross Stores are recovering. Concerns about the California economy have hammered the stock most of the year, driving it from its high of $23 in February to as low as $10 7:8 in July. But shares are starting to climb. Ross Stores rose 1 3:4 to close at $13 7:8 Thursday, on the recommendation of C.J. Lawrence analyst Jeff Edelman. UAL COMPLETES BIG THREE LOSSES: United Airlines parent UAL Corp. Thursday became the third of the Big Three airlines to report a loss for the latest quarter. The company blamed the recession and fare wars. UAL reported a second-quarter loss of $95.1 million, or $3.94 a share, against net income of $52.7 million, or $2.23 a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose to $3.14 billion from $2.95 billion. AMR, DELTA LOST MONEY: A second-quarter, $95.1-million loss reported Thursday by United parent UAL followed a report from American Airlines parent AMR Corp. of a loss of $166 million in the second quarter, compared with year-earlier net of $10 million. Delta reported fourth-quarter loss of $180.2 million last week, compared with net of $19.2 million in the same quarter the year before. PHILIP MORRIS TOPS STOCK PICKS: When USA TODAY asked 120 money managers to name their 10 favorite stocks, the 1,200 picks were spread among just 697 of the more than 5,000 stocks actively traded in the USA. The champion: Philip Morris, with 26 votes. Four of the top vote-getters were drug company stocks. Other winners: dependable stocks such as Coca-Cola and familiar names, like Ford. BOEING CONSIDERED A GOOD BET: Despite the recent troubles of the airline industry, plenty of money managers think Boeing is a top bet for long-term investors. The jetmaker won 11 votes - sixth place - in USA TODAY's survey of money managers. "It's very cheap," says money manager Heiko Thieme. He says the stock is trading at its lowest price-to-earnings ration in five years, eight times its earnings per share. BOEING'S P-TO-E OF 8 VS. S&P 25: Boeing's price-to-earnings ration of eight times its earnings per share in the past 12 months compares to the Standard & Poor's 500 index P-to-E ratio of 25. Money manager Heiko Thieme and other experts expect the stock to excel at the first hint of an airline industry recovery and reward investors who stepped in when the outlook was murky. MAGAZINE SAYS TRADE RING FOUND: Businessweek says it has uncovered an insider trading ring that could be the biggest since since Ivan Boesky pleaded guilty in 1986. At the center of the scandal, detailed in the magazine's Aug. 10 issue, is the now-defunct Wall Street trading firm of Frost and Sullivan Holding Corp. Some Frost and Sullivan investments are being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission. M2 FALLS: A broad measure of the money supply fell the week ended July 20, the Federal Reserve says. M2 dropped $2.4 billion to $3.45 trillion. M2 is cash, deposits in checking and savings accounts and money market mutual funds. Weak growth is considered a drag on the economy. RALLY SLOWS; STOCKS EDGE UP: Stocks edged up Thursday as this week's rally cooled off. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 12.70 points to 3391.89. Broader indexes hit records. Winners beat losers 1,025 to 730 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was moderate at 193 million shares. Investors continued a buying spree that began Tuesday and has pushed the Dow industrial average up 110 points. GOLD, SILVER MIXED: Gold prices hardly budged, while silver was mixed. On the Commodity Exchange, bullion for current delivery fetched $356.50, unchanged. At Republic National Bank, the price was $356.70, up 30 cents. Gold fell in London to $356.55 from $357.20. Silver bullion fell in London to $3.92, down from $3.93, and on the Comex, silver for current delivery fetched $3.921, up 2.9 cents. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3391.89 after closing up 12.70 points Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 232.89, up 0.94. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 387.10, up 1.16. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 578.80, up 1.31. DOLLAR OPENS MIXED OVERSEAS: The dollar opens mixed on Friday. It opens at 0.5215 British pounds, up from 0.5208; 5.0260 French francs, up from 5.0045; 1.4835 German marks, up from 1.4815; and 127.63 Japanese yen, down from 127.77. (As of 3 p.m. Thursday. 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 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