Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.invest,americast.usa-today.invest From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: invest Fri, Oct 9 1992 Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 04:40:11 EDT Message-ID: 10-09 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update Oct. 9-11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ONLY MICROSOFT DOES WELL: This was supposed to be a great year for personal computer software makers, thanks to Microsoft. Instead it's terrible for everyone except for Microsoft. Microsoft shares continue to soar, closing up 2 1:4 at $83 3:8 Thursday. Meanwhile, one analyst after another is slashing quarterly earnings estimates for Microsoft's competitors. Borland fell 3 1:8 Thursday to settle at $27 5:8. LOTUS NEAR YEAR'S LOW: Last year, most PC companies bragged about how well they would do when they started shipping programs based on Microsoft's best-selling Windows software. Lotus closed Thursday at $16 3:4, up 1:2 but near its 52-week low. Symantec closed down 1:2 at $6 1:8 after warning analysts of a second-quarter operating loss. BUY ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES: Sunday marks the two-year anniversary of one of the great buying opportunities the stock market has offered in a long time. Oct. 11, 1990 was the end of a three-month bear market that took 21% off the Dow Jones industrial average. It hit bottom with a thud, falling 78, 38, and 43 points respectively Oct. 9, 10, 11. From that low point - 2365.10 - the Dow has soared 44% to its peak in June. BIOTECH MAY HAVE BOTTOMED: Biotechnology stocks are down and out. But fund managers at Oppenheimer Global Biotech think the worst is over - and so do a lot of investors, it seems. For the first time in a year, Oppenheimer began accepting money Thursday from new investors for the fund Oct. 1. In one week, investors have put in $20 million. The fund stopped taking money from new investors last October. SELL AUTO STOCKS: Anyone sitting on big gains in auto stocks may want to lock in some of that profit by selling now, advises Joseph Phillippi, auto analyst at Shearson Lehman Bros. He doesn't see a lot of risk in the stocks, but says they have probably run about as far as they can. Without a substantial pickup in demand he expects Ford to trade between $36 and $44 a share; Chrysler, $20 to $25 a share. PREPARE WITH TAX-FREE MUNIS: Get ready for President Clinton, Shearson Lehman Bros. says, noting that tax-free municipal bonds are the way to do it. In a report this week, Shearson says tax increases are all but guaranteed for high-income people under Clinton's administration. As income taxes go up, so do after-tax yields of municipal bonds. Also, Shearson says, the market has been deluged with bond issues. BUY AND BUY AGAIN: Peter Anderson of IDS Advisory is bucking common trains of thought and arguing for putting all investment money into stocks. The head of the Minneapolis investment giant sees some short-term rocky periods, but predicts "a big year-end rally that should spill over into early '93." He says investors should "buy today and buy more tomorrow." NEVER MIND COMMON WISDOM: IDS Advisory has kicked off a risky move, going on a $700 million buying binge. It wants to cut reserves in U.S. stock portfolios from big cash to no cash in the next few weeks. IDS' Peter Anderson is betting on a year-end rally on the stock market despite the strong likelihood of continued chaos in the European currencies and stock and bond markets. SAVINGS BONDS ARE POPULAR: Savers bought more than $2 billion in U.S. Savings Bonds last month, the highest September total ever. As other interest rates have fallen, savers have been drawn to savings bonds, which can guarantee 6% minimum interest. The average five-year certificate of deposit is paying 5.24%. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, savings bond purchases were $13.6 billion, 48% more than the year before. NASD SUSPENDS GRAHAM: The National Association of Securities Dealers Thursday expelled Graham Securities Corp., fined the company $250,000 and suspended the company president from the securities industry for six months. The Louisiana firm violated securities rules through the promotion and sales of funds for Prudential-Bache Securities, the NASD said. Graham and settled customer suits for $5 million. JOBLESS NEWS BOOSTS MARKET: Stocks rose Thursday amid mildly encouraging economic news. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 23.78 points to 3176.03. Broader indexes also rose. Winners beat losers 1,082 to 639 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was heavy at 205 million shares. Stocks languished in the morning but moved up in the afternoon. Jobless claims fell, adding a boost. LONG BONDS FALL: The yield on 30-year Treasury bonds fell to 7.44% from 7.48% Thursday. The discount rate on three-month Treasury bills fell to 2.78% from 2.81%. The dollar strengthened. Light sweet crude oil rose 10 cents to $21.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. GOLD MIXED, SILVER UP: Precious metals generally were up Thursday. On the Comex, gold bullion for current delivery fell $1.10 to $349.90 a troy ounce. Republic National Bank said gold fell 85 cents to $349.75. But gold rose in London to $350.75, up from $350.60. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $3.732, up from $3.723. Silver rose in London to $3.78, up from $3.75. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3176.03 Friday after closing up 23.78 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 224.62, up 1.78. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 367.01, up 0.13. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 573.88, up 4.68. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Friday. It opens at 0.5951 British pounds, up from 0.5838; 5.0190 French francs, up from 4.9060; 1.4790 German marks, up from 1.4470; and 121.50 Japanese yen, up from 120.27. (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. 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