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 23 1992 Date: Fri, 23 Oct 92 04:43:42 EDT Message-ID: 10-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update Oct. 23-25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SALOMON LOSSES SHOCK INVESTORS: Salomon shocked investors Thursday, announcing a sharp earnings drop for a period that was a boomer for other investment bankers. Salomon's third-quarter net income was $6 million, down 93% from net income of $85 million last year. On a per-share basis, after preferred-stock dividends, Salomon had a loss of 9 cents, down from income of 59 cents. Analysts had expected $1.21 earnings a share. BROKERAGE FIRM HURTS EARNINGS: Salomon Bros. was a big contributor to Salomon's bad third quarter. The brokerage's problems were in so-called proprietary trading, where Salomon makes big bets for itself on bonds, currencies and other worldwide financial derivatives. Analysts say the big earnings swings show Salomon didn't abandon risky trading following its involvement in last year's Treasury bond scandal. `CLINTON STOCKS' ARE HOT: With the election just 11 nail-biting days away, Clinton-mania is strong on Wall Street. Just about every stock market pro has a sure-fire, can't-miss idea on how to make a buck on a Clinton win. The big problem, though: Many widely touted stocks are no longer cheap, having already shot up on a potential Clinton victory. Traders will be out of "Clinton stocks" before the election. (For more, see special Clinton package below.) BUSH'S STOCK IS DOWN: If markets tell the truth then George Bush doesn't have a chance in November. Forget the stock market, which indirectly signals a Bush defeat. (Bush winners: Drug, tobacco and other shares that used to soar are lagging. While Clinton winners are rising.) The Iowa Political Stock Market says it directly: The value of a Bush share has plunged to 8 cents while Clinton gets 90 cents. FORD EXPECTS BIG LOSSES: Ford expects to report a loss of $174 million for the third quarter when it reports earnings next week, more than the $146 million loss most analysts forecast. A year earlier, Ford lost $574 million. Though U.S. auto sales are improving slightly, Ford Executive Vice President Allan Gilmour says it may take until the second half of next year to see real strength. SEARS REPORTS LOSSES: Sears Roebuck says it lost $834 million the third quarter - its first loss in nearly 60 years. Sears blamed the results on large hurricane damage claims at its Allstate insurance unit and a costly auto-repair scandal. Sears' loss came to $2.25 a share compared with net income of 67 cents a share - $229 million - a year earlier. Sears' merchandise group lost $36 million. CITICORP MAY TAKE CHARGE: Citicorp Thursday said it might incur a fourth-quarter restructuring charge. Officials of the USA's largest bank holding company did not disclose any details. Two days earlier, the company reported third-quarter net income of $116 million, or 17 cents a share, compared with a loss of $885 million, or $2.72 a year earlier. GOLD FALLS, SILVER INCHES DOWN: On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery fell $1 Thursday on the New York Commodity Exchange to $343.10 a troy ounce. Also on New York's Comex, silver bullion settled at $3.781 a troy ounce, down from Wednesday's close at $3.79. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens at 3200.88 Friday after closing up 13.78 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.10, down 0.50. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 374.51, up 1.09. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 597.12, down 0.03. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Friday. It opens at 0.6156 British pounds, down from 0.6207; 5.1110 French francs, down from 5.1350; 1.5068 German marks, down from 1.5132; and 120.70 Japanese yen, down from 121.80. (As of 3 p.m. Thursday. Source: First American Bank of New York.) SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CLINTON: FUND BOSS IS CAUTIOUS: B.J. Willingham, investment boss of Transamerica Fund Management, a Houston-based money manager with $3 billion in assets, has words of caution about stocks strengthened by a Bill Clinton presidency. "Why chase those that have run up on a fad?" He cites: Fluor, a play on infrastructure rebuilding; H&R Block, for tax revision; and bond dealer John Nuveen & Co. CLINTON MAY JUMP-START ECONOMY: Still, Willingham is not ruling out buying those stocks. "I might buy 'em, but only on weakness," he says. Stocks are holding up well in light of a Clinton win. Elaine Garzarelli of Lehman Bros. sees Clinton serving up a short-term package of fiscal stimuli that should help the economy, create jobs and pump corporate profits. She rejects the inflationary concern. ENVIRONMENTAL STOCKS LOOK GOOD: Garzarelli likes Browning-Ferris for its environmental role and others see Apple Computer as a big beneficiary. Other Clinton themes and names: Engineering - Fluor, Foster Wheeler; road rebuilding - Kasler, Granite Construction, Ingersoll-Rand; environment - Waste Management; education - National Education, Houghton Mifflin; and health maintenance organizations. (End of package.) 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Money Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Personal Investing editor: Martin Baucom. (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. 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