Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.invest From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: invest Wed, Mar 25 1992 Date: Wed, 25 Mar 92 05:43:34 EST Message-ID: 03-25 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update March 25, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network INSIDER SELLING SPELLS TROUBLE: Executives at some of the USA's most successful computer companies may be signaling that now's the time to get out of their stocks - and maybe stocks in general. Since November, many computer stocks have jumped 60% to 70%. That could be why so many high-tech company insiders are selling. Broad selling by insiders in an industry often is followed by a drop in the industry's stocks. (For more, see special Sell package below.) STOCKS LOWER ON AUTO NEWS: Stocks fell Tuesday on news that the fledgling rebound in the auto industry took a turn for the worse in mid-March, when sales of North American-made cars and trucks fell 2.7%. The sales figures renewed concerns about the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 11.18 points to 3260.96. Other market indexes also slumped. Falling stocks beat winners 1,001 to 740 on the NYSE. AUTOMAKERS' SHARES FALL: News of weak mid-March auto sales moved carmaker stocks. Ford sales rose 2%, while GM dropped 9%. Chrysler doesn't report 10-day sales but Ward's Automotive Reports estimates its sales were flat. News of the weak results sent shares of the Big Three down: Ford slipped 1 to $39, GM dropped 1 1:4 to $37 3:8 and Chrysler lost 1:2 to $17 3:8. Toyota's sales soared 32% and Honda's sales fell 12%. BORLAND TAKES TWO HITS: Software maker Borland International was badly bruised Tuesday when giant Microsoft muscled into Borland's best market. And Borland's copyright battle with Lotus Development headed for a second round. Both announcements were big negatives for Borland. Its stock fell 7 1:4, or 10.3%, to $63, collapsing under the prospect of increased competition and a lingering legal challenge. MICROSOFT SHARES RISE: Microsoft said Tuesday that it would buy Fox Software for 1.36 million shares of Microsoft, worth $173 million at Tuesday's close of $127 1:2, down 1. That will let Microsoft poke its head into the market for personal-computer database software for the first time. Borland's dBASE program, picked up when Borland acquired Ashton-Tate, currently dominates the market. KMART TO SPLIT STOCK: Kmart is bringing its stock price down to blue-light-special levels. The company announced a two-for-one stock split. Shares of the nation's second-largest retailer traded as high as $55 Tuesday, closing at $53 7:8, up 3:8. Kmart's board also increased its quarterly dividend 4.5%, to 46 cents. Fourth-quarter earnings were better than expected - $2.11 per share, up 5%. S&P LIKES ST. PAUL: Standard & Poor's Corp.'s Outlook newsletter recommends stock in St. Paul, a major provider of property and casualty insurance. Although St. Paul's earnings will dip with overall results in the P:C-insurance industry this year, the company's long-term prospects remain bright, the newsletter says. The newsletter also notes that SPK's dividend, now yielding 3.9% a year, is secure. NOW EASIER TO BUY NISSAN: Nissan stock is easier for U.S. investors to buy. Nissan and Morgan Guaranty Trust are offering American depository receipts on the over-the-counter market, each worth two shares of Nissan stock now traded in Tokyo. GOLD, SILVER UP A BIT: Gold was quoted at $339.60 a troy ounce on the Commodity Exchange Tuesday, up $1.40. Republic National Bank quoted a price of $339.50, up $1.25. The metal fell in London and Zurich. Silver on the Comex was quoted at $4.088 a troy ounce, up slightly from $4.087. Silver fell in London to a late bid price of $4.10 a troy ounce, from $4.12. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SELL: PRECEDENT SET IN 1990: In 1990, an early-summer drop in high-tech stocks followed heavy selling by insiders in January, February and March. The rest of the market crumbled in late summer. This time, people such as Apple Chairman and CEO John Sculley, Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy and Microsoft Chairman and multibillionaire William Gates have sold big chunks the past two months. BROAD SELLING IS WORRISOME: More than just the top executives of computer firms are selling. Eight executives and directors sold $203 million of Microsoft stock last month. Nine insiders at Sun Microsystems, seven at Apple Computer and four at software company Borland International sold last month. Stock analysts say they're more worried by how broad the selling is than by huge sales of a few top executives. IT'S FELT STOCKS HAVE PEAKED: All that selling shows a widespread belief among corporate managers that their stocks have peaked, at least for a while. David Coleman, editor of Vickers Weekly Insider Report, says the tech selling might not matter if those stocks were still rallying: "It's in a flat market that it's really bad." The Dow Jones industrial average is only 2 points higher than it was Jan. 15. (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3260.96, after closing down 11.18 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.89, down 0.50. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 399.57, down 1.79. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 618.68, down 3.15. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN: The dollar opens down on foreign markets Wednesday. It opens at 0.5811 British pounds, down from 0.5826; 5.6395 French francs, down from 5.6561; 133.43 Japanese yen, down from 133.73; and 1.6625 German marks, down from 1.6688. (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: 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