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, Apr 22 1992 Date: Wed, 22 Apr 92 05:41:50 EDT Message-ID: 04-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update April 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOW RALLIES: Computer-driven trading bumped up the Dow Jones industrial average in the last hour of trading, but small stocks sagged in an active session Tuesday. The Dow industrials rose 6.94 points to 3343.25. The broader market was mixed though mostly lower. Losing issues outpaced advancing stocks 937 to 782 on the New York Stock Exchange. CITICORP REPORTS GAIN: Citicorp shares got a boost Tuesday when the USA's largest bank said its first-quarter earnings soared 97%. The stock rose 1 1:2 to $18 1:4. The results included a big gain from asset sales. Net income rose to $183 million, or 37 cents a share, including $218 million from asset sales. Analysts had expected results to range from a slight loss to net income of 10 cents a share. WELLS FARGO OFFERS SURPRISE: Shares of Wells Fargo & Co. soared 9 7:8, or 15%, to $76 1:8 Tuesday on better-than-expected first-quarter earnings results. Wells Fargo earned $119 million, or $2.09 a share, last quarter. That was down 27% from $2.86 a share a year earlier. But analysts, on average, had expected Wells to earn just $1.22 a share last quarter. SHORTS MAY HAVE BOOSTED WELLS: Something other than positive earnings results may have pushed Wells Fargo shares up 9 7:8 Tuesday. When Wells Fargo delivers good news, its stock can easily overreact. Reason: Lots of short-sellers are betting Wells Fargo shares will fall. When the stock rallies, shorts are forced to buy shares to cover their bets and limit their losses. Their buying can drive the stock steadily higher. ALL TW DIVISIONS DO WELL: Media and entertainment company Time Warner on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $3 million, vs. a loss of $50 million a year earlier. Operating income was $290 million, vs. $256 million. Revenue was $3 billion, up from $2.8 billion. All five of Time Warner's divisions posted improved results. Per-share results last quarter were a loss of $1.62 after payment of preferred dividends. STORAGETEK PLUNGES: Storage Technology shares plunged 10 7:8 to $45 3:8 Tuesday as traders reacted to weak first-quarter earnings reported late Monday. The stock fell 3 7:8 Monday on a report early in the day that results would be disappointing. The two-day drop: 14 3:4, or 24%. StorageTek posted net income of $12.5 million, or 30 cents a share - down 7% from $13.4 million, or 36 cents a share, last year. STOCK RATED A BUY: StorageTek said on Tuesday that the current price of its stock - $45 3:8 - "significantly understates the value of the company" and announced it will buy back up to 1 million shares. Analyst Debra Silversmith of Kemper Securities cut her 1992 earnings estimate from $3.30 a share to $2.90. But she reiterated her 1993 estimate of $5.50 a share and her long-term buy recommendation. GOLDMAN MAKES A GOOD CALL: Al Goldman, the colorful stock-market commentator at brokerage A.G. Edwards in St. Louis, appears to have made a good call on his own company. In March, he sold more than a third of his Edwards stock for just less than $26 a share. Tuesday, the stock closed at $20 1:8. Goldman sold 4,734 shares for $122,760. He still owns 6,848 shares, worth $138,000. Goldman says he decided to diversify. SUN GETS MIXED RATINGS: Sun Microsystems slid 2 1:8 to $25 3:4 Tuesday after Prudential Securities removed the maker of computer workstations from its single-best-idea group. Prudential still calls the stock a buy. But USA TODAY columnist Dan Dorfman said on CNBC that Nomura Securities had lowered its rating on Sun to a sell. GOLD UP, SILVER MIXED: Gold jumped in technical buying Tuesday, but silver prices were mixed. On the Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $341.10, up $4.20. Republic National Bank quoted gold rose $3.50 to $340.25. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $3.991, up from $3.963. In London, the metal slipped to $3.98 from $3.99. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3343.25 after closing up 6.94 points Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.70, down 0.07. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 386.73, down 0.35. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 575.05, down 2.15. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Wednesday. It opens at 0.5711 British pounds, down from 0.5732; 5.6235 French francs, down from 5.6390; 1.6665 German marks, down from 1.6745; and 134.05 Japanese yen, down from 134.42. (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