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 Thu, Apr 23 1992 Date: Thu, 23 Apr 92 05:38:05 EDT Message-ID: 04-23 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update April 23, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BIOTECH BUST HURTS INDIVIDUALS: After spectacular gains last year - Immune Response went from $2 7:8 to a peak of $62 3:4, Synergen jumped from $3 5:8 to $70 3:4 - biotechnology stocks have been plummeting. A Smith Barney biotech-stock index is down 39% this year. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones industrial average is up this year. Victims of the biotech bust include novice speculators who bought individual stocks. (For more, see special Biotech package below.) DOW DIPS SLIGHTLY: Stocks ended mixed Wednesday as edgy investors crept to the sidelines. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.48 points to 3338.77. Most other indexes also fell, but NASDAQ's over-the-counter composite index gained 3.18 points to 578.23. Losers beat winners 874 to 832 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was heavy at 219 million shares. RALSTON MAY SPIN OFF BAKERY: Shares of Ralston Purina got boost Wednesday after the company said it's studying a plan to spin off its Continental Baking subsidiary - that is, turn it into a separate company whose stock would be given to Ralston shareholders. Ralston stock was up as much as 1 3:4 but closed 3:4 higher at $48 1:2. Continental makes Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes and Wonder Bread. WELLS, CITIBANK CONTINUE UP: Bank stocks were strong Wednesday on improved earnings. Wells Fargo added 3 5:8 to $79 3:4. Tuesday, Wells Fargo jumped 9 7:8 after the bank reported first-quarter earnings above analysts' expectations. Citicorp climbed 1 1:8 to $19 3:8. Tuesday, Citicorp gained 1 1:2 after the bank said first-quarter earnings rose 118% to 37 cents a share. BANKERS TRUST RATED A BUY: Bankers Trust gained 3 1:8 to $58 1:4 Wednesday after Merrill Lynch rated the bank a long-term buy. Among other bank stocks, BankAmerica, which finished its purchase of Security Pacific on Wednesday, advanced 2 to $47. Chase Manhattan gained 1 7:8 to $26 1:2; First Interstate climbed 1 3:4 to $40 3:4; J.P. Morgan jumped 2 to $55 5:8; and Bank of Boston rose 1 5:8 to $20 1:4. RATING DROPPED ON CHIPS & TECH: Microcomputer-chip maker Chips & Technologies fell 1 to $7 7:8 Wednesday after it reported a third-quarter loss of 70 cents a share, vs. a loss of 37 cents a year earlier. Goldman Sachs dropped its rating on the stock to hold from attractive. Mentor Graphics gained 1 3:4 to $14 3:4 after it reported first-quarter earnings of 3 cents a share. Prudential Securities repeated a buy rating. GOLD RETREATS, SILVER UP AGAIN: Gold prices retreated after rising overseas, but silver rose. On the Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery fell $1.80 to settle at $339.30 a troy ounce. Republic National Bank quoted a late bid of $338.40, off $1.85. Gold rose in London and Zurich. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.014 a troy ounce, up from $3.991. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BIOTECH: FUNDS TAKING A BEATING: Other victims of the bust in biotech stocks include more conservative individuals who as a group poured money into health-care and biotech stock mutual funds late last year. The Fidelity Select Biotech Fund gained 100% last year. But like Cytogen, Amgen, Repligen, Immunogen and countless other "gens" down sharply this year, the Fidelity fund is collapsing, down 25% in four months. BEWARE OF BARGAINS: Because of the steep slide, biotech stocks may now look attractive to bargain-conscious investors. Industry power Amgen, for example, down 30% from its January peak, rebounded 2 7:8 Tuesday after reporting 72%-higher first-quarter earnings. However, they looked like a bargain last year a sell-off in November that lured new investors in for a two-month rally before the big fall. CENTOCOR TAKES A BEATING: Bad news has been behind the drop in some biotech stocks. Centocor, for example, rose to just more than $60 in January as investors assumed the government would approve its drug, Centoxin. The stock dived in February when the company said the FDA had "raised additional issues" about the drug. Wednesday, the stock closed at $13 3:8, 78% off its January high. ANALYSTS LIKE AMGEN, CHIRON: Some are relieved the bubble has burst. Analysts say investors likely will begin to give companies a fairer value, reflecting earnings and revenue. That will favor established biotech companies with proven products. Analysts especially like Amgen (revenue of $682 million last year), Chiron ($119 million) and Genzyme ($109 million). (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3338.77, after closing down 4.48 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.42, down 0.28. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 386.35, down 0.38. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 578.23, up 3.18. DOLLAR OPENS MOSTLY DOWN: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Thursday. It opens at 0.5675 British pounds, down from 0.5711; 5.6150 French francs, down from 5.6325; 134.15 Japanese yen, up from 134.05; and 1.6630 German marks, down from 1.6665. (As of 3 p.m. Wednesday. 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