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 Mon, Apr 27 1992 Date: Mon, 27 Apr 92 05:41:46 EDT Message-ID: 04-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update April 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GM ANNOUNCES STOCK ISSUE: As part of an ongoing plan to breath new life into the company, General Motors announced Friday that it plans to issue 50 million additional shares of stock worth about $2 billion. Also, in an announcement shown to GM's 370,000 North American workers Friday, Chairman Robert Stempel announced plans to consolidate its five car making operations into one. (For more, see special GM package below.) INVESTORS BUYING BANKS: USA TODAY columnist Dan Dorfman reports that big institutional investors are buying bank stocks. He reports tracking firm Indata says six banks were among this month's biggest buys through April 16. AT&T led the list, followed by Shawmut National, Westinghouse, Waste Management, Norwest, First Union, Sears, PepsiCo, EXEL, Fleet Norstar, Ford, Sherwin-Williams, PNC Financial and Mellon Bank. DOW DOWN FOR WEEK: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 24.15 to 3324.46 Friday. For the week, the Dow lost 42.04 points. A late computer-driven plunge in the blue chips brought the Dow down. Declining stocks outnumbered gainers 875 to 804 on volume of 198.77 million against 235.78 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange. GABELLI PUSHING CHRIS-CRAFT: Mario Gabelli, head of Gabelli & Co. is pushing Chris-Craft Industries CEO Herbert Siegel to make a run at Pinelands, parent of WWOR-TV in Secaucus, N.J. Speculation of a possible Siegel bid for Pinelands comes amid talk that he may have taken a stake in the company, reports USA TODAY's Dan Dorfman. Gabelli says Pinelands is a natural fit for Chris-Craft, which owns KOCP in Los Angeles. REGIONAL BANKS ARE TARGETS: Four regional banks are ripe for takeovers, says money manager Shelby Davis. His candidates, leaders in their states: United New Mexico Financial ($16 1:4), Utah's First Security ($32), First Tennessee National ($53 1:8) and Florida's Barnett Banks ($38). Davis says potential suitors include Wachovia, Norwest, First Union and Boatmen's Bancshares. DAVIS MAKING THE ROUNDS: Evelyn Y. Davis, who has made a habit of being a vocal shareholder is at it again. Davis says she's just trying to make corporate bigwigs more accountable to shareholders. Friday, she was in Reno, criticizing the structure of the board at Pacific Telesis. Tuesday, she was in Charlotte, N.C., voicing her opinions at NationsBank's meeting. This week's meetings include UAL. ROVER TO BE SOLD: British Aerospace plans to sell its Rover car division, possibly to Volkswagen, the London Times reports. The British aircraft and defense company says Rover is too small to compete globally. Honda, which owns 20% of Rover, would be consulted before any sale. MORTGAGE RATES RISE: The average fixed rate on 30-year mortgages was 8.85% last week, up from 8.76% the week before, according to a national survey by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. It was the first rise after four consecutive weekly declines. On one-year adjustable rate mortgages, lenders were asking an average initial rate of 6.13%, up from 6.11% the week before. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON GM: REACTIONS MIXED: Reactions to GM's announcement Friday that it will issue 50 million additional shares of stock worth about $2 billion were mixed. The stock fell 2 3:4 to $39 5:8 on the news. "It's a good time for them to issue stock because auto stocks are in favor on Wall Street," says Frank Cappiello of investment-advisor firm McCullough, Andrews & Cappiello. "And GM needs the money." STOCK PRICE NOT A PROBLEM: Analysts were not concerned that GM stock fell Friday because stocks usually fall when a new issue is announced because increasing the number of shares makes a current shareholder's stake in the company - and dividend payments - proportionately smaller. GM has 615.8 million shares outstanding, so adding 50 million would dilute the value of existing shares about 8.1%. STOCK STILL LOOKS GOOD: Despite the sell-off, many analysts think GM stock still looks good. "In the long term, the offering has to be good for GM," says Arthur Calavritinos, research analyst at John Hancock. "They can't just sit on their hands. They have to raise cash." Also, Friday's moves mean the date for plant closings and job cuts likely will be moved up, returning GM to profitability more quickly. DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Monday at 3324.46, after closing down 24.15 Friday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.12, down 1.04. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 385.98, down 0.28. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 572.90, down 3.16. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Money Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Personal Investing Editor: Jason Smith. (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