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 30 1992 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 05:41:14 EDT Message-ID: 04-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update April 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STOCKS BROADLY HIGHER: Surprisingly good earnings by Ford helped power broad gains Wednesday on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 25.26 points to 3333.18. Broader indexes also rose. Advancing issues swamped decliners 1,090 to 602 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 207 million shares. FORD UP ON EARNINGS NEWS: Ford Motor shares climbed 1 7:8 to 45 3:4 Wednesday after the automaker said it earned $338 million on worldwide operations in the first quarter - a $1.2 billion improvement over last year's first-quarter loss of $884 million. Chrysler, which is expected to report a quarterly loss Thursday, added 5:8 to $19 5:8. General Motors, which reported a profit Tuesday, gained 2 to $42 3:8. BOND RATES LIKELY TO BE LOWERED: Thursday may be the last day to lock in a 6.38% interest rate on Series EE bonds U.S. Savings bonds. The rate changes - and probably will dip near or below 6% - for bonds bought starting Friday. The Treasury Department adjusts the rate each May 1 and Nov. 1 to 85% of the average yield on five-year securities the prior six months. Those rates have fallen. So the new rate is likely to be lower. AUTODESK UP ON REVENUE NEWS: Shares of Autodesk rose 3 1:2 to $32 1:2 Wednesday after the company told professional investors at the Hambrecht & Quist technology conference in San Francisco that a wave of new products will boost revenue 28% next year to $350 million. Autodesk has been tumbling. Shares of the software company dropped from $62 1:4 early last summer to $23 1:4 in February. TREASURY REFUNDING: The Treasury Department will sell $36 billion in notes and bonds at its quarterly refunding auction next week. The Treasury will raise $8.5 billion in cash and use the remaining $27.5 billion to pay maturing government securities. Tuesday, $15 billion in three-year notes will be sold; Wednesday, $11 billion in 10-year notes; and Thursday, $10 billion in 30-year bonds. FUND FLOWS OFF: Stock mutual funds attracted $6.7 billion last month, the Investment Company Institute says. March's inflow, the lowest since November, wasn't far below February's record $7.5 billion. Bond funds attracted $7.2 billion. All funds took in $13.9 billion, vs. $15.7 billion in March. Stock funds attracted $20.8 billion the first quarter, nearly four times as much as in last year's first quarter, ICI says. COLLEGE BOUND WOES: More troubles for College Bound: The company, which offers preparation courses for college-entrance exams, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection Wednesday. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against College Bound for allegedly overstating its financial results, and trading in its stock was suspended for 10 days. CD YIELDS MIXED: Yields on bank certificates of deposit were mixed this week, Bank Rate Monitor says. The average yield on a six-month CD was 3.84%, down from 3.85%. One-year CD yields were unchanged at 4.12%; 2 1:2-year, 5.04% vs. 5.02%; five-year, 6.22% vs. 6.19%. PERSONAL INCOMES UP: Personal incomes, including wages, salaries and investment profits, rose 0.6% last month from February, to a $5 trillion annual rate, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. But consumer spending rose only 0.3%. Workers chose to save rather than spend in March. Savings rose to an annualized $233 billion from $197 billion in February. GOLD DOWN, SILVER UP: Gold prices fell Wednesday, but silver was up. At the Commodity Exchange, gold for current delivery fetched $336.10, off 80 cents, At the Republic National Bank, gold brought $335.50, off 55 cents. Gold fell in London and Zurich. Silver bullion rose in London to $3.97 a troy ounce from $3.96. On the Comex, silver for current delivery fetched $3.955, up from $3.940. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Thursday at 3333.18, after closing up 25.26 Wednesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.58, up 1.46. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 385.78, up 2.74. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 569.94, up 9.61. DOLLAR OPENS UP: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Thursday. It opens at 0.5647 British pounds, up from 0.5635; 5.5910 French francs, up from 5.5790; 133.50 Japanese yen, up from 133.10; and 1.6553 German marks, up from 1.6544. (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