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 Tue, May 5 1992 Date: Tue, 5 May 92 05:31:47 EDT Message-ID: 05-05 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update May 5, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOW HITS NEW HIGH: Investors pushed stocks sharply higher Monday, relieved by the end of riots in Los Angeles and other cities. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 42.04 points to a record 3378.13. That bests the average's previous record, 3366.50, set April 16. Stock indexes that gauge smaller companies' stocks also rose, but more modestly. The NASDAQ composite index rose 5.40 points to 583.54. STOCKS NOT SEEN HEADING HIGHER: Few analysts think large or small stocks are poised to go much higher. Reason: Small stocks aren't rampaging forward the way blue chips are. The NASDAQ composite index is still 10% below its all-time high, 644.92, set in February. Some say that could mean the Dow soon will fall back into line with the broader market. "It's time to be very selective," says Bradley Turner, of McDonald & Co. PFIZER SELLS COTY UNIT: Pfizer shares rose 1 1:4 to $72 1:8 Monday after the drug company said Monday that it is selling its Coty fragrance and cosmetics unit to German company John A. Benckiser for $440 million. Pfizer and its stock have been under pressure in recent months - first from reports of defects in an artificial heart valve made by a subsidiary, second from a shifting mood on Wall Street. DRUG STOCKS ON THE REBOUND: Bottom-fishing investors pushed drug stocks, many of which have been hard hit this year, sharply higher Monday. Merck surged 3 5:8 to $147 1:2, SmithKline-Beecham rose 1 1:8 to $69 3:8, Bristol-Myers Squibb added 1 3:4 to $76 1:2, Rhone-Poulenc gained 2 1:8 to $54 1:2. Biotechnology stocks also fared well. Genzyme rose 1 1:2 to $44 1:4, Amgen added 1 1:4 to $56. STOCKS NOT NECESSARILY IN FAVOR: Monday's moves in drug and biotech stocks doesn't mean those groups are coming back into favor, says Neil Sweig, analyst at Brenner Securities. "The trend is still against these stocks. Even for really aggressive portfolios, most of the drug stocks are the wrong place to be the first half of 1992." But later in the year, he says, drug stocks may look good again. IBM UP ON BUY RATING: IBM rose 1 7:8 to $92 1:2 Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a buy rating and praised the company's personal-computer strategy. Chase Manhatan said IBM is ahead of schedule on cost cutting and should see revenue grow 6% this year. CHIRON SOARS ON GOOD NEWS: Shares of Chiron zoomed 6 1:4 to $48 Monday after CEO Edward Penhoet told the Alex. Brown health care seminar that he expects the company's Kidney cancer drug, IL-2, to be approved this month and that the company should be profitable next year, after digesting its merger with Cetus. AUCTION STARTS TUESDAY: The Treasury kicks off its quarterly auction Tuesday with the sale of $15 billion in three-year notes. Wednesday, it will auction $11 billion in 10-year notes; Thursday, it will sell $10 billion in 30-year bonds. RATES DOWN AT TREASURY AUCTION: The Treasury Department sold $11.4 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.65%, down from 3.71% last week. It also sold $11.5 billion in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.78% vs. 3.85% last week. GOLD MIXED, SILVER UP: Gold prices were mixed Monday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $337.30 a troy ounce, off $1.70 from Friday. Republic National Bank said gold fell $1.45 an ounce to a late bid price of $336.80. The metal rose in Zurich and Hong Kong. On New York's Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.002 a troy ounce, up from $3.997. DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3378.13, after closing up 42.04 points Monday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 229.42, up 2.22. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 391.61, up 1.83. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 583.54, up 5.40. DOLLAR OPENS UP OVERSEAS: The dollar opens up on Tuesday. It opens at 0.5626 British pounds, up from 0.5598; 5.5535 French francs, up from 5.5300; 1.6480 German marks, up from 1.6390; and 133.15 Japanese yen, up from 132.65. (As of 3 p.m. Monday. 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