Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!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 26 1992 Date: Tue, 26 May 92 05:20:39 EDT Message-ID: 05-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update May 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network PEROT MAY BE SHORT SELLER: A financial report filed with the Federal Election Commission suggests that Ross Perot may be short selling stocks. Evidence of Perot's trades: A series of stock loans - made to investors who want to sell short - from his brokers. Short sellers borrow stock when it's high, sell if the price falls and buy it back at a lower price. In the past, Perot has criticized stock speculation. (For more, see special Perot packge below.) KOTLER URGES NEW TECHNIQUES: Philip Kotler, marketing professor at Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, wants mutual-fund firms to consider using "relationship marketing." Kotler spoke to fund executives last week at the annual convention of the Investment Company Institute. He suggested borrowing such techniques as rewarding frequent fliers and promoting brand loyalty. CULTURE TO INFLUENCE MARKET: Robert Prechter, editor of the Elliott Wave Theorist says Johnny Carson and Bill Cosby leaving their TV shows are bad signs for the stock market, reports USA TODAY columnist Dan Dorfman. Prechter says they were products of the bull market and that the trend in popular culture toward more pessimistic themes will carry over into the stock market. PRECHTER SEES DROP: "The short sale of a lifetime" - a bet on lower stock prices - is within 10% of the Dow's current price, according to Robert Prechter, editor of the Elliott Wave Theorist. USA TODAY's Dan Dorfman reports that Prechter sees a rise to 3570 to 3700. But the broader averages, he feels, probably saw their highs four months ago, Dorfman reports. GM TO FOCUS ON PROFITS: General Motors is turning its attention to profits and away from regaining market share from the Japanese, officials said Friday at GM's annual shareholders meeting. "If market share is going to come at a cost of profitability, we're going to back away from market share," GM's new president John F. Smith Jr. said after the meeting. MORTGAGE RATES FALL: Mortgage rates fell for the fourth straight week last week, to an average 8.53% on 30-year fixed-rate loans, from 8.64% the week before, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. Also, the average one-year adjustable-rate mortgage was 5.93%, down from 5.97% the week before. The average rate on 15-year fixed mortgages was 8.16% last week vs. 8.26% the previous week. GOLD, SILVER, OIL RISE: On the New York Comex market Friday, gold rose 90 cents to $337.90 an ounce. Silver rose 1.9 cents to $4.08 an ounce. On the New York Merc, platinum rose $4.60 to $365.30 an ounce. Light sweet crude oil gained 4 cents to $20.94 a barrel. REPORTS DUE THIS WEEK: It's a big week for economic reports. Here's what economists surveyed by consultants MMS International Inc. expect: Tuesday, the Conference Board is expected to say consumer confidence was up in May; the National Association of Realtors is expected to say sales of previously owned homes fell 1% in April. Reports on orders for durable goods and GDP come later this week. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PEROT: PEROT MOVES ANALYIZED: Some of Ross Perot's deals, detailed in financial statements, look like bets against troubled firms, or popular stocks that look overpriced. Examples: Perot borrowed shares of Citicorp - which faces huge real estate losses - in December and March; Perot in September borrowed shares of biotechnology firm Centocor, which has tumbled 77% since that time. MERGER DEALS SIGNIFICANT: Perot's financial reports show a pattern of trades apparently designed to reap short-term gains from two major merger deals last year: AT&T's acquisition of NCR and the merger of NCNB and C&S:Sovran to create NationsBank. By borrowing and then selling stock in the acquiring companies, and buying stock in the firms they bought, Perot appears to have locked in profits. DEALS DON'T FIT IMAGE: Analysts say that Ross Perot's deals are not illegal, but don't fit his image because he has criticized such techniques. In a 1987 interview with Barron's magazine, for example, he lamented that "our best and our brightest are going off to shuffle paper, and do leveraged deals and just play in the business sandbox, as opposed to building businesses." (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Tuesday at 3386.77, after closing up 8.06 Friday. The market was closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 228.20, up 0.73. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 392.46, up 0.83. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 580.30, up 1.20. 24-HOUR TELEPHONE INFORMATION: USA TODAY Money Hot Line. 95 cents a minute. 1-900-555-5555. Personal Investing Editor: Jason P. Smith. (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