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 Wed, May 27 1992 Date: Wed, 27 May 92 05:20:54 EDT Message-ID: 05-27 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update May 27, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOW SINKS ON OIL-PRICE RISE: Stocks sagged Tuesday as a surge in oil prices sparked fears that inflation is headed higher. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.56 points to 3364.21. Other broader market indexes also slumped. "If oil is going to rally $2 or $3, it has (negative) implications," says John Blair, trader at County NatWest Securites. OIL STOCKS RALLY: Oil stocks soared Tuesday as oil prices surged to a six-month high and analysts came out with a wave of buy recommendations. The top 10 point-gainers on the New York Stock Exchange were oil-related. Likewise, the eight most actively traded stocks were oil-related. The spurt of activity was welcome relief for a group that missed out on a robust stock-market rally last year. (For more, see special Oil package below.) CALGENE HITS 52-WEEK HIGH: Agricultural biotechnology companies got a boost Tuesday when the Bush Administration announced regulatory guidelines that will allow some companies to sell genetically engineered foods without pre-marketing safety tests and without special labeling. Calgene, which rose 1 5:8 to $15 3:8 Tuesday, a 52-week high, is most likely to benefit. It has developed a vine-ripened, rot-resistant tomato. REVLON ANNOUNCES IPO: Cosmetics company Revlon, which onetime corporate raider Ronald Perelman bought in 1985, said Tuesday that it plans to sell a 17.8% stake to investors. The planned initial public offering will be of 20 million shares at a proposed price of $19 a share. The offering could take place by midsummer. The shares will be of a company called New Revlon - which will include Revlon's core brands. STORAGE TECH MEETING WEDNESDAY: Storage Technology executives face shareholders looking for answers at the company's annual meeting Wednesday. Shareholders have watched stock in the once high-flying high-tech company plunge the past three months, hurt by weak earnings, product delays and allegations of inside trading. Tuesday, its stock rose 1 1:4 to $34 3:4 after Alex. Brown & Sons repeated a strong buy on the company. RATES RISE AT TREASURY AUCTION: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Tuesday's auction to the highest level in seven weeks. The Treasury sold $11.6 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.75% vs. 3.61% last week. It sold $11.6 billion in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.90% vs. 3.71%. The rates were the highest since April 6. GOLD UP IN USA: Gold prices rose Tuesday in New York. On the Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $338.20 a troy ounce, up 30 cents. Republic National Bank said gold rose 10 cents to $337.85. Gold fell in London to $337.95 from $338.00. the metal fell in Europe and Asia. On the Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.087, up from $4.082. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON OIL: OIL STOCKS ON `ALL CYLINDERS': Oil stocks began perking up last month as investors looked for anything that hadn't risen sharply the past year. Now, "if you look at all the cylinders that were misfiring" most of the past year, "they seem to be on all cylinders," says Paul Ting, analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Oil stocks are among the biggest gainers this month. The catalyst Tuesday: Crude oil rose $1.06 a barrel to $22. OIL-SERVICE STOCKS UNDERVALUED: Analyst Paul Ting likes Atlantic Richfield, which rose 6 1:8 to $117 3:4, and French giant Elf Aquitaine, which added 1:8 to $37. Both produce more crude than they refine. Other integrated oil companies are net buyers of crude. James Carroll of PaineWebber recommends Halliburton, which gained 5:8 to $29 7:8. Carroll says oil-services stocks are undervalued. ROYAL DUTCH ADDED TO BUY LIST: Just about all oil stocks are undervalued, analyst Bernard Picchi of Kidder Peabody says. He has recommended British Petroleum, up 2 5:8 to $60 5:8, Exxon, up 3 1:2 to $64, Texaco, up 3 to $66 3:4, and Mobil, up 3 5:8 to $67, for seven weeks. Tuesday he added Royal Dutch Petroleum, which rose 4 3:8 to $89. (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON DOWNSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Wednesday at 3364.21 after closing down 22.56 Tuesday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 226.86, down 1.34. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 391.89, down 0.57. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 575.65, down 4.65. DOLLAR OPENS MIXED: The dollar opens mixed on foreign markets Wednesday. It opens at 0.5483 British pounds, down from 0.5504; 5.4205 French francs, down from 5.4390; 129.40 Japanese yen, up from 129.28; and 1.6127 German marks, down from 1.6177. (As of 3 p.m. Tuesday. 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