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 Fri, May 29 1992 Date: Fri, 29 May 92 05:20:41 EDT Message-ID: 05-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update May 29-31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FUNDS HAVE BEST MONTH EVER: Investors made April the best month ever for purchases of stock funds, swelling stock and bond funds combined by $14.9 billion. The inflow has continued this month, but it's not quite as big as April's, fund executives say. Last month, stock-fund purchases were a record $7.5 billion and bond-fund purchases were close behind at $7.4 billion, the Investment Company Institute reported Thursday. (For more, see special Funds package below.) DOW HITS NEW HIGH ON LATE RALLY: A late rally in the stock market lifted the Dow Jones industrial average to a new closing high Thursday as investors focused their attention of falling interest rates. Dow Jones's average of 30 blue chips jumped 27.99 points to 3,398.43, just surpassing the previous record close of 3,397.99 reached on May 19. Lower interest rates bolstered bonds and stocks. M-2 DROPS: The Federal Reserve says its measure of the money supply, M-2, fell the week of May 18. M2 - cash, deposits in savings and checking accounts and money market mutual funds - fell $7.4 billion to $3.47 trillion. Economists say the drop shows the money supply is growing slowly, signaling weaker-than-expected growth. That could step up the pressure on the Fed to push interest rates lower. SHAREHOLDERS DON'T LIKE DEAL: Centel shareholders are fighting the company's proposed merger with Sprint, saying they would like a better deal. Shares of Centel, which owns cellular- and local phone companies, plunged 25% Thursday, closing down 10 1:2 at $32. Sprint and Centel proposed to merge Wednesday in a $2.9 billion stock swap that valued Centel at about $33 1:2 a share - nearly $9 below its price at the time. STALLED DEAL WILL HURT STOCKS: Long-distance company Sprint, which has proposed to merge with Centel, fell 1 3:8 to $23 1:8 Thursday. Analysts expect earnings per share to fall 25% if the companies combine because Sprint would issue new shares. Stock analysts generally agree that Centel stock has hit bottom and will stay there until shareholders vote on the merger this summer. Sprint stock could fall further, they warn. INVESTORS DUMP AIRLINE STOCKS: Airline stocks took a beating Thursday as investors showed their disdain for fare cuts, which could lower carriers' revenue and produce losses. AMR, parent of American Airlines, fell 2 to $61 5:8 on heavy volume. United Airlines parent UAL fell 4 to $113 3:4, and Delta slipped 3:4 to $56 7:8. Major U.S. carriers engaged in a fare free-for-all this week, slashing prices as much as 50%. GOLD, SILVER PRICES FALL: Gold prices fell worldwide Thursday. On the New York Commodity Exchange, gold bullion for current delivery settled at $337 a troy ounce, off $1.20 from Wednesday. Republic National Bank said gold slipped 65 cents an ounce to $336.90. Gold fell in Europe and Asia. On New York's Comex, silver bullion for current delivery settled at $4.054 a troy ounce, down from $4.082 on Wednesday. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FUNDS: MAY ALSO TO BE A GOOD MONTH: April's $14.9 billion inflow to stock and bond funds was 67% higher than in April 1991. Steve Norwitz of T. Rowe Price Associates in Baltimore says May also will be one of the best months ever for stock-fund purchases. Already this year, T. Rowe Price has collected as much in stock and bond funds as it did all last year, a record year for the firm. FUNDS NOT HAVING BIG GAINS: Investors seem to be tossing money into stock funds with little concern for short-term performance. Many funds barely budged last month. The Lipper index of 30 growth-stock funds gained just 0.2%. Nonetheless, April is usually a strong one for new investments because many savers put money into individual retirement accounts just before the April 15 tax-filing deadline. THIRTYSOMETHINGS NOW INVESTING: Paul Robertson, chief operating officer for United Services Advisors in San Antonio, said much of the inflow is coming from younger customers who are in their 30s and are just beginning to invest. "People are waking up to the need to manage money for retirement," says Gunnar Hughes, spokesman for Twentieth Century Investors in Kansas City, Mo., which has also seen a huge inflow. (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3398.43 after closing up 27.99 points Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 229.24, up 2.09. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 392.30, up 0.45. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 580.49, up 3.14. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Friday. It opens at 0.5542 British pounds, down from 0.5573; 5.4660 French francs, down from 5.4785; 1.6285 German marks, down from 1.6375; and 129.45 Japanese yen, down from 130.36. (As of 3 p.m. Thursday. 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