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, Jun 12 1992 Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 05:19:42 EDT Message-ID: 06-12 0000 DECISIONLINE: Personal Investing USA TODAY Update June 12-14, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network STOCKS RECOUP EARLY LOSS: The stock market finished mixed Thursday, pushed by a late round of buying in blue chips. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, down more than 15 points at its midday low, closed with a gain of 8.29 at 3351.51. The average had fallen 60.91 points this week. Losing stocks edged winners 868 to 781 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume was 205 million shares. REPORTS SEND MIXED SIGNALS: Part of the early weakness in the stock market Thursday came from confusion over three reports that gave mixed signals about the economy's strength. The producer price index rose 0.4% in May, up from 0.2% in April; retail sales increased only 0.2% last month, and there was no change in initial claims for state unemployment insurance during the week ended May 30. ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDS SLIDING: Poor performance is driving investors from funds that invest in waste:cleanup companies. The average environmental fund has fallen 4.4% this year while the average stock fund is down 0.04%. The funds' assets have fallen 8.8% to $227 million this year. This year's performance is a continuation of a long slide, according to Lipper Analytical Services. (For more, see special Fund package below.) M2 GROWS: The Federal Reserve says a closely watched measure of money supply, M2, rose $7 billion the week of June 1 to $3.5 trillion. M2 is cash, checking and savings accounts and money market mutual funds. Weak money-supply growth is a drag on the economy. MORE SOTHEBY'S SHARES PUBLIC: Sotheby's Holdings dropped 1 1:8 to $12 1:8 Thursday after big-stake holders, including its chairman, A. Alfred Taubman, said they would sell 10 million Class A shares in the company. Taubman will keep 14 million Class B shares, which have 10 votes a share and leave him in control. But the offering of Class A shares will up the publicly held number of those shares to 30.6 million. ESTIMATES CUT ON MIRAGE: Mirage Resorts shares fell 7:8 to $25 1:8 after Salomon Bros. analyst Margo Vignola cut her second-quarter earnings estimate to 25 cents to 30 cents a share from 60 cents to 70 cents. For this year, she cut her forecast to $1.90 a share from $2.45. Her long-term buy rating remains on the stock. "Foreign traffic is lower than expected, particularly with the Asian customers," she says. AMDURA RETURNS TO EARTH: Amdura, which has been on an unexplainable upward run lately, tumbled 5 to $3 after a 1 1:2-day trading halt. The maker of waste-management equipment released a negative statement Wednesday that failed to explain why the stock has quadrupled recently. The NYSE halted trading in the stock Tuesday. Amdura, in its statement, said it expects to report a $1 million loss the first quarter. SEARS ACCUSED OF FRAUD: Sears shares fell 5:8 to $41 3:8 Thursday after the California Consumer Affairs unit charged the retailer's auto repair shops in California with routinely overcharging customers. Following an undercover probe, the agency asked the state to revoke Sears' auto-repair certificate and close all 72 California Tire and Auto Centers. Sears denied the allegations. JUNK FUND DISPUTE SETTLED: The Securities and Exchange Commission reached a $24.7 million settlement with First Investors, it was announced Thursday. The SEC charged that First Investors misled investors about the risks of its two corporate junk-bond funds, First Investors Fund for Income and First Investors High Yield. Indiana, Massachusetts, Maine and New York have suits pending against First Investors. GOLD RISES: Gold prices advanced, and silver was unchanged Thursday. On the Commodity Exchange, gold for current delivery fetched $340.50, up $2.60. At Republic National Bank in New York, gold ended at $340.00, up $2.25. The metal rose in London and Zurich. On the York Commodity Exchange, silver for current delivery fetched $4.098, up 4.6 cents. Silver was unchanged in London. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON FUND: ANALYST DOESN'T SEE IMPROVEMENT: Since July 1990, environmental funds have fallen 15% while the average stock fund has gained 20%. The performance is particularly distressing to investors sucked in by the hype that surrounded the funds. Some of the seven environmental funds were launched during the 20th anniversary of Earth Day in 1990. "I don't see any improvement in the near future," says analyst Tom Desmond. RECESSION HURT BUSINESS: The recession hurt pollution-control companies more than had been expected. In the late 1980s, the stocks of many of the companies had been pushed up on the belief that they were immune to the ups and downs of the economy. But with the recession, the supply of industrial waste the firms handled was sharply reduced. "As the amount of waste fell, so did business," says Desmond. WASTE MANAGEMENT DOWN: Take Waste Management, a staple of environmental funds' portfolios. The stock closed Thursday at $36 3:8, down 22% from its 52-week high of $46 5:8. Chambers Development closed Thursday at $6 3:4 - 82% below its 52-week high of $37. Such stocks were beloved by Wall Street in the late 1980s. In 1989, pollution control was the No. 7 industry group in the S&P ranking of 87 industries. TIGHTER RULES HURT: Another factor hurting cleanup companies: Tightened regulations covering landfills increased costs of landfill operators. "Costs of maintaining landfills are going up. That's squeezing profit margins," says Michael Pizzi, pollution-control analyst at Standard & Poor's. Companies that haul, handle or dispose of waste will be among the last to benefit from an economic recovery. (End of package.) DOW JONES OPENS ON UPSWING: The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials opens Friday at 3351.51 after closing up 8.29 Thursday. The New York Stock Exchange composite opens at 225.10, up 0.74. The American Stock Exchange market value opens at 389.90, down 0.23. The NASDAQ OTC composite opens at 567.68, down 2.03. DOLLAR OPENS DOWN OVERSEAS: The dollar opens down on Friday. It opens at 0.5411 British pounds, down from 0.5459; 5.3175 French francs, down from 5.3625; 1.5775 German marks, down from 1.5938; and 126.40 Japanese yen, down from 127.63. (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