Reluare sâmbătă, 28 ianuarie 1995

SOUTHWESTERN LIFE EXPECTS AN EARNINGS CHARGE

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Southwestern Life Corporation said yesterday that it expected to take a fourth-quarter charge of $40 million because of losses involving mortgage-backed securities and was reviewing accounting practices that could result in additional write-offs. The Dallas-based insurance holding company also said it would suspend dividend payments on its preferred stock and develop a plan to reduce its long-term debt. Southwestern also plans to sell its Bankers Life Insurance Company of New York for $35 million in cash. The name of the buyer was not disclosed. Southwestern, formerly the ICH Corporation, said it expected the transaction to close by the end of June.

Full Article

3 PROPOSED FOR COMPASS BANCSHARES BOARD

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

A director of Compass Bancshares Inc., Harry B. Brock Jr., said yesterday that a group he headed had filed a proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission proposing three nominees for the board committed to seek a tax-free takeover by a much larger company. The board is now split five to seven against Mr. Brock's plan. Mr. Brock indicated that he thought the company could be worth about $1.5 billion. Mr. Brock is underwriting the proxy with his own funds. Compass shares closed up $3.125, at $26.375, on 1.1 million shares. Compass Bancshares is a bank holding company with its principal business in Alabama.

Full Article

GUILFORD PHARMACEUTICALS SHARES CLIMB BY 23%

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The shares of Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. rose 23 percent yesterday after the company said its new-drug application for Dopascan was given clearance by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The stock closed up $1.0625, at $5.50, in Nasdaq trading. Dopascan is an imaging agent for the diagnosis and monitoring of Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disease affecting more than 600,000 people in the United States. Dopascan is administered by injection and allows the number of dopamine neurons, which are key in Parkinson's disease, to be measured using a widely available brain scanning technique. Guilford said it expected to begin several additional clinical trials in the next few months.

Full Article

STOP AND SHOP SUPERMARKET CHAIN RAIDED BY F.B.I.

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Stop and Shop Companies, New England's largest supermarket chain, said yesterday that F.B.I. agents had raided its headquarters and a data center as part of an investigation of kickbacks in the food industry. The agents took documents and computer records in the raid, which occurred on Thursday, the company said. Stop and Shop, which operates 128 stores in New England, said it was complying fully with the investigation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation began its inquiry about a year and a half ago, said William McMullin, a spokesman for the F.B.I. in Boston. Stop and Shop's stock fell $1 yesterday, to $24, in New York Stock Exchange trading. Earlier, trading in the stock was halted.

Full Article

Texas Instruments' Net Up

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Texas Instruments Inc. said today that fourth-quarter earnings rose 40 percent on stronger sales of semiconductor products, from memory chips to processors used in mobile telephones. The company, based in Dallas, earned $188 million, or $1.98 a share, compared with $134 million, or $1.42 a share, in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Revenue rose 17 percent, to $2.78 billion from $2.37 billion.

Full Article

Precious Metals Sent Lower By Low-Inflation Growth

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Precious metals tumbled yesterday after the Government reported strong growth but with low inflation. In its report on the nation's economic growth, the Commerce Department said its broadest gauge of inflation rose by 2.1 percent during 1994, the lowest in three decades.

Full Article

Concerns About Mexico Aid Erode Dollar's Early Gains

Date: 28 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The dollar was steady against leading currencies yesterday as concern about the prospects for United States aid to Mexico offset a mounting conviction that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates next week. The dollar surged in early New York trading after a report showed that the United States economy grew at an annual rate of 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Full Article

NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 29 January 1995

International 3-13 MOSCOW, CAPITAL OF RUMORS Awash in rumors and wild stories, from shipments of poisoned vodka from Chechnya to a mutation in the gene pool caused by war stress, Russia is a bundle of nerves. 1 Reporter's notebook: Hitching a ride in a Russian tank. 12

Full Article

NEWS SUMMARY

Date: 28 January 1995

International 2-5 ANGER IN SARAJEVO A cease-fire has silenced the guns in the Bosnian capital, but the look of normalcy veils a deep bitterness and a determination to settle accounts with Bosnian Serb leaders regarded as war criminals. 1 NEW U.S. TIES WITH VIETNAM The United States will exchange envoys with Vietnam and open a mission there, another step toward establishing full relations. Veterans' groups oppose the move. 1 ISRAEL'S POLICY PUZZLE The Israeli Government has made contradictory statements about West Bank settlements and how they figure in peace talks with Palestinians, and this is taking a toll on Government popularity. 3 AUSCHWITZ REMEMBERED Dignitaries and survivors went to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz to mark the 50th anniversary of its liberation, and Poland's President -- after a dispute -- recognized the Jewish suffering at the camp. 5 In Germany, a flood of self-examination over Auschwitz. 5 IN JAPAN, TOO MUCH HELP Japanese stranded by the Kobe earthquake have seen such an outpouring of gifts from friends and relatives, and volunteer help, that it is said homeless people are coming from elsewhere for the aid. 4 The peso bailout plan is in trouble in Congress. 3 Tangshan Journal: In China, bad memories of another quake. 4 National 6-9 PASSAGE OF MANDATE PROPOSAL The Senate approved legislation making it harder for Congress to impose Federal requirements on state and local governments without providing financing. 1 NAME CALLING ON CAPITOL HILL The House Majority Leader, Dick Armey, used an anti-gay slur to refer to Representative Barney Frank, one of several openly homosexual members of Congress. 1 BRISK GROWTH IN ECONOMY The economy accelerated to a 4.5 percent growth rate in the final three months of 1994 but ended the strongest year in a decade with clear signs of a slowdown. 1 THREAT OF A FILIBUSTER Senate Democrats hinted that they might not support a balanced-budget amendment unless the Senate Republicans produce a detailed plan as part of the package. 8 FINAL FLIGHT FOR ENOLA GAY? The Smithsonian Institution is expected to scale back a disputed World War II exhibit, Administration officials said. 8 SIMPSON BOOK ARRIVES IN STORES In his new book, O. J. Simpson repeatedly maintains his innocence, lambasts the press, and talks about a new spirituality. 6 CELEBRATING OR TRIVIALIZING? Plans for an interactive museum complex in Philadelphia that celebrates the Constitution is being criticized as potentially destructive to an American historical district. 6 SAFETY HEARING COMES TO AN END After hearings and contradictory theories about what caused USAir Flight 427 to crash, the National Transportation Safety Board said it would crack the case. 6 BIPARTISAN WELFARE PROPOSAL Leaders of the National Governors' Association devised a proposal to give states the option of devising their own welfare programs. 7 CONGRESSIONAL INQUIRY DELAYED The Republican leading the House investigation into the financial dealings of Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown said he would not hold hearings until late spring. 7 Beliefs: Class warfare and the decline of American values. 9 Metro Digest 21 POLICE MERGER IS CLOSER The last major obstacles to the merger of the transit police and the city police were removed when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved it and the transit union dropped its opposition to the plan. 1 CRAMMING FOR S.A.T.'S Long a tradition in Asia, where competition to get into a top university borders on the fanatic, cram schools have begun to appear in this country too, from Queens to New Jersey to Los Angeles. 1 Business Digest 33 Your Money 31-32 Arts/Entertainment 11-17 Sundance Film Festival. 11 Theater: "Arsenic and Old Lace." 11 Film: "Highlander: The Final Dimension." 16 Music: Cleveland Orchestra. 12 Sports 25-30 Baseball: Back to the bargaining table. 30 Basketball: Knicks' beaten. 25 Columns: Rhoden on Chargers. 25 Football: N.F.L. prospers. 25 Racing: Holy Bull is Horse of Year. 29 Tennis: Pierce wins first Grand Slam title. 25 Obituaries 10 George P. Baker, former dean of Harvard Business School. Editorials/Op-Ed 18-19 Editorials Police merger, public fears. Extend the nuclear firewall. A gift-free Congress? Escalating war on legal abortion. Letters Russell Baker: Joy in Burgville. Steven Rattner: Ivy and red tape. Richard S. Aronson: "I will die over here without someone to help." Adam Davidson and Brian A. Brown: India's valley of death. Neediest Cases 22 Chronicle 20 Bridge 15 Crossword 16

Full Article

World News Briefs; Burmese Army Captures Stronghold of Insurgents

Date: 28 January 1995

The Burmese Army today overran the jungle headquarters of one of the world's oldest insurgent groups, forcing thousands of refugees to flee across the border into Thailand. Diplomats said that as many as 15,000 Burmese soldiers were involved in the capture of the Manerplaw, the headquarters of the military arm of the Karen, an ethnic group that has been fighting for greater autonomy since 1948.

Full Article