A Y2K Deadlines Tiptoes By; AOL Plans AOL-TV
Those dreading the time bomb known as the Year 2000 computer bug may find some solace in another digital deadline that passed with little fanfare this weekend.
No widespread disruptions were reported when the clock governing navigational satellites was reset to zero at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday,
Reuters
reports. The satellites allow people to pinpoint their location through a network called the
Global Positioning System, or GPS. The GPS clocks started ticking on Jan. 6, 1980, with a digital odometer reading 0000, measuring the passage of each week.
In other weekend news,
Gordon Bethune
has a solution to the flight delays plaguing airports this summer: hand over the U.S. air traffic control system to the private sector.
Bethune, chairman of
Continental Airlines
(CAL) - Get Report
, told
ABC News'
"This Week" Sunday that federal budgeting is to blame for outdated air traffic equipment. U.S. airports have seen a 40% increase in flight delays from April to July this year,
Reuters
reports.
Bruce Willis
,
Sylvestor Stallone
and
Arnold Schwarzenegger
are used to saving the planet on the silver screen, but now
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal
wants to succeed where they've failed: saving
Planet Hollywood
(PHL)
. The Saudi billionaire told
Reuters
on Sunday that he had invested $10 million in an attempt to rescue the ailing franchise. The investment raises the prince's stake in the chain to 20% from 16%.
America Online
(AOL)
may soon appear on a different type of line: CEO
Steve Case
told Germany's
Focus
magazine Sunday that AOL is planning a television channel called
AOL-TV
. The channel would feature email and chat-room services and would be transmitted via cable lines and not over the Internet.
Forget next year's Olympics in Sydney. Japan is poised to defeat France in a much bigger test of international might: who will be home to the world's largest bank.
Societe Generale
reaffirmed its opposition Sunday to a merger with
Banque Nationale de Paris
. French regulators will decide Tuesday what to make of BNP's recent three-way takeover bid, which won approval from
Banque Paribas
investors but not SG.
Japan's
Dai-Ichi Kangyo
,
Industrial Bank of Japan
and
Fuji Bank
want to create a banking group whose assets would top $1.3 trillion.
The
Federal Reserve
will likely raise short-term interest rates when it meets Tuesday afternoon. A
Reuters
poll found that 29 of 30 Wall Street bond dealers expect a quarter percentage point increase.
Versatility has outmuscled strength in
Ford's
(T) - Get Report
new advertising campaign. The company has adopted "No Boundaries" as the slogan for its emerging line of sport utility vehicles, replacing the long-running "Built Ford Tough,"
Reuters
reports.
Ford, meanwhile, has not decided yet whether to keep open its Bridgend plant in South Wales. The British government has offered a 30 million pounds ($48.5 million) incentive package, the U.K's
Sunday Business
newspaper reported. A Ford spokesman told
Reuters
the company would probably make a decision this fall.
In the Papers
Internet companies may be blazing, but they don't float the
S&P 500's
boat. That's according to
David Blitzer
, head of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index committee at
McGraw-Hill
. Blitzer tells
Barron's
that the S&P generally admits companies whose "float," or percentage of stock belonging to the public, tops 50%.
priceline.com
(PCLN)
,
Amazon.com
(AMZN) - Get Report
and
eBay
(EBAY) - Get Report
don't make the grade;
Yahoo
(YHOO)
comes closest, with a float of 54%.
Likely entrants to the S&P this year,
Merrill Lynch
equity derivatives strategist
Diane Garnick
tells
Barron's
, include
Biogen
(BGEN)
,
Immunex
(IMNX)
,
Xilinx
(XLNX) - Get Report
and
Level 3 Communications
(LVLT)
. She also names
Telephone & Data Systems
(TDS) - Get Report
,
First Tennessee National
(FTN)
,
Old Kent Financial
(OK)
,
T. Rowe Price
(TROW) - Get Report
and
ServiceMaster
(SVM) - Get Report
as possible candidates.
Boeing
(BA) - Get Report
may team up with Chinese airlines to build its new 717 jet, the
Sunday Times
in London reports. Boeing wants to make the 717 the dominant plane among airlines in China, the
Times
said.
Meanwhile, the head of
Boullion Aviation Services
predicts a slump in commercial jetliner orders during the next two years. CEO
Robert Genise
told
Reuters
the industry may get some help from Asia's improving economy. Boullion is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Deutsche Bank AG
.
Despite a fierce investor backlash,
Georgia-Pacific
(GP)
could bounce back from its recent takeover of packaging distributor
Unisource Worldwide
,
Barron's
reports. Georgia-Pacific, a forest and paper giant, saw its stock price plunge to $43 from $49 a day after it announced the buyout earlier this year. Georgia-Pacific CEO
Pete Correll
told
Barron's
he expects to recoup his cost of capital by cutting $75 million in cost savings from Unisource the first year and saving another $75 million in 2000 as a result of synergy.
Britain's
Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation
has rejected a 7 billion-pound ($11.3 billion) offer from
Carnival
(CCL) - Get Report
, the world's largest cruise line operator, London's
Financial Mail
reported Sunday. Carnival was said to be mainly interested in P&O's cruise business,
Princess
, the newspaper said.
Broker
Edward Jones
plans to open offices in Ireland as part of an effort to expand into Europe,
The Sunday Tribune
in Dublin reports. No dates have been announced.
The New York Times
reported Saturday that
Carolina Power & Light
(CPL) - Get Report
, North Carolina's second-largest utility, may soon buy
Florida Progress
(FPC)
for $5.3 billion. The newspaper, quoting unnamed sources, said a deal could be announced as early as Monday.
David Rheingold is a New York-based freelance writer. At the time of publication he had no positions in any of the securities mentioned, although holdings can change at any time.
