Friday, April 9, 1999
Markets
Not the kind of drama we're used to, but whaddya want? Thanks to big drag
Union Carbide
(UK)
, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
never got it going today. But investors sent the
S&P 500
and the
Nasdaq Composite Index
to records as memorable as
Cy Young's
478th and 479th wins. The Dow lost 23.86 to 10,173.84; the S&P 500 rose 4.37 to 1348.35; the Nasdaq added 19.66 to 2593.05; the small-cap
Russell 2000
jumped 5.97 to 405.86; and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index shot up 21.17 to close at 731.93.
TheStreet Recommends
Major European indices closed higher following yesterday's rate cut by the
European Central Bank
(see below). Asian markets were higher overnight, as Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
added 186.26 to 11,914.10 while Japan's
Nikkei
gained 8.94 to 16,855.63 after breaking through the 17,000 barrier in early trading.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
Good news for
American Home Products
(AHP)
in the first ever fen-phen suit to go to trial. The company today settled a lawsuit by a 52-year-old woman charging that the diet drug caused her to suffer heart valve damage. AHP will pay a tiny fraction of the $110 million originally sought in the suit -- $500,000, according to
The Dallas Morning News
, which cited unidentified sources.
Medical device maker
Medtronic
(MDT) - Get Medtronic Plc Report
today said that its
GFX2
stent system has been approved by the
Food and Drug Administration
.
Citing unsatisfactory Phase III clinical trials, biotech
Genentech
(GNE) - Get Genie Energy Ltd. Class B Report
said it will not file for FDA approval of its recombinant human nerve growth factor. The company also said it is discussing with a California district attorney a $50 million settlement of charges that it promoted its human growth hormone from 1985 to 1994 for uses not approved by the FDA.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
Here's something to think about over the weekend:
Compaq Computer
(CPQ)
has sent out a first-quarter earnings warning. The company estimates earnings of 15 cents a share, well under expectations of 31 cents a share.
Internet IPOs don't seem to be cooling down at all. Today's three Net offerings smoked out of the gates: Online teen clothing retailer
iTurf
(TURF)
shot up 35 1/2 to 57 1/2; software maker
Extreme Networks
(EXTR) - Get Extreme Networks, Inc. Report
gained 38 3/8 to 55 3/8; and
USinternetworking
(USIX)
rose 36 1/8 to 57 1/8.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
General News
The U.S. today issued its target list of European imports on which it will impose punitive tariffs of $191.4 million. Left off were such originally target products as Italian pecorino cheese, Scottish cashmere sweaters and British sweet biscuits.
Niger's President,
Ibrahim Bare Mainassara
, has been assassinated by members of his personal guard, according to
Radio France Internationale
and foreign diplomats.
Former Cypriot President
Spyros Kyprianou
told reporters today that he had failed to secure the release of the three captured U.S. soldiers after a 90-minute meeting with Yugoslav President
Slobodan Milosevic
. Kyprianou said that the recently intensification of NATO's air campaign made the mission "more difficult."
The
Labor Department
today released the
Producer Price Index
, which increased 0.2% for the month of March, 1 percentage point below economists' expectations.
International
Goaaaaaaaaaa -- er, no goal. The U.K.
Department of Trade and Industry
has blocked
British Sky Broadcasting's
(BSY)
$1 billion acquisition of English soccer team
Manchester United
, citing concerns that the deal would give BSkyB too much control over soccer broadcast rights.
A
Goldman Sachs
investment fund will buy 20% of South Korea's
Kookmin Bank
for about $500 million, according to
Bloomberg News
, which cited a person familiar with the deal. The purchase would give Goldman a controlling interest in Kookmin, South Korea's largest retail bank.
About 9,500
Bell Canada
workers went on strike at 12:01 a.m. today, lobbying for higher wages and more job security. Bell Canada, a
BCE
unit, plans to cut 1,400 operator jobs when it sells its operator business to
Excell Global Service
.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
Elsewhere
Having come to a financial agreement with her father, and dissolving a protective order against him as well, star gymnast
Dominique Moceanu
yesterday expressed her hopes for "a chance that some day things in my family can be normal again." An unsettling vision of normalcy indeed, considering that Moceanu sued for her father for independence on charges that he squandered all her earnings over 10 years, and sought a restraining order against him he was being investigating for allegedly trying to hire killers to murder two of her friends.
Have a dumb question relating to finance? Great. Have a
really
dumb question? Even better. Send it to
MonEmailbag@thestreet.com, and I'll do my best to answer every Saturday. Include your full name, and please, no questions seeking personal financial advice or regarding personal brokerage disputes. And this reminder: Because of the volume of mail, personal replies can't be guaranteed.
Click
here to read last Saturday's MonEmailbag.
