Friday, May 21, 1999
Markets
Don't make eye contact with this market. It's bored, and looking for trouble. Without any positive data -- let alone role models -- to focus on, the indices replayed
yesterday's performances on light volume.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average
fell 37.46 to 10829.28; the
Nasdaq Composite Index
tumbled 22.12 to 2520.11; the
S&P 500
sank 8.54 to 1330.29; and TheStreet.com Internet Sector index stepped down 1.41 to 623.38.
Again paying no mind to proxy peer pressure, the
Russell 2000
rose 1.12 to 449.14.
The big European indices finished split, with Germany's
Dax
up modestly but London's
FTSE
and the Paris
CAC
closing slightly lower. In Brazil, the
Bovespa
sold off hard in afternoon trading, plummeting 3.4%.
Asian markets were mixed overnight, as Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
slipped 103.28 to 12,272.14, while Tokyo's
Nikkei
gained 92.99 to 16,292.98.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
AK Steel
(AKS) - Get Report
agreed to buy specialty steelmaker
Armco
(AS)
for about $842 million in stock.
The
Federal Reserve
last night approved
Deutsche Bank's
$10 billion takeover of
Bankers Trust
(BT)
, removing the deal's last major regulatory hurdle.
Chock Full o'Nuts
(CHF)
urged shareholders to reject
Sara Lee's
(SLE)
$10.50-a-share tender offer, calling it "an attempt by Sara Lee to acquire a competitor at a bargain price."
Fragrances and cosmetics firm
Coty
, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch consumer products firm
Benckiser
(BNV)
, is in preliminary talks to buy part or all of
Revlon
(REV) - Get Report
, according to
The New York Times
, which cited executives close to the negotiations.
Taking the bait of a $2.8 million relocation incentive plan,
Magellan Health Services
(MGL)
, the nation's largest behavioral health care manager, set plans to move its corporate headquarters to Columbia, Md., from Atlanta. The company said it expects to create 600 new jobs by the end of 2001.
Eager to arm the company with currency for future acquisitions,
MCI WorldCom
(WCOM)
shareholders yesterday approved a resolution to increase the number of shares the company can issue to 5 billion from 2.5 billion. Separately, CEO
Bernard Ebbers
said that he would not favor a stock split anytime soon.
Kevin Alibhai is resigning as president and COO of
Wyndham International
, the property management company whose shares are paired and traded with hotel REIT
Patriot American Hospitality
(PAH) - Get Report
.
Rental Service
(RSV)
still wants to merge, but not these ways. The equipment rental firm last night dropped its $430 million bid for
NationsRent
(NRI)
and urged its stockholders to reject a hostile $22.75 a share tender offer from
United Rentals
(URI) - Get Report
. Rental Service said it was hiring advisers to look at strategic alternatives for the company.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
Two tech IPOs had solid, if not spectacular, performances in their first day of trading.
AtPlan
(APLN:Nasdaq), a provider of Internet market research systems, rose 2, or 14.3%, to 16. And software company
Tenfold
(TENF:Nasdaq) gained 5 7/8, or 34.6%, to 22 7/8.
Feeling the pinch from slim boxmaking profit margins,
Gateway
(GTW)
yesterday said it will try to buy Internet companies and increase its focus on high-margin training and software products.
priceline.com
(PCLN)
gained 4 1/2 to 138 15/16 after
Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette
started coverage on it with a buy and a price target of 190.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
General News
NATO
war plans continued to hammer Yugoslavian targets, taking out fuel depots in Belgrade. The attacks caused incidental damage to the residence of the Swiss and Indian ambassadors, according to the Swedish newspaper
Aftonbladet
and the private
Beta
news agency.
The
Senate
yesterday approved a teen-crime bill with an amendment attached requiring background checks for those buying firearms at gun shows and pawn shops.
Vice President Gore
cast the tie-breaking vote.
International
It's official.
Olivetti
has gained majority control over
Telecom Italia
(TI)
in the largest hostile takeover ever pulled off in Europe.
The
Bank of Korea
released figures showing the South Korean economy expanding by 4.6%, the first expansion since 1997.
Minister of Finance and Economy Lee Kyu Sung
expressed his outlook as one of "conservative optimism."
Using its stake in mobile phone firm
One2One
as collateral, U.K. telecom giant
Cable & Wireless
(CWP)
is borrowing about $6.1 billion to make acquisitions and expand its network. C&W, which is currently in a bidding war with
Nippon Telegraph & Telephone
(NTT)
for Japan's
International Digital Communications
, will sell its 50% interest in One2One to a financing firm that will secure the loan from a consortium of banks, including
Bank of America
(BAC) - Get Report
,
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
and France's
Paribas
.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
Elsewhere
Imagine being able to watch
Oprah
while
attending class. The holy grail is now within the grasp of second-year MBA students at
Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management
, which this fall will offer a course co-taught by hometown hero Winfrey and her boyfriend, businessman Stedman Graham. But any students expecting a cakewalk may be in for a rude awakening, based on the blistering preview that Winfrey gave reporters yesterday of the course, titled "Dynamics of Leadership." Graham and Winfrey "share the same beliefs in the importance of dynamic leadership in this country," she said.
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