Monday, April 26, 1999
Markets
Russian Prime Minister
Yevgeny Primakov
has got to be seeing red. As a Russian delegation arrived in Washington to resume its ongoing and agonizing bid for a $4.8 billion in
International Monetary Fund
funding -- a loan that would let Russia merely pay the interest on the $20 billion the IMF has lent it over the eight years --
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
added another $9.3 billion to its market cap. That's about an extra $35 billion over the past three trading days.
Equities rocked, and, once again, it was all about tech. Largely on the strength of Big Blue, which gained 10 3/8 to 210 1/8, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
closed up 28.92 to 10,718.59; the Nasdaq Composite Index rocketed up 61.44 to 2652.13, a new record; the S&P 500 rose 3.19 to a record 1360.04; the small-cap
Russell 2000
added another 3.24 to close at 434.97; and
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index shot up 34.55 to 714.27.
Major European indices finished higher, and Asian markets were mixed overnight. Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
blew through the 13K barrier, jumping 221.72 to 13,127.02, while Japan's
Nikkei
fell a puny 4.74 to 16,918.51.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
Harvey Golub
told employees in a letter today that he will retire as CEO of
American Express
(AXP) - Get Report
in 2001, to be replaced by President
Ken Chenault
. Golub said he will stay on as chairman for a year after he leaves as CEO.
Energy East
(NEG)
, an electric utility based in Albany, N.Y., is buying
Connecticut Energy
(CNE)
for about $430 million in stock, cash and debt.
If the securities industry will not come to the mountain, the mountain will come to the securities industry.
First Union
(FTU)
has set plans to buy
Everen Capital
(EVR) - Get Report
for about $1.1 billion in stock.
Paper company
Fort James
(FJ)
agreed to sell its packaging operations to
ACX Technologies
(ACX)
for about $830 million. The deal will make ACX the largest folding carton maker in the U.S.
Global Crossing
(GBLX)
set plans to buy
Cable & Wireless'
(CWP)
cable installation unit,
Global Marine
, for about $885 million in cash and debt. The deal will reduce Global Crossing's reliance on outside contractors to lay its cables.
Southwest Gas
(SWX) - Get Report
accepted natural gas concern
Oneok's
(OKE) - Get Report
sweetened takeover offer of $912.3 million, or $30 a share. Southwest Gas hit the bid despite a bigger offer -- $32 a share -- from
Southern Union
(SUG)
, saying Oneok was better able to fund Southwest's growth and less likely to hit regulatory snags.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
Tech
Continuing its move into the communications equipment sector, U.K. manufacturing conglomerate
General Electric PLC
agreed to buy U.S. switching gear maker
Fore Systems
(FORE)
for about $4.5 billion in cash. Last month General Electric PLC signed a $2.1 billion cash deal for
Reltec
(RLT)
.
Online auctioneer
eBay
(EBAY) - Get Report
is buying San Francisco-based auction house
Butterfield & Butterfield
for about $260 million.
E*Trade
(EGRP)
, which last week reported strong second-quarter earnings and set a stock split, is claiming 1 million customer accounts.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
General News
Yugoslavia Deputy Premier
Vuk Draskovic
said he believes President
Slobodan Milosevic
is ready to accept a peace deal including an occupation of Kosovo by
NATO
troops. Milosevic has shown no interest in such a deal in the past.
The
Supreme Court
agreed to hear the
Food and Drug Administration's
appeal of a lower court ruling that it does not have the authority to institute new regulations limiting the availability and marketing appeal of cigarettes to children. The FDA wants to ban cigarette companies' sponsorship of sporting events and limit the industries' use of vending machines, but a Supreme Court victory would give the agency the legal authority to limit the nicotine in cigarettes, and possibly even ban them altogether -- a course the FDA has said it has no intention of pursuing.
NATO
missiles finished off a previously damaged bridge in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia's second-largest city. The bridge was the last standing of three rail and road crossings into the city. Meanwhile, the Rev.
Jesse Jackson
may be planning to meet with President Milosevic along with a group of Serbian-American ministers, Muslim clerics and rabbis, according to the
International Herald Tribune
.
The IMF yesterday approved a plan to make contingent credit lines available to countries before crises begin. Meanwhile, IMF Managing Director
Michel Camdessus
joined financier
George Soros
in pronouncing the global financial crisis dead; Camdessus said that while he couldn't nail down the "prolonged effect" the crisis will have in affected countries, the world financial crisis "seems to be" over.
International
U.K. electicity generator
PowerGen
(PWG)
said it hopes to sell two coal-fired power plants by the end of the week in a deal reportedly worth about $2.1 billion.
The Sunday Telegraph
yesterday reported that U.S. utility company
Edison Mission Energy
(EIX) - Get Report
had won an auction for the plants.
The
Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association
trade group released figured showing Japanese auto production at 9.97 million units for fiscal 1998, down 7.5% from the previous year and the lowest level since fiscal 1978.
Japan Telecom
yesterday confirmed that global titans
British Telecom
(BTY)
and
AT&T
(T) - Get Report
are each taking a 15% stake in it. The deal is worth 220 billion yen, or $1.85 billion, and marks the first big foreign incursion in the deregulating Japanese telecom sector. Japan Telecom said it will place directors from both companies on its board.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
Elsewhere
Businessman
Daniel Snyder
has inked a deal to buy the
Washington Redskins
with the trustees for the estate of late owner
Jack Kent Cooke
, according to
The Washington Post
, which cited persons familiar with the negotiations. The paper also wrote that Snyder will keep coach
Norv Turner
and general manager
Charley Casserly
for at least one season if the $800 million deal, which includes Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, is approved.
Woody Allen
and wife
Soon-Yi Previn
appeared over the weekend strolling a 5-month-old baby girl up and down Park Avenue. The New York
Daily News
and the
New York Post
each photographed the pair and noted that Previn had not appeared pregnant recently. No joke, er, word on whether the mystery baby, named
Bechet Dumaine Allen
, was adopted.
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