Thursday, December 31, 1998
Markets
Stocks opened relatively flat, with major indices staying near yesterday's closes. Blue-chips and Internet stocks were modestly lower, while other tech stocks and small-caps traded slightly higher.
Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
ended the year down 72.86 to close at 10,048.58.
For more markets action and news, click
here.
Companies
The
Justice Department
gave
AT&T
(
(T) - Get Report
T:NYSE) the green light for its acquisition of cable company
Tele-Communications
(
(TCOMA)
TCOMA:Nasdaq). The
Federal Communications Commission
has yet to sign off on the deal.
Boeing
(
(BA) - Get Report
BA:NYSE) announced that it has delivered a company-record 550 commercial jets this year to meet its 1998 goal.
The
Federal Trade Commission
conditionally approved
British Petroleum's
(
(BP) - Get Report
BP:NYSE ADR) purchase of
Amoco
(
(AN) - Get Report
AN:NYSE). But FTC boss
Robert Pitofsky
said that it would be dangerous for the oil industry to consolidate any further.
CBS
(
(CBS) - Get Report
CBS:NYSE) is selling its 50% stake in the
CBS Eye on People
cable network to partner
Discovery Communications
.
The
Justice Department
joined a second whistleblower suit charging
Columbia/HCA Healthcare
(
(COL)
COL:NYSE) with attempting to defraud government healthcare programs.
Real estate investment trust
Hospitality Properties Trust
(
(HPT)
HPT:NYSE) said that it will buy 17 hotels from
Marriott International
(
(MAR) - Get Report
MAR:NYSE) for $201.7 million.
For more news on companies and stocks, click
here.
International
Ministers from 11
European Union
nations met today in Brussels to decide the rates at which their currencies will be converted into euros.
State spending on public works helped China's economy grow by 7.8% in 1998, down by 1% from 1997's pace.
Payment agent
BankAmerica
(
(BAC) - Get Report
BAC:NYSE) officially declared Russia to be in default for missing a $363 million payment on $26 billion in loans owed to a group of about 600 Western commercial creditors. Meanwhile, government figures measured Russian inflation at 84% for 1998.
Nomura Securities
said it will pare back its loss-taking overseas operations in 1999 by cutting about 20% of its workforce in Europe and the Americas.
For more international news and commentary, click
here.
Tech
New evidence in the antitrust trial against
Microsoft
(
(MSFT) - Get Report
MSFT:Nasdaq) reveals that
Intuit
(
(INTU) - Get Report
INTU:Nasdaq) founder Scott Cook told his board of directors in 1994 to fear Microsoft's response if its takeover bid were rejected.
Quickturn Design Systems
(
(QKTN)
QKTN:Nasdaq) rejected software maker
Mentor Graphics'
(
(MENT)
MENT:Nasdaq) new takeover offer.
Telecom service provider
RCN
(
(RCNC)
RCNC:Nasdaq) will combine its four Internet service provider businesses into a single entity branded
RCN.com
.
For more tech news and commentary, click
here.
Politics
Despite recent conflagrations, the
Pentagon
said that it is reducing the U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel has closed the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv after receiving "credible" terrorist threats.
The
United Nations
is evacuating staff from Huambo, Angola, in the wake of a rebel attack that wounded 20 civilians.
Cambodia's
King Norodom Sihanouk
yesterday opposed amnesty for two Khmer Rouge leaders after Prime Minister
Hun Sen
said he would not try them for crimes against humanity.
A county grand jury said yesterday that it found no evidence of conspiracy in the Oklahoma City bombing.
Elsewhere
Jean-Claude Forest
, creator of the comic strip character Barbarella, has died at the age of 68.
The union for
National Basketball Association
players is preparing its final offer to the team owners' negotiating committee.
