Thursday, May 27, 1999
Markets
Johnson & Johnson
(JNJ) - Get Johnson & Johnson Report
, up 1/4, or a whopping 0.28%, to 90 1/4.
That concludes the list of positive closes in the
Dow Jones Industrial Average
today. Every other stock, except perhaps for break-even Steven
Boeing
(BA) - Get The Boeing Company Report
, did its part in helping that blue-chip index plummet 235.23 to 10,466.93, not to mention throwing into relief the
aberrant character of
yesterday's surprise blue-chip rally. The S&P 500 got rocked, too, closing down 23.35 to 1281.41.
Other indices took less dramatic damage. The
Nasdaq Composite Index
8.04 to 2419.14; the smallish-cap
Russell 2000
dropped 2.49 to 432.92; and
TheStreet Recommends
TheStreet.com Internet Sector
index pulled back 12.63 to 559.38.
In other U.S. markets news, the
National Association of Securities Dealers'
board today approved a proposal to establish a late trading session for the
Nasdaq Stock Market
and
American Stock Exchange
. The second session would run Monday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. EST to as late as 10 p.m. EST. The
Securities Exchange Commission
still needs to approve the proposal.
The big European indices finished squarely in the red, led by the Frankfurt
Dax
, which lost about 1.5%. In Brazil, the volatile
Bovespa
was down about 2.5% entering the afternoon session.
Asian markets were weak overnight, as Hong Kong's
Hang Seng
dropped 100.63 to 12,308.53, and Tokyo's
Nikkei
fell 53.3 to 16,177.19.
More markets action and news is available in
TSC's
Markets section.
Companies
Bermuda-based insurer
Ace
(ACL)
said it plans to acquire specialty reinsurer
Capital Re
(KRE) - Get SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF Report
for about $606 million in stock.
Chevron's
(CHV)
negotiations to buy
Texaco
(TX) - Get Ternium S.A. American Depositary Shares (each representing ten shares USD1.00 par value) Report
in a $42.8 billion stock deal have come to a standstill because of issues of who would lead the combined entity and how to deal with Texaco's joint ventures with refineries and service stations, according to
The Wall Street Journal
, which cited people familiar with the talks.
Moving into the league lead with a two-day acquisition streak,
Charter Communications
, a subsidiary of
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
co-founder
Paul Allen's
umbrella company
Vulcan Northwest
, is buying Denver cable firm
Fanch Communications
for more than $2 billion. Yesterday Charter agreed to buy closely held
Falcon Cable
for $3.6 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt.
Radio broadcaster
Infinity Broadcasting
(INF) - Get Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure Income Fund Inc. Report
, 82% of which is owned by
CBS
(CBS) - Get CBS Corporation Class B Report
, is buying billboard company
Outdoor Systems
(OSI)
for about $8.3 billion in stock and assumed debt.
TSC
columnist
James Cramer
almost dipped into his Percodan stash on
the news.
The
Federal Trade Commission
approved the $13.5 billion combination of supermarkets
Kroger
(KR) - Get Kroger Company (The) Report
and
Fred Meyer
(FMY) - Get First Trust Motgage Income Fund of Beneficial Interest Report
. The deal will create the nation's largest grocery chain.
Northrop Grumman
(NOC) - Get Northrop Grumman Corporation Report
agreed to buy
Allegheny Teledyne
(ALT) - Get Altimmune Inc. Report
unit
Ryan Aeronautical
, which makes airborne reconnaissance and surveillance systems for the military, for $140 million in cash.
REIT
Patriot American Hospitality
(PAH) - Get Element Solutions, Inc. Report
and paired management company
Wyndham International
set the terms of the spinoff of
Interstate Hotels
. Wyndham will distribute 92% of Interstate to shareholders as a dividend, and retain the remaining 8% jointly with
Marriott International
(MAR) - Get Marriott International Report
.
Pharma firm
Pfizer
(PFE) - Get Pfizer Inc. Report
named Henry McKinnell COO and president and elected John Niblack vice chairman.
More news on companies and stocks is available in
TSC's
Stock News section.
Tech
Software company
NetIQ
filed yesterday with the SEC to raise about $46 million in an IPO.
Take that fork out of the Internet boom -- it's not done yet. Spanish language Web portal
StarMedia Networks
(STRM) - Get Streamline Health Solutions Inc. Report
rocketed up 19 3/8, or 74.5%, to 45 3/8 in its second day of trading.
Yahoo!
(YHOO)
is buying Internet access software maker
Encompass
in a $130 million pooling-of-interests deal.
More tech news and commentary is available in
TSC's
Tech Stocks section.
General News
The
Commerce Department
released figures showing
gross domestic product
growing at a 4.1% clip for the first quarter of 1999, 0.2 percentage points below expectations and down from the previous quarter's 6% increase.
The
Labor Department
said that
initial jobless claims
for the week ended May 22 totaled 300,000, in line with expectations and essentially unchanged from the week earlier.
The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal has indicted President
Slobodan Milosevic
and four others for atrocities in Kosovo, marking the first time an international court brought such charges against a sitting head of state. The
United Nations
has already issued arrest warrants for Milosevic for war crimes allegedly committed this year in Kosovo.
International
Deutsche Bank
is buying
Telecolumbus
, Germany's second-largest cable TV network, from diversified German companies
Veba
and
RWE
for about $773 million in cash and debt. Deutsche's strategy is to bundle several companies' cable assets into a single company and sell it to investors.
An Amsterdam court upheld
Gucci's
(GUC)
sale of a 42% stake to
Pinault-Printemps-Redoute
against the complaints of
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton
(LVMHY)
, but the court also annulled a Gucci employee stock option plan that diluted LVMH's stake in the company. LVMH said it will take its case to another Amsterdam court.
More international news and commentary is available in
TSC's
International section.
Elsewhere
Three men turned themselves in to Wisconsin police yesterday for stealing a print of
Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace
from a theater last weekend. The print's black-market value has been estimated at more than $60,000 -- still a hefty discount to the full admission price for the film in Manhattan.
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.
The
latest MonEmailbag ran Saturday in
TSC's
Commentary section.
