Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 27

THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC COMPLETE MUTUALS Daily, weekly quotations for listed mutual funds. E2. ARIZONA EARNINGS Quarterly results from several Arizona-based companies. E6. SATURDAY MAY 14, 1994 Editor.r Don Nicoson 271-8142 Inside TODAY Bank (Me wins Great American bid o)Tf F(S FOUNDERS FUNDS HAVE UNRIVALED RECORD By Barbara Deters The Arizona Republic Bank One Arizona, the state's biggest bank, became even larger Friday night with the acquisition of nearly all of the Arizona operations of Great American Bank.

Bank One, which has 206 o'ffices, was the winning bidder for 58 of the 60 Arizona branches of San Diego-based Great American, a failed thrift that the federal Resolution Trust Corp. has been operating since taking it over in 1991. The $49.4 million purchase price represents an estimated 3.7 percent of Great American's deposits. Washington Federal Savings Bank of Seattle, the second- largest thrift in Washington state, purchased Great American's remaining two branches in Tucson. Bank One outbid Norwest Bank Arizona, which many industry observers had expected to win.

"Norwest is probably a bit irritated at this point because there aren't a lot of opportunities left to expand in the (Arizona) market," said Jay Tejera, banking analyst in Seattle for Minneapolis-based Dain Bosworth. Norwest, which announced Thursday that it would buy the four-office Bank of Scottsdale, had sought unsuccessfully to buy Chase Bank of Arizona. Bank analysts and industry observers said a significant overlap in branch locations between Great American and Bank One will prompt the new owner to close many branches. "I think you will see Bank One look at overlapping branches and spin some off and consolidate others," said Gordon Murphy, executive vice president of the Arizona Bankers Association. Bank One spokesman Steve Roman said, "We've got some branches that are next door to each other.

But we're not prepared to say what we'll do about that yet." The prospect of consolidating many branches enabled Bank One to submit a stronger bid than Norwest, Tejera said. See BANK ONE, page E6 Russ Wiles' column, E2 LATE TRADING "After-hours trading," where stocks are sold after 4 p.m. Eastern time, can alter prices. Susan Bondy's column, E3 SUNDAY Banks slow to hike rates for savings PLUGGQMN INVESTING MONEY TO LEND Big banks, which historically have ignored small businesses, are joining their smaller competitors in viewing small business as a gold mine for loan growth. UPDATE The Associated Press NEW YORK Banks lost no time raising the rates they charge borrowers after the Federal Reserve Board began boosting short-term interest rates in February.

But when it comes to paying customers more interest on money in their checking and savings accounts, bankers have been dragging their feet. Interest rates on money-market accounts, the prevailing form of bank-savings accounts, are averaging 2.34 percent, nearly unchanged since the Fed began to raise interest rates. At the same time, rates on some mortgages have shot up two percentage points. "Banks should give consumers a break and increase interest paid on savings accounts," said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America, a Washington lobbying group. In a study released May 3, the lobbying group contended that banks have underpaid savers by more than $3 billion this year, including $500 million in April.

The study based its calculations on the widening gap between interest rates for loans and those for savings accounts. Rates on 30-year fixed mortgages are at 8.65 percent, compared with 6.83 percent in February, according to a survey of the nation's largest lenders by Bank Rate Monitor, a financial publication. On the other hand, banks were paying an average of 3.08 percent on 6-month CDs in the past week, compared with 2.78 percent in February. Two-year CDs are paying 4.03 percent, compared with 3.56 percent in February. In the low-rate environment of the past few years, banks have been racking up profits on "spreads," the difference between their cost of borrowing and the interest they pay customers.

"In the new rising-rate environment, they are not about to give up those spreads," said Bob Heady, publisher of Bank Rate Monitor. Bankers don't deny that deposit rates remain low. But bankers claim they are not gouging consumers. First, they say, not all banks have raised interest rates significantly on all loans. Competition and slow growth in loan demand have prompted many lenders to keep rates low on some types of credit.

Also, bankers complain that too few consumers and businesses are seeking loans. Demand for consumer loans, while fairly healthy in some areas of the nation, is not growing. Demand for business loans remains slack, despite a healthier economy. Tech stocks slump Stocks ended Friday's session mixed, helped by positive inflation news but hampered by a rout in technology issues. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.84, to 3,659.68, but posted a loss of 9.82 for the week.

Story and chart, DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS 6.84 J)' Page E3. Caterpillar calls for talks Home computers allow tracking of stock portfolio Caterpillar Inc. said Friday that it is ready to reopen contract talks with the United Auto Workers if the union agrees to a binding membership vote on whatever By Kevin Osbourn Knight-Ridder Tribune contract is on-the table at the end of an agreed period. The company said it would pull its previous offer off the table before EXINGTON, Ky. A chart flashed on the screen for the Lexington Investors Club, showing how its shares of Compaq Computer had nearly doubled to $108.

negotiations, but UAW officials complained that Caterpillar attached a brand new set of mm conditions and demands for any new talks. At a glance Sprint Corp. and Electronic Data Systems Corp. are discussing an alliance that would unite their respective capabilities in telecommunications and computers, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Both companies declined to comment.

New York-based Loral Corp. said its new electronic-assembly plant in Litchfield Park will build guidance and control systems for 811 of its AIM-9 MS Sidewinder missiles being sold to the U.S. Navy under a LSI 7.5 million contract for delivery to the governments of Finland, Taiwan, Belgium and Turkey. Compiled by Robert Ogle from reports by The Arizona Republic, The Associated Press and Bloomberg Business News. COMPUTER STOCK TIPS If you are thinking of analyzing stocks with a computer, here are tips from Home Office Computing magazine: Figure out what your investment philosophy is.

Pick products that match your style. If you are the type of investor who focuses on earnings and new products, which people call fundamental analysis, you might be happy joining the major on-line services such as CompuServe (1-800-848-8199) or buying programs such as Stock Selection Plus from the National Association of Investors Corp. (H313543-0612). The American Association of Individual Investors offers a publication called The Individual Investor's Guide to Computerized Investing ($19 for members and $24.95 for non-members). Call H3122800170.

The group also publishes a bimonthly publication on investing with a computer. Reality Technologies has a program called WealthBuilder that is one of the most comprehensive pieces of investment software. The retail price is $110. It starts by asking users to set long-term family goals and evaluates your risk tolerance. It can even be set up to ring bells when certain events occur such as the resignation of the manager of Fidelity's Magellan Fund.

Some discount brokers allow on line investors to key in their own trades without ever talking to a real Knight-Ridder Tribunt With the help of new software the club bought called Investors Toolkit, members did not have to spend hours plotting the stock's performance by hand. Using the software, they instantly plugged into data from the National Association of Investors which contains stock-selection statistics on 1,000 companies. A computer-generated graph showed Compaq's earnings were exceeding the club's estimates. It decided to wait until the results of the most current quarter arrived before selling any Compaq stock. Will Berkley, a club member, uses his computer at home to get stock quotes and any news about those companies.

He also logs on to send financial questions to tax experts, portfolio managers and financial writers. "It's been a good learning experience," he said. "You get excited when you buy something and it goes up." With computer prices falling and more databases than ever being available, more ordinary people are acquiring the tools of professional investors. They are using home computers to do their own research, check up on their stocks and even to order their own trades. Investment software can be divided into many categories.

Programs enable people to perform portfolio management and record keeping. Others actually help plan finances and analyze the quality of stocks. The American Association of Individual Investors counts more than 500 investment programs and more than 160 related databases on the market for the personal investor. The trick is to find the right program to meet your needs without spending too much. If you only have a few shares and check stock prices infrequently, personal-finance programs such as Quicken or Managing Your Money should suffice, according to the MacHome Journal.

They provide a handle on basic financial questions, along with places to enter stock prices and commissions to calculate gains or losses. They do little in accessing research data, business newt or historical pricing. MacHome Journal recommends that those ith a diversified portfolio seek more sophisticated help. "The hot tips for investors these days are on-iine," the magazine says in its May issue. "To hook up you need a modem (roughly $200) and membership in an on-line service." Major services such as Prodigy and America Online carry financial data and bulletin-board areas on the latest tips and market direction.

For fees in the range of $8 to $23 month, investors can obtain stock quotes, business news, kr SOFTWARE, page lb As a result, banks have no need for deposits, so they are unlikely to try to attract savers with higher interest rates on savings. Inflation rate best in 28 years Th Associated Press WASHINGTON Consumer prices inched up 0.1 percent in April as the country's underlying inflation rate turned in its best 12-month performance in 28 years, the government said Friday. The bctter-than-expcctcd April inflation performance reflected falling prices for energy, clothing and fruits and vegetables. These more than offset the steepest one-month jump in medical costs in nearly a year. Private economists said inflation remains subdued even though economic growth has picked up momentum.

"The consumer price report was outstanding, showing broad-based moderation," said Stephen Roach, senior economist at Morgan Stanley Co. in New York. The government reported that, excluding volatile energy and food costs, prices rose a modest 0.2 percent in April. For the past 12 months, this so-called core rate of inflation has risen just 2.8 percent, the lowest since a 2.4 percent increase was recorded for the 12 months ending in June 1966. The only category to exhibit price pressures last month was medical care, which jumped 0.6 percent, the steepest increase since a 0.7 percent rise last May.

Despite the encouraging overall performance, analysts said they remain convinced that the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates when central-bank policy-makers meet Tuesday. Economists said the Fed is hoping a more dramatic move will show financial markets that it has not been too slow in curbing economic gaiw th before such growth could trigger a new round of inflation. "The Fed is going to move," said Kurt Karl, an economist at the WEFA Group in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. BUSINESS DATABANK Friday's prices in New York trading as of 4 p.m. EDT.

If you only have a few shares and check stock prices infrequently, personal-finance programs such as Quicken or Managing Your Money should suffice, according to the MacHome Journal. The magazine recommends that those with a diversified portfolio seek more, sophisticated help. The hot tips for investors these days are on-line the magazine says. To hook up you need a modem (roughly $200) and membership in an on-line ONE U.S. DOLLAR EQUALS: a flD Japantss yen German mark! 1.6695 lip from 1.6W5.

Canadian dollars U773 Down from 1.3797. 105.05 i frnm fv Up 104.: 1.30. GOLO $380.70 4 SILVER $5,400 a any ounce Mi a troy ounce. III! i t'pfrom 11 1 1 I'p from $.179.90. OIL $18.21 a barrel of light, iweet crude for June delivery.

Down from $18.28. FEDERAL FUNDS MKT. RATE: 3.9375 ITm Arizona Republic 3.