Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 28

Today's tip 8B Thursday, March 17, 1988 Reno Gazette-Journal BUSINESS EDITOR: JIM GOLD, 788-6322 usines Your Travel Dollar tells how to budget your vacation. Write Money Management Institute, Household Financial Services, 2700 Sanders Road, Dept. CT, Prospect Heights, III. 60070. Cost: $1.

lycttion Hlousiimg, pom Venture capitalists set to invest more NEW YORK A group of venture capitalists recently polled will nave an average of HI. 8 million to invest in growing companies this year, up 11 percent from the average earmarked for investments last year, according to a study released Wednesday. Grant Thornton, the accounting and management consulting firm that conducted Mortgage rate turnaround forecast Experts: economic prospects brighter By Jonathan PetersonLos Angelas Times Prospects that the U.S. economy will avoid a recession this year appeared to iteKTOdnesday, as the government the survey, noted that 93 percec of ctrnncr rahnunri in hnueintr fepor of the 183 venture capital firms tnat responded said they ft ijbruary as well as a gain in output for the fifth straight rasina anticipate receiving more month. numbers were stronger than "Both grew at a modest 0.2 percent pace for the month.

The new statistics, while lackluster by some interpretations, nonetheless follow other clues that the economy retains more vitality than had been foreseen after the crash. Analysts have cited strong employment growth and auto sales this year, for example, as signs that the United States may make it through 1988 without tumbling into a recession. "Looking at all the pieces, I think it shows that the economy is still firmly launched on a growth track," declared Norman Robertson, chief economist with the Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. To further confound those who saw 1988 as a year of economic gloom were two surveys of business expectations released Wednesday. The more upbeat was a poll of 1,500 executives by Dun Bradstreet, a New York research concern, which found the executives were increasingly optimistic that sales and profits would rise in the coming months.

A separate survey of 398 employers by the Bureau of National Affairs, a publishing company, yielded more mixed results. See ECONOMY, page 5B and both of them tell us that expected central bank, may have to boost interest rates later this year to head off a new bout of inflation. Some real estate experts think that mortgage rates will surge in April if there is a strong spring home-buying season. Strong home-loan demand could boost fixed rates by two-thirds of a percentage point between now and June, according to Robert K. Heady, publisher of the Bank Rate Monitor in North Palm Beach, Fla.

In the meantime, though, U.S. home-buyers are enjoying the lowest home mortgage rates in about a year. Most fixed rates are hovering around 10 percent, but the lowest ones have tumbled into single digits. Far West Savings Loan in Newport Beach, has undercut its major competitors in California with a 30-year fixea-rate loan of 9.98 percent a bargain rate that has boosted loan business See MORTGAGES, page 5B By Tom FurlongLos Angeles Times Interest rates on fixed-payment home loans, in a slide for several months, should hit bottom soon and begin climbing again later this year, most lenders and real estate economists believe. Fixed-rate mortgages, a few of which are now under 10 percent, "are at or near their low for the year," said John Tuc-cillo, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, who thinks that rates will increase as much as one percentage point before the end of 1988.

J. Timothy Howard, chief economist for the Federal National Mortgage Association, the quasi-government agency known as Fannie Mae, seconded Tuccillo, saying: "By the end of the year, I expect mortgage rates to be close to 11 percent, if not higher." Federal Reserve Chairman Alan S. Greenspan buttressed these beliefs when he hinted before a congressional committee Tuesday that the Fed, the nation's the economy is in much better shape after requests from young companies seeking funds for expansion this year. Forty-seven percent of the venture capitalists polled said they would invest in more companies this year. Only 13 percent of the respondents said they have shifted investment strategies since the October stock market crash, with several noting they prefer "later-stage" companies that may present less risk.

the stock market crash than many people feared it would be," said David Wyss, an economist with Data Resources, a consulting organization in Lexington, Mass. The Department of Commerce said that new housing construction, which plummeted after the Oct. 19 stock market debacle, leaped 8.9 percent in February from the previous month. Separately, the Federal Reserve Board reported that industrial output a gauge of activity in the nation's factories, mines and utilities i Dow Jones jumps 16.91 NEW YORK The stock market jumped ahead in late trading Wednesday, putting on a show of strength in advance of today's monthly report on the nation's balance of trade. Trading remained relatively quiet, however.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials, which sat for most of the day with a modest loss, closed up 16.91 at 2,064.32. Big Board volume totaled 153.59 million shares, against 133.17 million in the previous session. The NYSE's composite index gained 1.29 to 151.28. mi y-. Fitzgeralds to hold fetes Grand opening festivities are planned today for the new Fitzgeralds CasinoHotel in downtown Las Vegas and at its sister property in Reno.

Originally built as the Sundance Hotel Casino, Fitzgeralds-Las Vegas is the tallest building in Nevada at 34 stories. It includes 31,500 square feet of casino, 650 hotel rooms and an eight-story parking garage. The celebration in Reno includes the dedication today at 1 p.m. of a Blarney Stone at the Reno arch. Both Fitzgeralds are owned and operated by The Lincoln Group, which purchased the Sundance late last year after managing it since December 1986.

New minimum wage of $5.05 wins House committee approval By Tom SeppyAP WASHINGTON Despite the threat of a presidential veto, the House labor committee approved and sent to the floor Wednesday legislation to raise the current federal minimum wage of $3.35 per hour to $5.05 over the next four years. The Democratic-controlled House Labor and Education Committee approved the measure by voice vote after defeating several Republican proposals, one of which would have established a "new hire" wage of $3.35 an hour. Committee Chairman Augustus F. Hawkins, said congressional action, which is expected to be completed by the end of April, was important because a minimum wage increase "will be one of the great election issues. Each of the candidates will be pinned down.

"They won't be able to just say that they are for a living wage," Hawkins said. "They will have to discuss in detail the numbers that Congress sets." Hawkins said he expected the full House to take up the legislation within 10 days after the members return from the congressional Easter recess on April 11. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, said on Friday his panel will take up the bill during the week of April 11.

Labor Secretary Ann McLaughlin has told members of Congress that senior White House advisers would urge President Reagan to veto any minimum wage increase that would lead to a decrease in the number of job opportunities. She said Reagan administration economists believe that raising the minimum wage to $4.65 an hour would lead to a loss of 880,000 jobs or more. A $4.65 an hour increase over three years was contained in the legislation originally, before it came before the full House committee, and is in the version before the Senate. Last week, the House committee adopted an amendment by Rep. Carl C.

Perkins, to add 40 cents to the minimum wage increase during a fourth year of the bill as a substitute for tying, or indexing, See HOUSE, page 5B Douglas Aircraft rolls out Goshawk prototype LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) The first of two prototypes of the Navy's new Goshawk jet trainer was rolled off the assembly line Wednesday at Douglas Aircraft sprawling facility here. The Goshawk T-45A jet is the keystone of a training system designed to nearly halve the cost to the Navy of training carrier-based and attack pilots. The Navy intends to buy 300 of the planes plus accompanying training systems by 1997 at a cost of about $4.5 billion. Besides the planes, the training system will include 32 flight simulators, 49 computer-aided instructional People fi Jin mm', Patrick FordertGazette-Journa! AUTOTROL EXHIBIT: Bill Becker and Paul Clauder of Milwaukee prepare for the exposition.

Exposition targets improving water Western Ward While hard water problems may be easy to spot, "other contaminants you can't smell or see," she said. "No. 1, you have to get your water tested; you have to know what the problem is." Association members' products deal with problems at the point of use (a faucet) and point of entry (a water-supply pipe). People who don't like the odor of chlorine can use a carbon filter to remove it. People using well water, on the other hand, may need to add chlorine to purify it.

One exhibitor, Autotrol makes control valves for companies that make water softener and filtration systems. The company is displaying a water-driven pump that can inject chlorine or other chemicals into a water pipe, said Rick Jerzak, a salesgpager for Autotrol, a 25-year-old company that PHILLIP J. WAFD of Reno was chosen "Optometri of the Year" for 1988 at the recent annual convention of the Nevada Optometric Association at Lake Tahoe. Ward was selected from 85 optometrists throughout Nevada. The award is based on dedication to the profession and the community.

Ward is president of the Northern Nevada Optometric Association. TERESA R. WESTERN has joined Great Basin Credit Union as operations supervisor. Western was previously with First Interstate Bank for seven years. In her new position, Western supervises six tellers, overseeing their financial operating procedures and maintaining security management.

By Jim GoldGazette-Journal Homeowners and business people can learn about products to improve water quality at a three-day trade exposition that opens today at Bally's Reno. The exposition is part of the Water Quality Association's international convention that will draw about 2,000 dealers, equipment installers, water testers and others. Paying participants can attend technical seminars and business meetings and take exams to receive association certifications. Consumers can register at the convention desk for free badges that will let them into the exposition, where 135 companies will exhibit water-improvement products and demonstrate services. Exposition hours are 4:30 to 8 p.m.

today, 1:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday. "Consumer awareness of water quality is increasing," said Maribeth Robb, the association's director of communications.

While municipal water sources generally are fine, there may be other problems. "About 80 percent of the country has problems with hard water," which contains more than 7 grains of calcium and magnesium per gallon and can leave scum on bathtubs or clog water pipes. pes, four mainframe computer facilities and 200 last year. aifflne terminals. 9 K'dii Morton Salt is just one of several SSI ttftuoamei thl le two-seat, single-engine Goshawk is a modified rented booths because their products are used inwSle: elion of the British Aerospace Hawk trainer used softening systems, Robb said.

Technical sessions range from reverse osmosis, filtration and distillation to the health effects of sodium chloride. Other sessions cover business operations, such as fringe-benefit packages and sales achievement. by Britain's Royal Air Force and the military forces of several other countries. About half the T-45s will be built in Britain, but final assembly and production test flying will be done at Air Force facilities in Palmdale, where 150 to 200 jobs are expected to be created when the project reaches full production in 1992 or 1993. FCC ditching computer charges Sears to purchase Western Auto Porter Smith assume the company's debt of about $152 million.

The retailer said that owners nf wi 3 Sears, Roebuck moving boldly beyond its traditional department stores, announced plans on Wednesday to buy Western Auto one of percent of Western's stock have aljmdy agreed to sell their stock to the nation's oldest and bfesraftpiiFWd parts chains, in a dealialueffiat million. XJV HrifTat tne Dalance wiH be lightflwUender offer. Western Aiito iMftnUkBued sharnlv in nvpr.tho. you ve got wnaies swaliowinj counter trading Wednesday, rlnsinir at whales here," said Dick Weinberg, publisher of the Aftermarket Business. WASHINGTON (AP) The Federal Communications Commission plans to scrap a proposal that would substantially increase telephone charges for business and home computer users, sources said Wednesday.

FCC Chairman Dennis R. Patrick has concluded that, based on strong and nearly unanimous opposition to the proposal, the plan should be dropped, according to sources at the commission and on Capitol Hill. Commissioner Patricia Diaz Dennis said Patrick had not spoken with her about a recommendation to drop the plan, but she said she agreed with the idea. "There's a lot on our plate right now and I don't think I'd miss not seeing that on it," she said. The third commissioner, James Quello, could not be reached for comment.

Patrick's office had no comment on the reports. The commission was expected to vote in two to three months to drop the proposal. A decision to scrap the plan would be a victory for the hundreds of thousands of computer users who dial into data bases such as CompuServe and QuantumLink for a variety of information services, like news stories and financial reports, and electronic communication with other users. Users of these services flooded the FCC and Capitol Hill with thousands of letters opposing the plan, which would add about $4.50 an hour to the cost of hooking up to information services. They said the increased charges, which would double the hourly hookup price for some information services, would drive many of them off the computer networks and crush a fledgling industry.

BARCLAY E. SMITH and STEVE PORTER have new positions with Health Plan of Nevada, a division of Southwest Medical Associates. Smith has been named vice president and chief operating officer. Smith has more than 11 years of experience in the Health Maintenance Organization industry. He was a manager with HMOs in Albuquerque, N.M., and Phoenix, Ariz.

Smith has a degree in business from Brigham Young University. Porter has been appointed associate vice president in charge of operations. Porter has been with the organization for the past three years and has been involved in health care and hospital finance for more than 20 years. Wire service and staff reports $18Vfe a share, up $6. Sears, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, closed at $37, up 12.5 cents.

The transaction would unite two giants in the $100 billion automobile aftermarket business. Sears annual sales of automotive products and services are nearly $2 billion, while Western's sales totaled $930.8 million last year. Los Angeles Times a trade publication, who noted that Sears is the nation's largest retailer and that Western is the biggest independent home and auto merchandise chain. In its biggest foray into the specialty retailing business to date, Sears said that it would pay $19 a share, or $250 million, for Western Auto stock. In addition, Sears said that it would.