Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 12

Reno Gazette-Journal Business TUESDAY FEBRUARY 8, 1994 STEVE FALCONE, BUSINESS EDITOR: PHONE, 788-6322; FAX, 788-6458 1 February 7, 1W4 DOW (Industrials) NYSE Fighter plane purchase keeps Lockheed soaring CALABASAS, Calif. Lockheed parent of MountainGate in Reno, said that fourth-quarter profits rose 1 3 percent, due chiefly to its purchase of General Dynamics' fighter aircraft operations last year. For the October-December period, the defense and space company earned 1 35 million, or $2. 1 3 per share, compared with 1 1 9 million during the same period of 1 992. Sales rose by 28 percent, from $2.92 billion to $3.74 billion.

Full year earnings were $422 million, or $6.70 per share, on sales of $13.1 billion. In 1 992, Lockheed lost $283 million. $4.58 per share, on sales of $10.1 billion, reflecting a $63 1 million charge for changes in accounting for retiree benefits. Before the accounting change, Lockheed earned $348 million, or $5.65 per share, during 1992. AM EX SAP MldCap NASDAQ NYSE Diary Alpine Meadows 6 Amfed Financial 24 -Vt Amservlnc.

1316 -316 BankAmerlca 43Vs Clorox 52V4 Coeurd'Alene 19V4 -Vt Comstock Bank R.R. Donnelley 30 4 Va Echo Bay 12 First Interstate 66V4 1 FirstMiss Gold 6V2 -Va First Western Fin. 7 -Va FMC Gold 5 -Vb Gannett 54 General Motors 63 1 Granite Const. 25V4 Harding 9Va Nevada Power 22 Va Newmont 52 -2 Pacific Telesis 547s J. C.

Penney 51 -V Reno Air 7 -Va Rotech 19V2 V4 Santa Fe Pacific 23 -Va Sierra Pacific 19Vb Sierra Tahoe 8 Va Southwest Gas 1 8 -Va US Bancorp 27ft Treasury bills: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities rose in Monday's auction to the highest level in nearly 1 4 months. The Treasury Department sold 1 2.7 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.24 percent, up from 2.99 percent last week. Another $12.7 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average discount rate of 3.40 percent, up from 3. 1 6 percent last week. In a separate report, the Federal Reserve said that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, the most popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mortgages, rose to 3.66 percent last week.

Bonds: Treasury bond prices slid further as yields rose amid continuing fallout from the Federal Reserve's decision Friday to push up short-term interest rates. The price of the Treasury's main 30-year bond, which dropped point on Friday, was off another 1 3-32 point, or $4.06 per 1 ,000 in face value. Its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, rose to 6.39 percent from 6.35 percent late Friday. Advances: 1,044 New highs Declines: 1,178 16 Unchanged: 527 New lowi Total issues: 2,749 58 Associated Press COMPACT COMPAQ: a latecomer to the market for subnotebooks, began selling a 3Vi-pound personal computer with a base price of $1,400 Monday. Called the Contura Aero, it has a quiet keyboard and backlit screen and can run up to six hours with a rechargeable battery.

Dow retonMiid9 easing fears of another rout Investor psychology: Analysts say market players upbeat rather than in a state of panic after Friday's plunge. Composite volume: 418,862,560 1993 avg. comp. 323,714,610 has not come to a sudden end. Goldman Sachs, a brokerage that has been bullish on stocks for a long time, recommended that its customers increase the stock portion of their portfolios from 65 percent to 70 percent Monday.

No major brokerage issued a general sell recommendation. A spokeswoman for the Dreyfus complex of mutual funds said that few shareholders telephoned to switch out of stock funds. Wien said he looks for a brief rally in stocks followed by a sudden and painful decline in the market, and in investor confidence. Whatever the future holds, in HIGH TECHNOLOGY ers were in an upbeat mood, rather than being in a state of panic over the Federal Reserve Board's decision to nudge short-term interest rates higher. From the opening bell, it was business as usual.

The market rose steadily as investors bought what they saw as bargains stocks that had been hit hard on Friday. Package-handling dispute ends Sculley quits Spectrum, sues company president if j4 vestors certainly want to own stocks now, according to Tim Hayes, senior research analyst at Ned Davis Research a Venice, firm that advises professional investors. "A lot of people think that if they only pick the right stocks, they will do fine," said McCabe of Merrill Lynch. "That was true in 1992 and 1993 when the overall market was not very volatile. "We have not had a decline of 1 0 percent on the Dow since October 1990.

That is first time in the 20th century that the Dow has gone that long without a 10 percent or more correction," McCabe said. Investors seem to be questioning Spectrum's future as well. It now is selling at just one-fifth its price shortly after Sculley's ap- pointment, closing at 2 in NASDAQ trading Monday. On Monday, Spectrum denied misleading Sculley. But the company also restated its earnings for two quarters of last year, with slight profits becoming large losses.

Spectrum claims to have patents on important wireless communications technologies but has a history of weak financial results and legal and regulatory problems. Sculley was unconcerned about such issues when he took the job last October, after a whirlwind courtship by Peter Caserta, then chief executive and now president of Spectrum. At the time, Sculley said he wanted to join a small company where he would have "a substantial equity position," comparing Spectrum to Intel and Microsoft two of the giants of the worldwide technology business. Few in the industry saw such potential, though, and many were mystified as to why Sculley would join a company with such a dubious reputation. The apparent answer emerged several weeks later: an extraordinary compensation package that included a $1 million annual salary and stock options potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

Northern Nevada Chapter, which was co-sponsoring the event, said all tickets sold so far were secured on a will-call basis for payment at the door the night of the event. But anyone with questions regarding the tickets or refunds, can contact her at 333-8284. market analyst at Merrill Lynch Co. "Every market decline since 1987 has been terrific buying opportunity," said Byron R. Wien, U.S.

equity strategist for Morgan Stanley Co. "The public has learned that when the market is down 100 points, borrow every dollar you can and dive in. After today, when they see the market up, investors will see Friday's drop as just one more airpocket. This could produce the euphoria, the manic stage." Friday's jitters had waned over the weekend as many Wall Street analysts took to the airwaves to tell investors that the bull market ers' backs just to make another buck." "The strike is over," said Martin Wald, an attorney for the company. Earl Brown, an attorney for the Teamsters, said after the court hearing that "we think this settlement protects our members from hazards of overweight packages.

Those hazards can be very serious." UPS spokesman Bob Kenney had said the 150-pound weight limit was "absolutely safe. It's a standard our competitors all use and we think it's only going to involve 40,000 packages out of 1 1 million that we handle every day." Federal Express has no weight limit and the U.S. Postal Service has a limit of 70 pounds. With staff reports I By Jonathan Weber LOS ANGELES TIMES NEW YORK It may have been one of the worst career moves of all time. In October, John Sculley having worn out his welcome at Apple Computer Sculley joined a small, unproven, communications company called Spectrum Information Technologies.

On Monday, he resigned and filed a lawsuit against the executive he says recruited him to the job under false pretenses. It's a bizarre saga that may permanently blacken the reputation of one of the nation's most prominent business executives. Just a year ago, Sculley was basking in his friendship with Hillary Rodham Clinton he sat beside her during the president's first State of the Union Address, symbol of the technological prowess of American business and being mentioned as a possible secretary of commerce. But a series of events since then, involving both his departure from Apple and his four-month odyssey at Long Island-based Spectrum, have critics questioning Sculley's judgment and credibility. Pi The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 34.90 points to close at 3906.32.

The Dow advance was led by IBM, which was up 2V a share to 54't after having fallen 3'A on Friday. Too often overlooked, the "animal spirits" of investors determine whether stocks go up or down in the short run, analysts said, and the animal spirits are bullish on Wall Street. Many investors Monday are conditioned to believe that when stocks fall sharply they will soon recover, the analysts said. "People are pretty complacent," said Richard T. McCabe, chief The agreement also said that UPS customers will be required to label all packages that weigh more than 70 pounds.

For its part, the union agreed to order members to return to work on Tuesday. Teamsters Local 533 officials in Reno were monitoring developments, but UPS workers planned to remain on the job for the duration of the court-imposed restraining order against a strike, said Al Tarson, UPS business representative for Local 533. UPS has more than 500 employees throughout northern Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area. "The courage of Teamster members won this agreement," Teamsters General President Ron Carey said. "No corporation has the right to break work Aztar Bally Gaming Bally Mfg.

Boomtown Caesars World Casino Data Sys. Circus Circus Grand Casinos Hilton Hotels IGT Jackpot Ent. MGM Grand Mirage Monarch Primadonna Promus Cos. Rio Hotel Sahara Gaming Sands Regent Showboat Sodak United Gaming Video Lottery i 6V2 16 8 18 57 23Va 36'2 28 68V4 28 13 31 Va 24 11 24 49 16 14V2 12 18 26 9V2 ..19 Associated Press DELIVERY: Striking United Parcel workers drives a delivery truck from the UPS package dis-watch Monday as a non-striking UPS employee tribution warehouse in Watertown, Mass. Judge outlines terms of UPS settlement By Brett D.

Fromson THE WASHINGTON POST NEW YORK Fears of an aftershock on Wall Street were swept away Monday by a rally that recovered about a third of Friday's losses in the stock market. Analysts who follow investor psychology said that market play WESTERN UNION Creditors, union oppose bankruptcy, office closure By Susan Skorupa G.VZETTE-JOL'RN AL A bankruptcy reorganization proposal that would close the Reno Western Union Financial Services office is meeting opposition from unsecured creditors in the case and from the union that represents the facility's workers. The unsecured creditors group, which includes Western Union employees, is working on a new plan to submit to the bankruptcy court that would keep the Reno facility on Mill Street open with its 350 or so jobs, said Dan Beckstead, general president of the Communications Workers of America. The group has until Feb. 14 to submit a completed plan to the court, Beckstead said.

"We are opposed to any plan that involves the forced reduction of our members," Beckstead said. "The unsecured creditors will have a proposal of their own, so there will be two plans for court consideration." New Valley parent company of Western Union, filed for Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection in March and has until Feb. 14 to submit a revised reorganization plan to the court. The company's original reorganization plan was submitted last fall and remains before the court. Any potential change would involve only the improvement of cash recovery, said Warren Bechtel, Western Union spokesman in New Jersey.

The union's Beckstead said the unsecured creditors plan won't include any layoffs nor any equity investment in the company by Texas-based Electronic Data Services (EDS). In November, New Valley presented a reorganization plan that called for EDS to provide an investment in New Valley. EDS then would take over the services of the Reno facility. If that condition is met, the Reno facility would close this summer and EDS would move the operations to a different location. Bechtel said it's too early to react to the creditors' plan until it's been completed and submitted.

Both the creditors-group plan and any revised company plan are scheduled for a court hearing on March 18. Beckstead said court dates are always subject to change, so there's no way to tell when the reorganization will be completed or its outcome. "I feel better about this now than 1 have for quite some time," he said, "but it's a long way frwn a sure thing WASHINGTON (AP) The Teamsters and United Parcel Service settled their package-handling dispute late Monday, even as a hearing was proceeding on a company claim for damages stemming from the union's partial walkout. The partial walk-out had no effect in the Truckee Meadows, where UPS operates a regional center in Sparks. The drivers had objected to a new company rule requiring them to handle up to 1 50-pound packages.

The previous limit was 70 pounds. The agreement, read in open court by U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green, spelled out that no Teamster be required to handle more than 70 pounds without help from another Williams ill, appearance called off A Wednesday appearance in Sparks by radio talk show host Bruce Williams has been postponed because of illness. Williams was admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery. Kim Tulman of the American Marketing Association, Gaming Tourism Federal officials waiting for appeals before pulling plug on video machines SACRAMENTO Federal officials are in no hurry to seize video pulltab machines on Indian reservations in California as a result of a recent U.S.

appeals court decision, a legal spokesman said. Paul Cook, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Alan Bersin in San Diego, said that there are too many legal questions still unanswered to formulate any enforcement strategy. "Nothing is immediately anticipated because a couple of cases are up in California, on appeal in the (U.S.) Ninth Circuit," Cook said. Last week, the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., said that tribes must negotiate with most states, including California, for the right to operate electronic versions of pulltab games in their casinos.

In traditional pulltab games, patrons buy cards with tabs. Lucky gamblers find a dollar amount when they pull off the tabs. The games at issue are an electronic version. The Washington, D.C. court decision upheld a rule of the National Ind ian Gaming Commission.

Sahara plans expansion of Las Vegas' Santa Fe LAS VEGAS The Santa Fe Hotel and Casino in northwest Las Vegas has become the latest casino property to announce expansion plans. The hotel's parent Sahara Gaming Corp. said Monday it will add four new restaurants, a 700-seat bingo hall and an expanded sports and race book to the property. Company chairman Paul Lowdcn said the expansion for the casino, which targets local residents as its customers, comes at a time when the area surrounding it is in a period of intense expansion. Sahara Gaming Corp.

also operates the Sahara and Hacienda hotel-casinos on the Las Vegas Strip and is planning casino developments in Missouri and Mississippi. -Va 1 Va -V2 -Va 3 -Va Va -Va Va -Va -Va -Va -V2 Va Carson Valley's November Games at non-restricted locations in Carson City, Minden, Gardnerville and Topaz Twenty-one Craps $51,000 Roulette $36,000 Keno $192,000 Source: Gaming Control Board Gazette-Journal.