The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 187

1 oiji At jaQXLiif trsy SECTION SATURDAY Cos Angeles Sahics DECEMBER 19, 1998 ccf HIGHLIGHTS Investors Make Dash to Convert to Roth IRAs 27.81 STOCKS DOW INDUS. AVG. Ruling Gives Amgen Access to New Market Pharmaceuticals: Arbitration victory over Johnson Johnson could be worth $1 billion a year in sales of improved anemia drug. OIL Per barrel $10.95 30-year U.S. JTl '3 5.00 nni i key Dec.

31 deadline. Discount broker Charles Schwab Corp. received 15,000 conversion applications in the last week, about 10 times September's weekly volume. Calls and investor visits have soared at mutual fund giant Fidelity Investments, which fielded 11,000 Roth -related phone calls in the last week, compared with 2,500 six months ago. "Within the last week we've seen a pretty steady lining up at Fidelity Investment Centers of people wanting to do the paperwork," said Monique Oliveaux, a Fidelity spokeswoman.

"Our investment center managers are reporting back-to-back appointments for the next week." Daily conversion volume at Bank of America this week is four times the average during the first 10 months of the year, said Deepak Ganju, manager of BofA's retirement products service center. The bank increased its Roth conversion staff by 25 last month in anticipation of the last-minute rush. But some financial services companies are concerned that they might not be able to handle the demand. Conversions can take several days to more than a week to process, leaving last-minute filers at risk of losing a special tax treatment that would allow them to spread income from the conversion over four years. Mutual fund company Vanguard Group said it may not accept applications Please see ROTH, C3 Financial services: The surge in requests has some companies worried they won't make the Dec.

31 deadline. By LIZ PULLIAM TIMES STAFF WRITER After months of procrastination, investors are finally lining up to convert their individual retirement accounts to new, tax-advantaged Roth IRAs. But the sudden popularity has some brokerages, mutual funds and banks worried that they won't be able to process all the conversion requests by a JO In ven GOLD New York VI JFU5.61 'M 1 4 PrTni Orange County NOT HAVING FUN YET: Forces global and local have shrunk theme park attendance in the county and elsewhere. But Knott's Berry Farm stayed even. CI Also, the Buena Park theme resort will buy and renovate the nearby 320-room Buena Park Hotel.

C2 CREDITORS CLOSE IN: Three camera companies, creditors of Ad-ray's electronics store, petitioned to force the suddenly closed Orange firm into bankruptcy. CI BIG FEAT IN SHOES: An Orange woman who started a shoe-care products firm six years ago with $25,000 will sell it to a Toronto company for $5.9 million. C2 By PAUL JACOBS TIMES STAFF WRITER Amgen Inc. said Friday that it has won a long-running licensing dispute with pharmaceutical giant Johnson Johnson in an arbitration decision that could allow Amgen to enter a multibillion-dollar drug market from which it has been excluded. "It's a total victory," said Andrea Rothschild, spokesperson for Thousand Oaks-based Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company.

At issue in the arbitration was Amgen's ability to distribute a new, long-lasting version of the drug erythropoietin, or EPO, which is used to treat anemia in kidney dialysis patients and in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Johnson Johnson had claimed that a licensing agreement it had with Amgen for EPO also applied to the new version of the drug and should prevent Amgen from distributing it. In 1985, Amgen licensed EPO to Johnson Johnson for non-dialysis use in the U.S. and for all uses worldwide, except in Japan and China. Amgen retained rights to ket EPO to kidney dialysis patients in the U.S., where it is sold under the brand name Epogen.

Even under those restrictions, Epogen has been Amgen's best-selling product, with sales now at $1.4 billion a year. However, Amgen has moved ahead with human trials of its long-acting version of EPO, which it calls Novel Erythropoiesis Stimulating Protein (or NESP). The new drug has a distinct chemical structure. Please see AMGEN, C2 I -111 IE II 11 I i1 y-. yi'.

JI NOTE TO READERS: Because of a transmission error, stock and mutual fund quotes in Friday's Times were Wednesday's data instead of Thursday's. 1 ,1 i 1 Ldl DON KELSEN Los Angeles Times The GhostRider, which opened this month, provided a final push to get Knott's Berry Farm even with last year's numbers. Local Theme Parks Hit by Slump Creditors Petition to Force Adray's Into Bankruptcy Courts: Three camera companies say the closed electronics store owes them nearly $400,000. Smaller Crowds Attendance at most Southland amusement parte fell in 1998. Nationwide, the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World was No.

1 with 15.64 million visitors. Here's a list of estimated attendance: THE CUTTING EDGE EURO GLITCH: The conversion of European currencies to the euro starting next month is creating a computing nightmare almost on the scale of the Y2K problem. Rank Attendance Park (millions) Change WALL STREET, CALIFORNIA STOCK EXCHANGE: James Peltz and Michael Hiltzik discuss the looks of Revlon's business and Cen-dant's prospects for rising again. Disneyland 22 13.7 -4 Universal Studios 76 5.1 -5 SeaWorld California 109 3.7 -7 Knott's Berry Farm 1211 3.4 unchanged Six Rags Magic Mountain 1512 3.1 -9 Disney Visitors Walt Disney Co. parks topped the attendance lists for 1998.

Here's how they rank, in millions of visitors: Park Attendance Tokyo Disneyland in Japan 16.69 The Magic Kingdom in Florida 15.64 Disneyland In Anaheim 13.68 Disneyland Paris in France 12.50 Amusements: Knott's attendance stays flat while Disneyland loses an estimated 4. Causes range from freeway work to the Asian crisis. By E. SCOTT RECKARD TIMES STAFF WRITER A worldwide theme park slump struck Southern California hard in 1998, with attendance off as much as 9 because of El Nino, the Asian financial crisis, heavy construction in Anaheim and changing demographics. Knott's Berry Farm was the only Southland amusement park not to post a decline this year.

With help from two new thrill rides, the Buena Park amusement park was flat at 3.4 million visitors under new owner Cedar Fair LLP, according to figures released Friday by Amusement Business, a trade publication. Disneyland, No. 2 nationally behind another Walt Disney Co. park, Florida's Magic Kingdom, saw attendance fall 4 to 13.68 million, Amusement Business said. Strong local attendance helped offset a decline in Asian guests, as the Anaheim park again was the most-visited Southland attraction.

At Seagram Universal Studios Hollywood, local visits also were strong but foreign woes contributed to a 5 attendance decline, to 5.1 million. And in San Diego, attendance at Anheuser-Busch SeaWorld California was down 7 to 3.7 million because of El Nino and no major new attractions. A 9 hit was reported at Premier Parks Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. Amusement Business said the park never recovered from winter downpours, logging 3.1 million visitors. A spokeswoman disputed the estimate, saying a new roller coaster, Riddler's Revenge, and a strong Halloween limited the decline to 4.

Jack A. Kyser, economist for the Economic Development Council of Los Angeles County, said theme parks are in a "period of transition" as changing recreational choices by aging baby boomers compound various problems. "Take Disneyland, with the second park and the Anaheim By LESLIE EARNEST TIMES STAFF WRITER Twelve days after Adray's CBS Premiums in Orange closed its doors at the height of the holiday shopping season, three creditors moved to force the discount appliance and electronics store into bankruptcy. The petition was filed Monday by Nikon Pentax Corp. and Tamron Industries Inc.

The camera companies are claiming Adray's owes them a total of about $396,000. Adray's owners could not be reached for comment Friday. Attorneys for the company and owner Lou Adray both declined to comment. Adray's shut down without explanation on Dec. 2, leaving a note on the door that said, "Closed for good." City officials, customers and merchants near the store said they were mystified by the closure.

A telephone message said customers with money on deposit with the store would be receiving a claim form in the mail that they could submit for a refund. Please see ADRAY'S, C3 Source: Amusement Business magazine Convention Center construction underway," Kyser said. "A lot of people hear the submarines are shut down, the Main Street Electrical Parade is no longer there and the 1-5 is ripped to shreds. And they decide to wait until later to visit. "And then you just have to say demographics," Kyser said.

"The baby boomers are over 50; they don't have kids at home anymore. And some of them want to go somewhere other than theme parks." Please see ATTRACTIONS, C2 Business Services On the Web For business news, point your browser to http: www. Mimes and click on Business. To go directly to free stock and mutual fund quotes and foreign exchange rates, go to http: www. latimes Financial Fax Receive information on daily activity on your stock portfolio and business news by fax with Los Angeles Times Financial Fax.

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Or sign on to The Times Archives at http. www.latimes.comH0UE ARCHIVES; $1.50 per article or $4.95 for 10. Details on using Times electronic services, C3 i i Online Buying Click, Click, Clicks With Shoppers Too Busy for Malls the malls," said the 29-year-old, an instructor at Los Angeles Unified School District. "I'm commuting 50 miles to work each way, and once I get home, I have a little girl and I don't just want to drag her out to go shopping. I want us to do our own things." Castel de Oro is one of the millions of time-pressed, technology -savvy consumers doing their shopping on the Web this holiday season.

With the convenience of having cyber -stores open around the clock, a lack of crowds and a seemingly infinite selection of merchandise, online shopping may reach a record $3.5 billion in sales this year, more than doubling last year's figures, industry analysts estimate. But for every Castel de Oro flocking to Please see WEB, C2 By JONATHAN GAW TIMES STAFF WRITER After commuting to work three hours a day, fighting the traffic at shopping malls ranks low on Laura Castel de Oro's list of things she'd like to do. So this holiday season, she won't. At 1 a.m. Tuesday morning, long after her 5-year-old daughter had gone to sleep, Castel de Oro placed her gray laptop computer on the dining room table of her Rancho Santa Margarita condominium, plugged in the power cord and the phone line, and went to work on the 17 people on her shopping list.

After an hour or so, only a few gifts remained on her list and online shopping had another convert. "I just don't have the time to shop around A quick guide to rotating weekly features in the Business section: SUNDAY: Your Money, Work Careers MONDAY: The Cutting Edge (technology TUESDAY: Wall Street, Calif, (investing) Commercial Real Estate WEDNESDAY! iSnwBBuslneM THURSDAY: Advertising Marketing KEVIN P. CASEY Los Angeles Timee Laura Castel de Oro does her holiday shopping online with daughter Devyn, 5..