The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page 41

Inside: Stock markets Mutual fluids Maritime report Futures Dividends Foreign exchange Digest Friday, April 7, 2000 Section Inside Energy Retail industry i i i fri i 7 ft wm Vv i 4 1 Later Easter slows sales Has prices expected, to mm A II) Change On Wall Street On a day when a New York Stock Exchange panel said the current electronic system linking U.S. stock markets is outdated and should be scrapped, NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso said yesterday that the exchange stillplans to build a new trading facility across the street. the pump. The 66-43 vote, which came as the Senate was shaping policy for the fiscal 2001 budget, has no binding effect. But it sent a strong message to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, the leading advocate in Congress of gas-tax relief, that most of his colleagues are unwilling to siphon money out of the fund that pays for federal highway projects.

Responding to pleas for help from truckers and other motorists, See Gasoline, 2c Transportation Ghana Airways proposes to begin service at BWI U.S. markets advance, as tech stocks er A trader watches the monitors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. The major U.S. markets advanced yesterday as technology stocks and the Nasdaq rebounded. Page 4c More Inside Aether Systems acquires one of Europe's largest providers of financial data to wireless devices.

Page 2c The number of Americans filing initial jobless benefits claims sinks to the lowest point since the 1970s. Page 3c Amex 8c Mutuals 9c Dividends 4c Nasdaq 7c Foreign 4c NYSE 5c Futures 4c Options 4c Maritime 2c Sun Stocks 10c Market snapshot Dow 30 industrials 11,114.27 80.35 Nasdaq Composite index 4,267.56 98.34 Sun-Bloomberg 100 100 Maryland companies 266.66 824 Dollar vs. Yen 104.75 0.09 Yields 30-year T-bonds 5.79 0.01 SimSpot The Sun on the Internet: http:www.sunspot.net a i A 4 Trans-Atlantic service: Ghana Airways joins Aer Lingus, which also has a request pending with the U.S. Department of Transportation, with plans for service at BWI. ASSOCIATED PRESS aid OK'd Day Fund Qiagen, a subsidiary of a Netherlands-based biotechnology company, will receive a $2.5 million conditional loan from the Sunny Day Fund that will convert to a grant upon certain capital expenditures and job-creation goals, business and economic development officials said.

Qiagen has purchased 18 acres in Montgomery County for its North American headquarters, which will employ more than 200 workers in manufacturing and 100 in research and development by 2002. Manu- See Sunny, 8c Auicilfit llu Gold so yul vX I I I II Ill I Dresdncr chairman quits ma Kii U.S. officials credit OPEC plan to pump more oil $1.46 per gallon by summer Senate votes, 66-43, against suspending federal gasoline tax By Karen Hosler SUN NATIONAL STAFF WASHINGTON Gasoline prices should begin dropping this month, to a national average of $1.46 a gallon by summer, thanks to last week's decision by the world's oil-producing nations to boost output, federal energy officials estimated yesterday. Revised estimates suggest that the Clinton administration's appeals to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries nations succeeded in reversing a price spike that some feared might reach an average of $2 a gallon for regular grade gasoline. Instead, average prices are expected to peak this month, at $1.52 a gallon, before consumers begin to enjoy the results of cheaper oil.

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, whose lobbying efforts with OPEC had been demeaned by Republican leaders as "tin-cup diplomacy," said yesterday that the revised fuel price estimates were "proof that the Clinton administration's quiet diplomacy worked." But even with an expected further drop in price, to about $1.39 a gallon by Labor Day, American motorists will be paying about 25 percent more for gasoline this summer than they did last summer, according to the estimates by the government's Energy Information Administration. This means a family that traveled 12,000 miles from April through September would likely pay $170 more for fuel this year than it did last vacation season. Families will apparently get no help from Congress in the form of relief from the federal gasoline tax, as some lawmakers had proposed. In a test of sentiment on the issue, the Senate voted by a 2-1 margin yesterday not to suspend or repeal the federal gasoline tax as a response to soaring prices at ASSOCIATED PRESS mm -mm iW" Mi' i tt TPF7 LI LiraTa March results hurt by holiday coming in April By Lorraine Mirabella SUN STAFF Retail sales inched up by the slimmest margin in nearly four years last month, suffering from a later Easter holiday this year, retailers said yesterday. Many of the national chains reporting monthly results yesterday saw either lower sales or modest gains at stores open at least a year, compared with March a year ago.

But the weak performance does not mean a slowdown in consumer spending, analysts said. A tally of 78 chain stores showed an average increase of 1.8 percent, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi said yesterday. Merchants blamed the poor showing on a shift in the Easter holiday, which falls on April 23, three weeks later than last year. Retailers, who time spring promotions and summer kickoffs to the holiday, count on stepped-up buying of spring fashions, home decorations and candy. The Bank of Tokyo index showed apparel specialty store sales down by 1.6 percent, department store sales off 1.5 percent and footwear sales tumbling 8.6 percent.

Industry leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted an increase of 3.6 percent, far below the 11.3 percent gain it had in March 1999. Sales decreased 1.2 percent at Kmart Corp. Top clothing chain Gap. Inc.

saw sales fall 1 1 percent, more than double analysts' forecasts. Sales rose a modest 0.8 See Retail, 8c municipal bond market. The settlement preserved the tax-exempt status of more than 3,600 bonds sold between 1990 and 1994. The overpricing could have resulted in the exemptions being canceled. The overpricing, known as "yield burning," occurs when investment banks sell U.S.

Treasury bonds at excessive prices to state and local governments that need them to refinance outstanding municipal debt. By marking up the price of the bonds, they "burn" down the yield, allowing underwriters to pocket money that should have gone to the federal government, or in some cases, the municipalities. Salomon Smith Barney, a New York unit of Citigroup will pay the largest portion of the settlement, $38 million. PaineWebber another New York company, will pay $21.6 million, and Dain Rauscher Corp. of Minneapolis will pay $1 1 million.

Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown agreed in November to pay $15.3 million to settle claims See Municipals, 8c General Assembly Software licensing bill clears Senate Protections differ from those passed by House By Timothy B.Wheeler SUN STAFF A far-reaching bill that would govern computer software licensing in Maryland won approval in the Senate yesterday, as lawmakers overcame doubts about the complex measure's protections for consumers and small businesses. After an hour-long debate sprinkled with personal anecdotes about their own forays into the digital age, senators voted 37-8 for a much-amended bill that would control those fine-print license agreements that accompany software sold in stores and over the Internet. "This is a whole new territory, and God willing, we've done the right thing," said Democratic Sen. Paula C.

Hollinger of Baltimore County. The House of Delegates passed its own version of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act last week. For the bill to become law, the two chambers must resolve their differences before the General Assembly ends Monday night. The 88-page measure is the linchpin in a package of high-technology bills introduced by legislative leaders and Gov. Parris N.

Glendening. Proponents hope to make Maryland the next Silicon Valley by becoming one of the first states in the nation to adopt a legal framework for computer commerce. "This is what I call a new Industrial Revolution," said Sen. Leonard H. Teitelbaum, who was the bill's chief proponent.

The Montgomery County Democrat said the measure would set the ground rules for technology, that is See Software, 10cf Airline is second seeking to expand international flights Opens the floodgates By JuneArney SUN STAFF Ghana Airways has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Transportation to provide air service from its capital to Baltimore-Washington International Airport a move that could jump-start an international terminal that has not been fulfilling its potential. Ghana's national airline has proposed offering two flights a week from BWI to Accra starting as soon as July, if approval is granted. "This is wonderful news for BWI," said William D. Cas-tleberry, senior vice president of marketing, development and communication for BWI.

"If approved, this is a huge deal. What this does is it opens up the floodgates. It shows the world that BWI is a viable international gateway." A spokesman for Ghana Airways could not be reached for comment. Recently, Aer Lingus also sought approval for trans-Atlantic service. Ireland's state-owned airline wants to fly regular service between BWI and two stops in Ireland Shannon Airport and Dublin Airport.

That request also is pending before the U.S. Department of Transportation. Aer Lingus has authority to fly between Ireland and five cities in the United States New York; Newark, N.J.; Boston; Chicago; and Los Angeles. Maryland officials have been working with officials from Ghana since October to establish direct air service. The airline's sole entry point to North America is New York, Castleberry said.

That service began in 1 996. A substantial West African community in the extended area that BWI serves offers a good foundation for the international flights, he said. "What this really does is open up opportunities for trade, tourism and educational exchange between our region and Ghana," Castleberry said. Ghana Airways and Aer Lingus are the only two airlines to file applications for international flights into BWI in the past 10 years, Castleberry said. But discussions are in the works with two or three other airlines in Europe, Castleberry said.

"Get- See Ghana; 8c Banks to pay $140 million to settle overcharge claim Economic development $4.5 million from Sunny Bank, biotech firm to create up to 700 jobs in Md. in return By Shanon D. Murray SUN STAFF The Maryland General Assembly's Legislative Policy Committee yesterday approved the distribution of $4.5 million from the state's Sunny Day Fund to Bank One Corp. and Qiagen Sciences Inc. Bank One the nation's fourth-largest bank holding company, will receive a $1 million grant and a $1 million loan for a check remittance center in downtown Baltimore.

The facility will be located in the 1000 block of E. Fayette across from the main post office, and will create up to 400 full-time jobs during the next five years, according to the state Department of Business and Economic Development. The city will donate the land, and the Maryland Economic Development Corp. will build a facility and an attached garage with 162 spaces. MEDCO will then lease the facility, which will process more than 30 million items a month for the bank's corporate customers, to Bank One for 10 years with two five-year renewal options.

U.S. found 17 firms charged too much on tax-free securities FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS NEW YORK Seventeen investment banks agreed yesterday to pay about $140 million to resolve civil charges that they overpriced Treasury securities sold to state and local governments, ending a five-year nationwide probe into municipal bond fraud. The companies neither confirmed nor denied the allegations. But to Michael Lissack, the former investment banker whose whistle-blowing helped spark the federal probe: "The most important thing is the industry's acknowledgment that they engaged in an unethical and unprofessional manner toward their clients." The settlement is the culmination of a lengthy federal investigation of price markups that hung like a dark cloud over the $1.5 trillion In the latest fallout from the collapse of the Dresdner-Deut-sche Bank merger deal, Dresdner Chairman Bemhard Walter resigned yesterday. Branches of the two German banks are neighbors (above) on a street in Dtisseldorf.

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