The Greenville News from Greenville, South Carolina • Page 22

2hcC5rcmvilkNau0 Saturday September 16, 1995 8B DOW JONES DOWN: 4.23 CLOSE: 4,797.57 Ful market reports start on Page 9B NEWS IN BRIEF electricity Eielp production grow Capacity Seasonally adjusted percent of total capacity "This is ammunition for the hawks who feel the economy will do just fine without further cuts in interest rates." 86 85 By James H. Rubin Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON The nation's industrial production rose more rapidly in August than it had since last year, as assembly lines churned out new cars and power plants ran full blast to cope with the heat wave. The Federal Reserve said Friday that production surged 1.1 percent last month, the biggest gain in eight months. Factories and utilities were operating closer to capacity than they had since March. Analysts said the surprising broad-based advance may be temporary but practically rules out an immediate interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

"This is ammunition for the hawks who feel the economy will do just fine without further cuts in interest rates," said economist Sung Won Sohn of Norwest a bank holding company in Minneapolis. "It's one more piece of confusing data. But it's the Fed's number, and they're going to pay attention to it," said David Wyss of DRI-McGraw Hill in Lexington, a forecasting firm. factories and a 4.9 percent jump at utilities, was due to special factors. Output in the upcoming months will grow more moderately, they predicted.

"The manufacturing sector of the economy is rebounding after the spring inventory correction. But I would be very much surprised if the strength continues very long," said Sohn. On Wall Street, the reaction was negative but restrained. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 4.23 points, to 4,797.57, and bond prices eased a bit as well, pushing the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond up to 6.48 percent. Federal Reserve policy-makers meet in 10 days to decide whether economic conditions warrant any action on interest rates.

After raising rates seven times to stifle inflation and slow growth, the central bank reversed course in July and cut a key rate slightly. But Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues have stayed on the sidelines since then. Industries were operating at 84.3 percent of capacity last month, a 0.6 percentage point jump from July and the highest rate since March. Sung won Sohn, Norwest Corp. economist 82 81 80 OSOND JFMAMJJA 1994 1995 1995 Friday's figures contrast with recent data showing continued economic sluggishness.

Just one day earlier, the government reported that retail sales aside from leasing and purchases of-steeply discounted cars were weak last month. Analysts said the advance in industrial production, including a 1 percent rise at Aug. '94 July '95 Aug. '95 84.3 Source: Federal Reserve Board AP Stock funds see record inflows NEW YORK Temperatures may be falling around the country, but summer's hot streak continued this week as investors poured money into stock mutual funds at a record pace. Inflows into equity mutual funds hit 1995 highs, as nearly $3.46 billion of new money flowed in this week, according to AMG Data Services of Areata, Calif.

The cash came from a variety of sources, including individual investors who are reallocating assets from personal savings or home mortgages into mutual funds, market watchers say. Second pacemaker wire recalled WASHINGTON Doctors were told Friday not to implant in heart patients the type of pacemaker wire that has broken inside the chests of five people. All the patients recovered, and no one who already has the wire should undergo risky heart surgery to remove it, manufacturer Telectronics Pacing Systems said in letters to about 6,000 U.S. and foreign doctors. Telectronics asked that doctors return all of the Encor pacemaker leads, models 330-854 and 033-856, not yet implanted in patients.

Some 20,000 people, including 9,000 Americans, have these wires in their chests. The company insisted this recall is very different from one in January that has prompted more than patients to undergo heart surgery to remove an apparently more risky wire, the Accufix. Dillard, Gonzalez Pad in end talks LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Dillard Department Stores Inc. said Friday it terminated negotiations to buy Gonzalez Padin a retailer based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Dillard said the parties couldn't reach a final agreement. The Little Rock-based department store operator said on July 13 it had agreed to buy Gonzalez Padin for undisclosed terms. Evening Sun sets after 85 years BALTIMORE With the push of a pressman's button, The Evening Sun, the scrappy, irreverent newspaper where H.L. Mencken plied his trade, closed after 85 years Friday with a Baltimorese flourish: "GOOD NIGHT, HON." Pressman Frank Novotny stopped the clattering of the presses shortly after noon. "Goodnight, Evening Sun," said Novotny, 62, who retired with the paper he printed for 44 years.

Under a dozen black balloons, newsroom staffers SCHLUMBERGER GRAM) OPENING WSPA parent to run Georgia TV stations i fc iff. it I ii turned out the last edition of Baltimore's only afternoon paper. ThA Avpninrr nanor hart uafrrfiH itc pirriiliiti rn By Paul Davidson Business Writer The Spartan Radiocasting owner of the local CBS affiliate, WSPA, is significantly expanding its presence in Georgia by taking over two television stations. The Spartanburg-based company said Friday it has purchased the CBS affiliate in Columbus, WRBL, for $22.3 million. Jim Caruthers, general manager of Spartan's WBTW in the Myrtle Beach area, has been named general manager of WRBL, which operates on channel 3.

No other major changes are planned for the station, which reaches 189,000 homes in western Georgia and eastern Alabama, said Jimmy Sanders, Spartan's director of programming and promotion. Also, Spartan has agreed with Stevens County Broadcasting, the owner of WNEG, to operate that independent station as a CBS affiliate, starting Oct. 2. Under the "local marketing agreement," the station will air network shows and launch local morning and evening newscasts, combining them with portions of WSPA's news shows, Sanders said. On UHF Channel 32, WNEG reaches 165,000 homes in northeast Georgia and in Pickens, Anderson and Oconee The agreement, Sanders said, was prompted by the absence of a strong CBS signal in the area.

Last year, CBS moved from a VHF affiliate in Atlanta to a UHF station, and WSPA reaches a limited number of Toccoa-area viewers. Spartan also owns the ABC affiliate in Augusta, WJBF, as well as television stations in Mason City, Iowa; Panama City, and Wichita, Kan. 1 slide from a peak of 220,000 in 1960 to 86,000 this year. Both papers are owned by Times Mirror Co. NYSE arbitration rule approved 1) WASHINGTON The New York Stock Exchange won federal approval Friday to move against 1 BART BOATWRIGHT Staff Schlumberger employee Jaye Oliver-Jones shows Gov.

David Beasley a machine that calibrates electricity meters. Beasley's tour of the 903-employee West Union plant Friday was part of the grand opening of the company's North American headquarters for the Electricity Division, which moved from Norcross, to the Oconee County plant earlier this year. its members when they fail to pay any arbitration settlement with investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change that permits the Big Board to discipline any of its members who fail to honor an arbitration award made by another industry self-policing group, such as the overseers of the options or over-the-counter stock market. Time Warner, Turner close to deal NEW YORK Officials of Time Warner Inc.

and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. are hopeful they will be able to submit Time Warner's proposal for buying the cable network owner to their boards early next week. Cable mogul John Malone, who controls a big Turn to chop 10,000 jobs at computer subsidiary An issue of S.C. tax-free bonds has become available. These bonds are federal and state income tax free for S.C.

residents and offer a very attractive yield. If you expect to have $5,000 or more available In the next couple of weeks, call immediately for details. Speculation puts futures in high cotton AP Business Writer Cotton futures prices rocketed to a two-month high Friday in speculative buying unleashed by declining production prospects. October delivery prices have soared 9 cents a pound, or 11 percent, since the Agriculture Department stunned traders Monday by chopping 1.5 million bales from its 1995 U.S. cotton harvest estimate.

Cotton for October delivery on the New York Cotton Exchange soared 3 cents, the permitted daily limit, to 89.95 cents a pound. RICHARD KLUKKERT SREENVILIi 244-8117 1-800-927-0634 FRANK THOMAS SIMPSOKVILli 967-7300 1-800-967-7301 S3 Edward D. Jones Co Member New York Slock Exchange. Inc Securities Investor Protection Corporation er stake, appeared to be satisfied with the terms of the deal after two weeks of tough negotiations aimed at getting his support, sources close to the deal said Friday. They cautioned, however, that nothing had been signed and that an unexpected problem could arise as lawyers and others prepared documents for presentation to the boards, possibly as early as Monday or Tuesday.

The companies all declined comment. Dow Corning insurer trial delayed DETROIT A trial over whether Dow Corning Corp. should be allowed to file insurance claims to help it pay for breast implant litigation has been postponed until late October. The trial had been scheduled to begin Monday in Wayne County Circuit Court. But negotiations between Dow Corning and some of its largest insurers were nearing settlement, company spokeswoman Barbara Muessig said Friday.

Settlement with each of the more than 100 insurers is unlikely, Muessig said. The cases involve about 700 policies the silicone maker bought from 1962 through 1985. From wire reports By James Hannah Associated Press Writer DAYTON, Ohio The possibility of deep job cuts at computer unit follows poor financial performances as it tries to adapt to changes in demand. The Wall Street Journal reported the telecommunications giant will chop as many as 10,000 jobs from its computer subsidiary, Global Information Solutions, and take a $1.2 billion charge to pay for the cuts. Citing company insiders it did not name, the newspaper said may get out of the personal computer business.

In July, the company announced a restructuring plan for the unit, saying it would cut jobs but not saying how many. The company said then it was pulling back from the consumer PC market and narrowing its marketing efforts of larger computers. Friday, declined to comment on the Journal's report, which said the company planed to disclose specific actions next week. Spokesman Bob Farkas would say only that the July restructuring was "on track." The Dayton-based computer subsidiary lost $189 million in operating income in the second quarter, its largest quarterly loss since becoming part of in 1990. In the first quarter, the unit lost $143 million.

It earned $45 million in the fourth quarter of 1994. Its best performance goes back to the second quarter of 1992, when it posted $98 million in earnings. The unit is the former NCR which acquired after a prolonged bidding fight for $7.4 billion. It makes large computers as well as laptops, automated teller machines and grocery store bar-code scanners. Like other manufacturers who specialized in big computers, GIS has been hurt by the shift in demand from large mainframe computers to networks of PCs and workstations.

Analyst Tony Ferrugia of A.G. Edwards Sons in St. Louis said the unit has been a drag on overall performance. "If that problem didn't exist, would be growing at a pretty darn good clip," Ferrugia said. This Is Our Idea of a You ought to be banking at 290 South Pleuantburg Drive, Greenville, South Carolina NATIONAL BANK 803) 2337989 Member FDIC li 1 1 i 11T Ii il Now it's even easier to keep up with your stocks.

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