The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 43

Back to business Market listings, investments, the economy 1 2-D Sentinel Star, Wednesday, October 21 1 981 cam Oirlaimd Woe going up pare Monthly increases in U.S. personal income Billions ot dollars $19.6 billion increase in September 34 30 26 22 18 14 MA A 1981 Slow car sales put spending into reverse Associated Press WASHINGTON Consumer spending, for months an island of strength in a weak economy, finally sank in September, the government reported Tuesday. It was yet another signal that recession is underway. The Commerce Department's chief economist cautioned that September's 0.1 percent decline in personal consumption spending was mostly due to erratic car sales, which plummeted after rising rapidly in August. But the government analyst, Robert Ortner, acknowledged that the spending weakness likely has carried over into the start of the year's final quarter, saying "October may not be all that strong." The new Commerce Department report said Americans' personal income rose 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.46 trillion in September, while personal consumption spending fell to a rate of $1.9 trillion.

Income from private wages and salaries rose only $5.9 billion, less than half the August increase, in a development that Ortner said "reflects the declines in employment that had previously been reported." Housing, auto production and other industries that are especially sensitive to high interest rates have been in severe trouble most of the year. But the latest round of statistics from the government falling industrial production, rising unemployment and stagnant retail sales has shown clearly that the weakness is becoming widespread. On Wednesday, the government will release its broadest measure of economic activity inflation-adjusted gross national product for the third quarter which ended Sept. 30. John Beardsley Sentinel Star Real GNP is expected to be down for the second straight quarter one common definition of a recession and Reagan administration economic advisers are already saying not to look for recovery until the first of the year.

Statistics on personal spending had been rising along with those for personal income for most of this year. And several private economists had been saying the American consumer was providing a floor under the economy through the summer, keeping it from falling into recession. With spending down in September, the personal saving figure rose to $103.5 billion from August's $88 billion, the new report said. However, the saving rate personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income declined slightly to 4.9 percent in August, the latest figure available, the report said. Based on estimated U.S.

population of 230.3 million, the personal income figure translates into a record $8,923 for every man, woman and child in the nation. Energy Offshore tracts bring record bids Energy companies' shied away from leases on most Florida offshore drilling tracts Tuesday but put up a record $1.28 billion in high bids for other Gulf of Mexico parcels auctioned by the Interior Department. Added to previous 1981 sales, the department's Bureau of Land Management has collected $6.31 billion in offshore lease purchases this year for the U.S. Treasury. The total easily surpassed the 1979 record of $5.08 billion.

Oil and gas companies concentrated on offshore Louisiana tracts, where some parcels in areas with proven reserves attracted as many as eight bids each. The largest bid of the sale was $83.7 million offered by Exxon Corp. for a parcel in the Mississippi Canyon south of Grand Isle, La. Manufacturing GM gets $75 million order from Ryder Ryder Truck Rental officials say they will buy 5,600 trucks from General Motors Corp. in a $75 million step to upgrade the company's fleet.

GM officials say the order, announced Monday, is the largest single commercial-truck order in GM history. The previous record was for 3,700 vehicles ordered by the Miami-based Ryder about five years ago. Included in the purchase will be 4,600 medium-duty trucks and 1,000 light vans. The vehicles will be distributed to Ryder outlets across the country for rental by individuals and companies. The vehicles will replace more than a third of Ryder's fleet of yellow rental trucks.

Stocks Dow average rebounds with 4.7 gain The stock market turned higher Tuesday, halting a recent slide, with oil issues leading the advance. Airline, financial and steel stocks also posted broad gains. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks, which fell 4.56 Monday after shedding 21.31 points last week, rose 4.75 to close at 851.88. The number of shares rising in price held an almost 2-to-1 lead over losers on the New York Stock Exchange. Big Board volume totaled 51.53 million shares, up from Monday's 41.59 million.

Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues, including trades in those stocks on regional exchanges and in the over-the-counter market, totaled 59.87 million shares. Earnings Flagship profit up 6 cents a share Flagship Banks Inc. on Tuesday reported third-quarter net income of $5.85 million, or 75 cents a share, compared with the $4.86 million, or 69 cents a share, earned in the same period a year ago. Other third-quarter net earnings reported Tuesday included: Century Banks $7.5 million vs. $7.67 million in the same period a year earier.

Storage Technology parent company of Documation $23.14 million vs. $12.12 million in the same period a year earlier. Citicorp, $131 million vs. $151 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Union Pacific, $121.6 million vs.

$118.1 million in the same quarter a year earlier. Monsanto $123.6 million vs. $29.6 million in the same quarter a year earlier. American Express $145 million vs. $129 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

B.F. Goodrich, $22.4 million vs. $8.7 million a year earlier. By DICK MARLOWE Business Editor Outlet the Providence, R.I.-based holding company that owns WDBO-TV and WDBO Radio, has sold its 36-acre tract of land on West Colonial Drive to Dickinson Development a Braintree, company that will build a office park on the site. Outlet Co.

has been looking for a suitable developer to buy the Orlando property for more than two years, as a first step toward building a new studio for WDBO-TV. As the situation stands, the new WDBO-TV studio may or may not be a part of the development planned by Dickinson for the half-wooded, half-open land along West Colonial Drive between Texas Avenue and John Young Parkway. Dickinson said the office park will be called Orlando Executive Center, and will consist of two three- and four-story buildings, with the main entrance on John Young Parkway. The company says it expects to break ground for the first building early next year. Mark Dickinson, president, noted that the property is just a mile and a half from downtown Orlando and said of the acquisition, "We immediately saw the potential for an office park with close proximity to the downtown area, plus all the amenities of a suburban location such as landscaping, free parking, easy access and convenience to close-by shopping hotels and dining." Ferncreek Properties Inc.

is the leasing agent, but no tenants have been named. Outlet, which sold the site to Dickinson for $700,000, announced two years ago that it would sell the property to a developer and then negotiate for a studio as a part of the master plan. David Henderson, president of Outlet Broadcasting and executive vice president of the Outlet said Tuesday, "It is our hope that we will remain on this plat. We are willing to buy land back now to build a studio facing on John Young Parkway. However, we have run into a problem muck." Henderson said the cost of building on the chosen site would be prohibitive.

Outlet, he said, went back to Dickinson with an inquiry about buying another site on the 36-acre tract. "At this point," he said, "Dickinson hasn't responded with a site that is satisfactory to us but that's still being negotiated." In the event Outlet is not able to negotiate a deal with Dickinson, he said, "We do have some real estate people out looking for alternative sites." Outlet has also met with the Orange County Industrial Development Authority concerning the possibility of industrial revenue bonds to finance the project. Henderson, in Orlando for budget meetings, said studies have indicated that the site would be suitable for development as an office park. "For us to have taken a choice piece," he said, "might have frustrated the development of the total package." Noting that the new studio will cost in the range of $7 million, Henderson said, "We would like to remain here, but we are not wedded to that. We are wedded to staying in the city of Orlando and we need a five- or six-acre site." Of the total cost, Henderson estimated that construction would cost $3.5 million, and that equipping the special purpose building would cost another $3.5 million.

Gilbane Building the Providence, R.I., company that teamed with Mills and Jones Construction Co. to build the new terminal for Orlando International Airport, will build the studio when the site is selected. The Providence Partnership is the architect. The plan to go ahead with the project, he said, was held up about five or six months because of Outlet merger with Columbia Pictures Industries earlier this year. "We have to be out of here by July 1, 1984," said Henderson of the current studio.

When the new television studio is completed, he said, it will also be used for commercial production of commercials, industrial films and educational films in association with a Columbia Pictures unit, Screen Gems. WDBO-TV employs about 110 workers, he said, and the completion of the new studio "will crank up another 25 to 30 jobs." The bottom line 1 September Orlando Area Economic Barometer Construction Persons employed in construction Sept. 1981 20,900 743 change 7.7 Sept. 1980 19,400 885 Residential building permits issued $21 ,824 Value of residential permits in thousands 29.4 $73,477 $104,126 Value of all permits issued (in thousands) Aug. 1981 Aug 1980 change Tourism Passengers at Orlando International Airport 553,873 Sept.

1981 603,866 Sept 1980 change 552,575 548.629 I Florida traffic counts 46 48 Average hotel and motel occupancy I Average number of 4.1 14,752 15,360 occupied nightly I Number of conventions 158 29.7 111 2267 24,032 6.9 Number of convention delegates Population and employment Aug. 198 Aug 1980 change 4.3 256,221 267,227 electric meters in service 8.9 298,514 324,984 iNumDer 01 persons empioyea 'WW Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties Number of vehicles coming into Florida on Interstate 95, Interstate 75 and U.S. 1. Sources: Florida Department of Labor and Employment Secunty; Orlando Area Chamber of Commerce; Greater Orlando Aviation Authority: Florida Division of Tourism: utility companies. Compiled by Research Department.

Sentinel Star Co. Briefly Cooperation called key to Reagan plan for tourism Consumer groups blast bill to lift usury ceiling New Homes a New York investment group, has purchased the 184-unit La Aloma Apartments in Winter Park for $5 million. Larry Cavalarro of Budzian and Hall, an Orlando commercial brokerage, made the sale. The apartments will continue as rentals General Motors has dropped to 12.9 percent from 13.8 percent the interest rate it charges customers to borrow money from General Motors Acceptance Corp. for the purchase of 1981 X-body models and 1982 J-body cars.

W.T. Grimm a company that acts as an intermediary in corporate mergers, said more than $60 billion was spent on mergers and acquisitions during the first nine months of this year more than the $44.3 billion spent in all of last year. Texaco the nation's largest gasohol dealer, will discontinue the sale of the gasoline-alcohol mixture at its service stations in 14 Northeastern states. The company cited high transportation costs, the current abundance of gasoline and inadequate tax breaks on the sale of gasohol in Northeastern states. Texaco has marketed the product in 1 9 states.

Clarification By LAUREN RITCHIE Sentinel Star A presidential representative told Orlando tourism executives Tuesday that President Reagan is committed to increasing travel to the United States, but that he expects American tourism interests to pay for the promotions that draw the visitors. "There are those that allege that the administration gives no priority to tourism that's just not true," said Assistant Secretary of Commerce Frederick Bush, speaking at an early morning O.J. Forum, sponsored by the Orlando Area Chamber of Commerce. But citing a proposed $8.2 million federal budget for tourism less than the $8.4 million that Florida alone spends to draw travelers Bush said, "It's obvious that the role must be one of partnership." Bush said the money that the newly created United States Travel and Tour Service actually receives may be less than the proposed $8.2 million because Reagan is calling for more federal budget cuts. Reagan transformed the United States Travel Service into the United States Travel and Tour Service Friday when he signed the National Tourism Policy Act into law.

Bush said the act establishes 12 national tourism policy goals and creates an interagency tourism policy council. "For the first time in our nation, we have finally joined other nations in developing a national tourism policy," Eush said. Bush said he plans to form an organ'- bidding against the need for $4 billion to finance the DuPont takeover of Conoco. You would have a homeowner in New England who needs a loan for fuel oil to get through an unusually harsh winter bidding against a group of for-" eigners who have managed to control 50 percent of the loan portfolio of one of the United States' largest banks. The consumer will never get a fair chance in such a market force arrangement." Ellen Broadman of Consumers Union testified that the bill would invite a new era of consumer abuses.

She said it could be titled "the Loan Shark Revital-ization Act of 1981." Two subcommittee staffers testified they went to Texas, which has a 24 percent ceiling, and Arkansas, whose 10 percent maximum is the lowest in the nation. "We found no basis to support creditors claims that cash prices are higher or that credit is unavailable in Arkansas," said James Kutcher, a subcommittee lawyer. Going to furniture stores on both sides of the Texas-Arkansas border, they found the same items available in both states and some Texas stores even charge the same low interest rate available from competitors in Arkansas, he said. Cash prices are comparable or lower in Arkansas, Kutcher and fellow staffer Kenneth Swab said. Their methods were questioned by Republican Reps.

Ron Paul of Texas and Ed Bethune of Arkansas. Paul said they conducted only a "superficial study" and said the results are "very limited." A story in the Tuesday Business section about peanut subsidies quoted Tim Manning, executive director of the Ocala office of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, as saying that the Florida peanut crop this year would be as much as 30 percent to 40 percent smaller than last year's crop. Manning was referring to the crop of green, or immature, peanuts only, and not to dry, or mature, peanuts. Associated Press WASHINGTON Consumer advocates charged Tuesday that legislation to wipe out state limits on interest rates would cause consumers to pay sky-high charges and, in effect, legalize loan sharking. Jim Boyle of Consumer Federation of America told a House panel that the legislation "is costly and deceptive." He said it "will make credit shopping more difficult and is unlikely to expand the supply of credit in any significant way." Supporters of the legislation have argued that deregulation of interest rates for consumer loans would make it easier to get loans for such purchases as automobiles and furniture.

Congress already has lifted state ceilings on interest rates for home mortgages. Democratic Rep. John J. LaFalce of New York, sponsor of the bill, and industry supporters are scheduled to testify Wednesday to the Banking subcommittee on consumers. Subcomittee Chairman Frank Annun-zio, an Illinois Democrat, left no doubt where he stands.

"I will never sell out the consumers of America to high interest rates," he said. He is expected to try to force a vote this week on the measure in an effort to kill it. Many states have increased their limits on interest rates because of increases throughout the economy. But most still have some ceiling on consumer loans. Without the ceilings, Annunzio said, "You would have a consumer in New York City who needs a loan for a car Progressions Bush in Orlando he defends Reagan on tourism.

zation called the U.S. Coalition, a group of United States tourist interests that would help fund promotions in markets that the United States does not now have the funds to cover. The industry, he said, is just beginning to get organized enough to participate in joint ventures. "It's hard to get a man who owns a snake farm (attraction) in South Dakota to realize what he has in common with Pan American airlines," he said. The new law provides for an advisory board to be composed of executives from the tour and travel industry.

Bush said that selection of the board members will begin in two weeks. Anyone wishing to serve on the board may submit a letter and a short resume to him. Candidates will be confirmed through the White House. Roberto Alfonso, from catering director for the Dutch Resort Hotel at Lake Buena Vista to director of food and beverage. John Humohrev.

aeneral manager and controller for White Laboratories Orlando, to executive vice president. Gail Chandler, from operations officer at Bamen Bank's Rio Pinar office to assistant vice president and manager of the office..