The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • Page 21

The Orlando Sentinel Dow Jones industrials, daily close innn i i i i 11 i i 4000 3950 3900 3850 3800 3750 3700 3650 3600 3550 3500 THURSDAY, January 19, 1995 Profit-taking stalls Dow's bid to reach 3,900, B-5 CD 3iWE Market listings, B-2 1 ID) 31 4 11 18 25 2 9 16 23 30 6 13 20 OCT. NOV. DEC. JAN. auks allowed to sell annultie: to prompt more banks to enter the annuities business, bankers said.

In 1992, banks sold $12.2 billion in annuities with fixed and variable payment schemes, representing 17 percent of all individual annuities and 22 percent of the fixed annuities sold nationwide. Annuities accounted for 7 percent of all bank brokerage sales. NationsBank, based in Charlotte, N.C., Please see COURT, B-6 counts and certificates of deposit. Annuities, generally sold by insurance agents, offer a guaranteed stream of benefits in exchange for a lump-sum payment. They often are used as a source of retirement income.

Many banks are selling annuities and other products, such as mutual funds, as a way to generate business as revenue falls off from traditional banking activities. The Supreme Court's decision is likely vestments that are usually sold by insurance companies. Justices unanimously overturned a ruling by a federal Court of Appeals in New Orleans that NationsBank, the country's third-largest bank, could only sell annuities in towns of 5,000 people or less. Most of Florida's biggest banks, particularly Barnett Banks are eager to sell annuities and other investments as alternatives to traditional savings ac The high court reversed a ruling that limited banks' sales of the investments. COMPILED FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS The Supreme Court handed a major victory to the banking industry and the Clinton administration Wednesday by ruling that banks can sell annuities, in Citrus group gets a taste of sales plan The proposal for a fresh-fruit promotion may be hard to swallow because of possible antitrust conflicts.

By Jerry Jackson sr. "0 OF THE SENTINEL STAFF 'tf i' 1 J. THE MARKETS Dow Jones industrials 3,928.98, down 1 .68 500 469.72, up 0.33 MidCap index 173.53, down 0.27 NYSE index 255.97, down 0.28 NASDAQ index 772.38, up 0.24 AMEX index 439.97, up 0.88 Dow Jones bond index 94.86, up 0.09 Gold, Comex close $382.30, up $2.00 Silver, Comex close $4.87, up $0.02 Dollar, Fed index $88.54, up $0.24 Prime rate 8.5 Mortgages, 30-year fixed 8.625-9.5 1-yr. Treasury index as of Jan. 17 7.12 Consumer Price Index, December 149.7 ELECTRONICS NINTENDO OF AMERICA on Wednesday accused Samsung Electronics of helping produce hundreds of thousands of counterfeit copies of the fast-selling Donkey Kong Country, video game.

In a civil suit filed in U.S. District Court, Nintendo contends Samsung manufactured the computer chips that contain the audio and video information for the illegal game cartridges. The bogus cartridges often sell for about half the $59 retail price of a real Donkey Kong Country game, Nintendo said. FOOD OSCAR MAYER, the leading marketer of processed meat, said it was introducing Oscar Mayer Free, a line of no-fat processed meats including hot dogs and bologna. The Oscar Mayer Free hot dog has no fat and 40 calories compared with 17 grams of fat and 190 calories in a regular Oscar Mayer hot dog.

AIRLINES AIRTRAN CORP. appointed John F. Horn as president of AirTran Airways the company's Orlando-based jet airline subsidiary. He has overall responsibility for operation of the airline, which started service in October. The parent company is based in Minneapolis, Horn is former president and chief operating officer of Northwest Airlines.

He replaces Robert D. Swenson, who remains president and chairman of the parent company. AirTran employs about 150 people in Orlando and flies 42 times a week from Orlando International Airport to 10 cities throughout the East MINORITY BUSINESS ORLANDO ATTORNEY Victor Diaz won the election to become the 1995 president-elect of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida. Diaz squared off against Casselberry political activist Francisco T. Denis for the post, which automatically entitles the winner to the full presidency in 1996.

AIRLINES, PART 2 GORDON BETHUNE, Continental Airlines' new chief executive, offered a contrite assessment of the poor service and financial losses of its low-fare Lite service and promised to do better. Bethune said in a speech to the Wings Club, an industry group, that the company made missteps in starting Continental Lite, a no-frills series of short flights. It has had more than its share of delays and had alienated its best customers, he said. RESTAURANTS AN ATLANTA-BASED alliance of minority leaders launched a boycott campaign against Miami-based fast food chain Burger King alleging discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics. "Burger King spends a lot more on improvements in affluent middle-class communities than in minority communities.

The playing field is not level," a campaign spokesman said. A spokesman for Burger King, a subsidiary of Grand Metropolitan PLC, denied the allegations and said over the past 10 years the company had invested tens of millions of dollars to support minority-franchise ownership. REEBOK INTERNATIONAL LTD, I LAKELAND Struggling to find ways to help citrus growers, Florida Citrus Commissioners on Wednesday agreed to consider a fresh-fruit promotion that could cause antitrust problems. Under the plan, retail stores that agree to buy citrus at minimum prices would be eligible for extra promotional help from the Florida Department of Citrus, such as extra radio ad time or in-store advertising. Staff members described the program as a way to help growers avoid losing money from bumper crops.

Department lawyer Clark Jennings told commissioners, who oversee the state agency, that the plan might raise red flags or even lawsuits over price-fixing. "We're cautiously optimistic that it can be constructed to withstand any Sherman Antitrust Act challenges," Jennings told the 12-member panel. Provisions in the federal law allows exceptions to the prohibition against collusion or price-fixing, such as in cases where states adopt statutory exemptions and oversee the process, he said. But he conceded that Department of Justice staffers wouldn't comment on the controversial plan and expressed strong reservations about its ultimate effect in raising prices for consumers. "They felt this would be bad for consumers.

They didn't like that one bit," Jennings said. Citrus executives in the audience at t.he commission's monthly meeting also expressed fears about negative reaction that such a plan might generate from consumer groups. Please see CITRUS, B-5 Reebok benched Super Bowl Sunday this year to debut its ads featuring many Shaqs this Sunday. Magic-Suns a 'shoe-in' for Shaq ads Magic-Phoenix Suns game, being By Rene Stutzman telecast by NBC. OF THE SENTINEL STAFF The ads are Reebok's first to feature a playful Shaq.

Both show a team of five Shaqs play ing another team of five Shaqs, "Who you guarding?" one Shaq roming off the bench asks the Shaq he's replacing. II What Reebok's new Shaquille O'Neal shoe commercial. When: During Sunday's Magic vs. Suns game, being telecast by WESH-Channel 2 at 3:30 p.m. Why: To kick off sales of the 4th edition of Reebok's Shaq Attaq shoe.

Contract O'Neal is in the 4th year of a 5-year contract with Reebok, reported to be worth $20 million. Sourcs: Reebok International Lid. Reebok International Ltd debuts a new television commercial on Sunday featuring Orlando Magic center Shaquille O'Neal, dumping a two-year tradition of premiering its annual Shaq campaign during the Super BowL The ad campaign two 30-sec-ond commercials is to air during the first half of the Orlando "The big, good-looking the other says. Dave Fogelson, Reebok' Please see REEBOK, B-6 Sale of offices boosts Great Western's profit By Brad Kuhn OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Companies take steps to protect trade secrets By Jim DeSimone OF THE SENTINEL STAFF When Arius Inc. of Orlando began negotiating in late 1993 a merger with archcompetitor Richardson Electronics Ltd.

of Chicago, the security-electronics company didn't expect to sue Richardson more than a year later for allegedly ripping off trade secrets. Still it required Richardson to sign an agreement not to use information from Arius if the merger failed. Arius relied heavily on that agreement in a suit filed last week in state Circuit Court in Orlando. Many companies fail to protect their intellectual property, said Andrew C. Greenberg, a Tampa lawyer spe- Please see RIGHTS, B-6 0 Trade secrets: Valuable business information companies secretly use to gain an advantage over competitors that do not know or use the information.

Competitors cannot steal the information. II Patents: Inventions that companies and individuals share publicly in return for patent protection. Competitors cannot use the invention without the owner's permission for 17 years. Copyrights: Literary, dramatic, musical and other works. Owner has exclusive right to the publication, production and sale for renewable 10-year terms.

Trademarks: Distinctive marks companies use to distinguish their products. Other businesses cannot use the mark to identify their goods and services in a way that would confuse consumers. Source: Black's Law Dictionary Great Western Financial Corp. on Wednesday reported a 1994 profit of $251.2 million, compared with $62 million a year ago. Last year's profit was lowered by an $18 million restructuring charge.

This year's profit was helped by a $37 1 million profit on the December sale of 31 west Florida offices. That offset a $7.5 million write-off for access rights to interstate banking. Great Western, based in Chatsworth, is a savings and loan holding company with 27 offices in Central Florida. The company's stock closed Wednes- Please see BANK, B-6 Compiled from staff and wire reports for retirement Influential restaurateur Mighdoll makes a surprising move J. "Manny" Mighdoll, executive director of the powerful Florida Restaurant Associ 3 I Vw- ation's considerable political clout in Tallahassee.

McComas, director of planning and resources for Naples-based Dock 5 said Mighdoll's departure should not lead anyone to think the association might change its long-controversial stand on in sal. Norman Bates' business has been dismantled to make way for "A Day in the Park with Barney," which is set to open this summer. Universal plans to buffer the Psycho House with landscaping so it doesn't distract from the little ones' happy romp in the park with big purple guy. Taking advantage of this summer's box office smash Forrest Gump, Mobile, recently put on a two-day Gump Fest that raised nearly $20,000 for the Association of Retarded Citizens and the Research for Rett Syndrome Foundation. Leslie Doolittle Mighdoll Continuing her climb up Walt Disney corporate ladder, 33-year-old Jody Dreyer has been appointed vice president of synergy and special projects.

Dreyer, who is also special assistant to CEO Michael Eisner, started work for Walt Disney World guest relations in 1983. She is married to John Dreyer, vice president of Disney's corporate communications. Walt Disney World's questions about the Hotel Royal Plaza's renovation schedule have apparently been resolved. The hotel has been returned to Disney's Central Reservation system. The Bates Motel no longer haunts the base of the Psycho House hill at Univer- ON TOURISM ation and longtime protagonist of the Florida Commission on Tourism, is leaving the association.

"I think it was a surprise to most of the board of directors," said the organization's first vice president, Michael McComas. "Manny is retiring. He's just decided he'd like to enjoy more of Florida than he's been able to do working for our association." Mighdoll, who was on vacation and not available for comment, will retire July 14 but will continue to work on special projects until mid-October. Since taking charge of the association in May 1987, Mighdoll has doubled its budget and its membership. The group now represents about 6,000 restaurants and chains.

Mighdoll is also credited with heightening the associ- i dustry-backed funding of tourism promotion. Mighdoll provoked considerable frustration and debates among tourism commission members over the years because of his organization's refusal to back any funding plan that didn't include more businesses that benefit from tourism, such as gift shops and grocery stores. i In trying to break that impasse, Chairman Bill Sims is now advocating a tourism-funding plan that does not require restaurant participation. The association plans to conduct a national search for Mighdoll's replacement. To contribute tourism news, call (407) 420-5720.

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