Des Moines Tribune from Des Moines, Iowa • 20

1' S3 11 iiUUliliU DES MOINES TRIBUNE Friday, July 9, 19S2 20 usiness Hiftaclbi: A leader, not a Fies By Steve Lohr 1M2 New York Timet TOKYO, JAPAN The recent Broad gain for stocks The stock market posted a broad gain today amid hopes for lower interest rates. The Dow Jones average of ,30 industrials rose 5.52 to 810.50 by 12:30 p.m. Gainers held a 1-1 lead over losers on the New York Stock Exchange. Interest rates fell sharply in the credit markets Thursday amid conjecture that the Federal Reserve might be easing up on credit. As of this morning, the Fed had taken no such step, however.

Medtronic fell 4 to 40. On Thursday the company said federal investigators were looking into sales practices in the pacemaker industry, but added that it had been assured it wasn't the target of the investigation. Cash How problems at U.S. Steel U.S. Steel Corp.

says it has a "cash flow problem and can't borrow money," according to a union leader attending talks aimed at solving economic problems for the company and its workers. leader in introducing new technology," said Hisamichi Sawa, director of Bache Halsey Stuart Shields Ltd. in Japan. Hitachi has tried to ease Japan's dependence on foreign technology since Namihei Odaira founded the company in 1910 in Hitachi City, about 80 miles northeast of Tokyo. Odaira began his company as a motor repair shop to serve a nearby copper mine.

According to the corporate legend, Odaira was appalled by the fact that all the mine's equipment was imported from the United States and Europe, because the operators considered Japanese equipment untrustworthy. So Odaira began making five-horsepower electric motors and, soon thereafter, an integrated line of industrial machinery powered by electric motors. Hitachi made its first computer in example most frequently used, and with some success. For example, Credit Suisse's 2.4 percent holding of Hitachi shares is said to be largely for Middle East investors. Hitachi, a maker of electrical and electronic products, is not No.

1 in many major businesses, but it has strong positions in several fields and chalks up annual sales of more than $15 billion. It is a healthy computer, semiconductor and electrical goods manufacturer smaller versions of International Business Machines, Texas Instruments and General Electric rolled into one. In recent years, as it has pushed hard in computers and semiconductors, Hitachi's research and development spending has soared, about doubling since 1977 to $666 million in the fiscal year ended March 31. "Hitachi has generally been a More than 100 district and local presidents of the United Steelworkers union from around the nktinn aaiharaA hikViinrl tlncnrl Aruro in Pitlchnrcrh I 1 or meetin8s wtn WO nation's leading nresident of USW corporate executives for the steel producer. Mike Bonn, Local 2227.

said. "U.S. Steel didn't say what they wanted from us, but they have a cash flow problem and can't borrow Retirement plan -three-legged stool money. If they weren't in trouble, they wouldn't be that candid." Cool weather recesslonpoor sales Analysts are blaming the cool weather and the continuing recession for a poor sales showing in June by the largest merchandisers. Sears, Roebuck and Co.

sales fell 1 percent in June from June 1981, mart Corp. was off 1.2 percent and J.C. Penney Co. sales advanced only 0.2 percent. "The consumer still was basically unwilling to buy general merchandise in June," Monroe Greenstein, an analyst with Bear, Stearns said.

"The weakness, with the exception of video games and toys, was across the board," he said. F.W. Woolworth the fourth-largest retailer, said sales for June rose 2.6 percent; Montgomery Ward Co. of Chicago, the sixth-largest retailer, said sales fell 1.4 percent; and Dayton Hudson Minneapolis, said sales rose 11.4 percent. All-savers9 will pay 9.99 Tax-exempt "all-savers" certificates purchased starting Sunday will pay 9.99 percent interest, up from the current 9.85 percent, the Treasury Department says.

The new rate, determined by Thursday's auction of Treasury notes, will be effective through Aug. 7, officials said. Interest on "all-savers" certificates is set at 70 percent of the average annual investment yield on one-year Treasury bills, which are sold every four weeks. The latest yield was 14.27 percent, up from 14.07 percent on June 10. Foreign investment a big deal Foreign investors established or acquired, either directly or indirectly, substantial interest in 875 U.S.

businesses last year at a cost of $19.2 billion, the Commerce Department reported today. The total cost, concentrated in acquisitions 1957, and a technical link-up with the RCA which dropped out of the computer business in 1971, gave Hitachi much of its early technology. Hitachi's commitment' to the computer and semiconductor fields grew in the 1960s. Then, apparently jolted by the Arab oil embargo and the company's reliance on energy-consuming machinery for heavy industry, Hitachi shifted its strategic course in the mid-1970s, analysts said. It turned its focus from electric power equipment, such as generators and turbines, toward computers, semiconductors and consumer electronics.

This decision was a gamble. With heavy power equipment, the market in Japan resembles a cartel, according to analysts. Established concerns such as Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, which is also involved in the data secrets case, sell to companies they have dealt with for years and there is little competition between the established groups. Growth is united, but so is the risk. "But when you start betting your future, as Hitachi did, on something like semiconductors and computers, you're taking some pretty big risks," said James C.

Abegglen, vice president of the Boston Consulting Group in Tokyo. Instead of the somewhat sequestered electrical equipment market, Hitachi was plunging into the most competitive and rapidly shifting industries in the world. But the change in direction, by most accounts, has been quite successful. Hitachi's electronics division, which includes computers and semiconductors, has been growing about 20 percent a year since 1975, on average. In the latest fiscal year, the division accounted for $3.3 billion of the company's total sales of $15.4 billion.

Today, only the consumer products division, with sales of $3.5 billion in 1981, is larger. Hitachi's profitability has also increased steadily in recent years. In the latest fiscal year, when the recession slowed growth in many consumer and industrial markets, Hitachi's after-tax earnings rose 6 percent, to $571 million. Its pretax profits advanced 13 percent. The man behind Hitachi's push into computers and semiconductors has been Katsushiga Mita, a 58-year-old engineer who became president last year.

"It is generally recognized that Mita's brilliance and leadership made this company so successful," said David S. Phillips, a managing director of Morgan Stanley Company in Tokyo. Mita is known within Hitachi as "Mr. Computer," and he rode that business to the top of the corporate hierarchy. In 1981, the Nippon Electric Company edged out Hitachi to become the second-largest Japanese computer maker, largely on the sales strength of its personal computers.

Fujitsu Ltd. is Japan's leading computer manufacturer. Some industry analysts said that Hitachi's aggressive commitment to the computer business could have been a factor that created the environment in which some of its employees were willing to pay large sums for confidential information about IBM. Hitachi makes equipment and gramming that is compatible with IBM's large systems. But IBM's introduction last October of the 3081 model group was apparently going to make it more difficult for outside companies to supply equipment compatible with the top-of-the-line IBM system unless they could figure out the architecture of the 3081K.

Much of the IBM information that Hitachi paid for was said to have been for the 3081K. computer espionage case has tarred Hitachi Ltd. with the image of a company that was eager to buy the technological skill of a nval, presumably because its researchers could not come up with that information by themselves. Yet, in Japan, Hitachi's reputation is just the opposite. Hitachi, perhaps more than any other company, is seen as leading the Japanese drive to develop new technology.

It is the top company in terms of patents registered, with more than 57,000 registered in the 1977-80 period. The more than 10,000 staff members in its 13 laboratories have a good track record in developing innovations in a wide range of fields, including computers, semiconductors and robotics. In financial circles, too, Hitachi is regarded as one of Japan's brightest stars. When executives from Nomura Securities and other major brokerage houses are trying to convince foreign investors to funnel money into the Japanese stock market, Hitachi is the 3rd Street site for new TV station By Chuck Hawkins The studios of Des Moines' newest television station will be located in an office building at 111 Third one of its three owners said today. Raymond Gazzo, a local attorney and part-owner of Independence Broadcasting said the independent UHF station, Channel 17, should be on the air by January.

No call letters have been chosen, he said. Gazzo also said that he has proposed to Des Moines Register and Tribune Company President Michael Gartner an "innovative and unique approach for the preparation and delivery of news on the television station. Gartner said today that the matter "is under advisement" He did not elaborate. He said renovation work on the 8,000 square feet of office space in the second floor of the Third Street building will begin in two weeks. Other businesses in the building include Gringo's Restaurant and the Coppola, Trout, Taha Gazzo law firm.

The law firm owns the building, Gazzo said. Alleman Planning and Zoning officials gave approval Thursday for the construction of a tower topped by a 68-foot antenna to broadcast the station's television signal, Gazzo said. It will be located about 1,000 feet southeast of existing television towers near Alleman and U.S. Highway 69, he said. The tower will be constructed this summer and fall, he said.

An order has been placed for the transmitter, but he said it will take six months to hand-make the transmitter. The broadcast signal will be mi-crowaved from the downtown studio to the transmitter, Gazzo said. Dennis Katell has been hired as general manager of the station, and Gazzo said he will begin work next Monday. Katell comes from WFLD-TV in Chicago, where he was marketing director, Gazzo said. Gazzo said he expects start-up costs to be in excess of $2 million.

Besides Gazzo, the other Independence Broadcasting owners are William Trout and Carl Goldsberry. An education program will be started later this year, he said, to remind central Iowans how to tune in UHF Channel 17. Also, arrangements will be made to provide small, round UHF antennas to persons who have discarded such antennas from their television sets. Gazzo said contracts are being finalized for programming, but he declined to discuss specifics. Dollar skids, gold climbs LONDON, ENGLAND (AP) A sharp fall in U.S.

interest rates sent the dollar tumbling today on foreign money markets, while gold prices climbed about $10 an ounce. In Tokyo, where trading ends before Europe's business day begins, the dollar closed the week at 257.15 yen, down from Thursday's close of 259.60 yen, but still 1.30 yen higher than a week earlier. On the gold markets, London's five major dealers fixed their recommended mid-morning price at $322.35 ounce, up from Thursday's late rate of $313.25. In Zurich, meanwhile, bullion was quoted at $323.75 an ounce, up $10. METALS NEW YORK, FRIDAY (AP) Soot nonferrout Yom Money Matters By Paul Strassels and William B.

Mead you withdraw them. Ycu can withdraw money at any time. Say you start a Voluntary Contribution plan at age 25, and at 45 need money to pay your child's college tuition. You can withdraw whatever you've put into the plan without paying additional tax after all, you've already paid income tax on that money. But we suggest that you leave the accumulated dividends or interest alone so they can continue compounding without increasing your tax bill.

My attorney toid me that I need a certified check when I go to the closing on my new house. When I went to the bank, the teller issued a cashier's check instead. What's the difference? Can I use the cashier's check? A certified check is your personal check with the bank's guarantee that you have enough money on deposit to cover it. A cashier's check is drawn on the bank itself. Each check serves the same purpose, and you can use either one for your real-estate closing.

If you use a certified check, however, the bank will keep it when it clears. With a cashier's check, you get a carbon copy of the check itself, and with your bank statement you'll get the personal check you wrote to buy the cashier's check. I've joined a stop-smoking group to try to kick the habit Can I deduct its cost as a medical expense on my income-tax return? No. The costs of preventive health care aren't deductible. You may live longer and feel better because you joined a stop-smoking group, fitness club or diet clinic, but as a general rule the IRS won't let you deduct the cost.

Streuoio and Mead weecema iftafl Irani reeded. Quoitteni el eenerel feiteroit oaooor la thee column but fhov retool Rtey cannot rooty to Inol-ytduel letter. Addrou oyetnora to The Straiten-Meed Report, care el Rio Dot Mekiei Trftune. 141 Paul M. Slraueh and Waaam Mead rather than the establishment of new firms, was up sharply from the $12.2 billion for 1980, although the total number of transactions was down from 1,659.

The report covers all U.S. businesses established by foreign direct investors or their U.S. affiliates and also existing businesses in which The shortcomings of many company pension plans have spawned an array of new programs and opportunities that could help make your retirement more comfortable and maybe even pay your children's college tuition. Think of your retirement plan as a three-legged stool. Social Security provides one leg, and your traditional company pension provides a second assuming you're entitled to one.

The third leg must come from your own savings or from supplemental pension plans. It's a leg you must build yourself, and the government has provided ample tax incentives to make it worthwhile. You will almost surely need that third leg. The Social Security system will not collapse, but benefits and cost-of-living increases may be less generous than they are today. Besides, Social Security isn't designed to provide enough money to live on.

Most traditional pension plans don't increase your stipend after you retire. So even if you start retirement with a nice pension, that fixed monthly check may buy less and less because of inflation. The best-known new pension opportunity is the IRA, or Individual Retirement Account. You can contribute up to $2,000 of your wages annually to an IRA of your choice. A married couple with both spouses working can each contribute $2,000.

If your spouse doesn't work, you can contribute an additional $250 a year. You deduct the amount of your annual contribution from your income, and you also pay no federal income tax on the money it earns until you withdraw it. Withdrawal generally doesn't begin before age 59. If you become disabled, withdrawal begins immediately. If you die before age 59 to, your pension goes to your beneficiary.

On top of the IRA, your company is now allowed to offer you a tax-saving pension plan called "Cash Option." This plan lets you contribute up to 15 percent of your salary to a company pension fund. As with the IRA, you pay no income tax on your contribution or on the money it earns until you withdraw it; you are not allowed to withdraw any before age 59 Mi. If you're young, you may want to postpone starting an IRA or Cash Option plan. After all, at age 25, few can afford to tie up savings until age 59 V4. But a third option, called a Non-Deductible Voluntary Contribution, may be appealing.

This plan lets you contribute up to 10 percent of your salary to your company pension fund. Under this plan you do pay income tax on your contribution, but the interest or dividends accumulate tax-free until Sarasota Journal stops publication SARASOTA, FLA. (AP) The Sarasota Journal, a 30-year-old afternoon daily was shutting down today because of declining circulation and continued losses. David B. Lindsay president of Lindsay Newspapers said Thursday that the Journal's morning sister paper, the Herald Tribune, will stay in operation.

Over-tlic-Coimter Stocks foreign investors or their affiliates acquired at least 10 percent ownership last year. The main difference between the two years was an increase in big deals and a decrease in small and medium-sized investments in 1981, the report indicated. Chrysler to limit price increases Chrysler Corp. apparently intends to follow General Motors Corp. this fall in holding base-price increases on most of its 1983-model cars to 2 percent.

Sources say Chrysler has told dealers and fleet customers that for fleet orders placed before prices formally are set on the new models, there won't be any increase in prices of its smaller front-drive cars. On its bigger rear-drive cars and pickup trucks, fleet customers were told increases for early orders won't exceed 2 percent. Chrysler confirmed that it sent the notice, intended to help dealers line up orders from rental companies, government units and other fleet operators, but declined to comment on its contents. Such notice on fleet sales usually represents an early indication of the company's overall retail pricing strategy. Compiled by Kathleen Englund What is going on in your business? New managers, promotions, plant expansions interest us.

Send information to Markets Desk, The Des Moines Tribune, P.O. Box 957, Des Moines, la. 50309. Good Hews Bad Hews C1982 Tribune Company Syndicitt, Inc. Cafl 243-1721.

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