Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 49

I IP 0 ft ft in Selling Lcmss files Texas Chcptor 1 1 Bill Taylor, right, is a Lomas Financial Corp. man on a hot seat in halts payments on his new job. A fv $2.1 billion in debt. Profile, Page 3 jj I Page 9 Monday, September 25, 1989 Austin American-Statesman Foreign investments in U.S. double-edged This month, for the first time since 1958, the United States reported a deficit in the investment component of its trade balance.

The news was duly reported by the media, but chances are that most readers used to hearing about the nation's continuing budget and trade deficits failed to pick up the warning signals. Since the early 1980s, Americans have purchased more goods from abroad than U.S. companies have sold in foreign markets. The result has been mounting red ink in the nation's trade accounts. Traditionally, that deficit was partially offset by revenues from investments.

The United States has substantial investments abroad and the income from these operations flows back home and is a positive entry in the nation's trade accounts. These investments continue to help the U.S. position. But what has happened is that the volume of foreign assets in the United States has grown so much, it has pushed try 1 1 a lit- A Staff photo by Taylor Johnson The closing of the Rand Bridge Creek 8 at 1-35 and U.S. 183 might be the beginning of a trend.

Theater chain's expansion is showing signs of strain Many roadblocks are ahead in U.S. Memories' fruition Michele Kay Business editor the investment component of the trade accounts off center. Foreigners hold a tremendous volume of investments in this country a higher amount than U.S. holdings abroad and they have been sending home larger and larger pots of dollars they are earning from these investments. The investment deficit in the second quarter of this year was relatively small when compared to the total deficit.

But it raised a warning flag, showing for the first time the effects of the growing stake in American business by foreigner buyers. Efforts in Congress and in state legislatures to control, or even monitor, foreign investments have Continued on Page 23 these obstacles, U.S. Memories is being wooed as if it were a fait accompli by a number of cities around the country, including Austin and nine other Texas cities. The daunting list of tasks facing U.S. Memories has raised eyebrows among some computer chip industry observers, who question whether the venture can accomplish all it needs to do and still meet an aggressive timetable outlined when the consortium was formed.

Even in Austin, where city and county officials have anted up as much as $95 million in separate incentive packages aimed at luring the venture to the city, questions persist about U.S. Memories' ability to put its legal and financial house in order by the end of the year. "U.S. Memories itself is not a very solid stone concrete deal," said John Myers, vice president of economic development for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. I "This is not exactly IBM, which I Continued Page 7, 0 -S if TEMPORARILY CLOSED 6 FOR RENOVATIONS TO A DISCOUNT THEATER lin, Tenn.

His newspaper advertising considered vital in the movie theater business was halted in San Antonio. Rand is the target of a lawsuit brought by an equipment leasing company for failing to pay for leased projection and sound equipment used at a theater near Fort Worth. And Rand employees in the Little Rock area complained last week that their paychecks were bouncing. In addition, the J)e-. artment of Finance and Adminis- tration in August -entered judgment of $156,193 against Rand Theatres of Arkansas for nonpayment of state taxes.

Rand companies have received 17 notices to pay more than $468,000 in delinquent state taxes since 1981, according to court records in Little Rock reviewed by the Arkansas Business magazine. Movie theater insiders say Rand appears to be more interested in developing new theaters than running his current ones efficiently. Rand's box office receipts in Austin were abysmal, his competitors said, and may not have been enough to cover operating expenses. Industry experts also fault Rand for spending too much to build his new theaters but ending up with a mediocre finished product, including insufficient sound-proofing between auditoriums and inferior sound systems. Rand, however, maintains the Austin theater closing is only temporary.

He said he plans to reopen the Bridge Creek theater as a discount "dollar house" within three first he niust renegoti- rate hi lease agreement with the i i By Kirk Ladendorf American-Statesman Staff W.A. "Tony" Rand was a little-known movie theater circuit owner in North Little Rock, when his company began a rapid-fire expansion in Texas. Starting in 1987, Rand built five theaters in the Dallas area, agreed to operate another one in North Austin and discussed additional theater projects with local developers. He also created a stir in the movie theater industry by invading the San Antonio market, which had been the private domain of the Santikos chain, now owned by Act III Theatres. Rand's expansion push has now spread to six states and the company expects it will double in size to about 280 screens by early next year.

But Rand's burgeoning empire is showing signs of severe stress. He closed his 10-month-old Austin theater, the Rand Bridge Creek 8 at Interstate 35 and U.S. 183 in mid-September and began moving i equipment out of the premises. He also closed a new.theatet in Franks 1 By Kyle Pope American-Statesman Staff Even though U.S. Memories the new high-profile computer chip venture, has attracted millions of dollars in enticements from Austin and dozens of other communities across the country, there is still no guarantee that the operation will ever get off the ground The consortium, formed by seven of the nation's largest electronics companies, still must resolve a string of treacherous legal and financial roadblocks before a single slice of silicon can be produced.

The for-profit consortium, which has only a handful of employees operating out of an office in New York, must negotiate two tricky technology licensing agreements, raise as much as $500 million, find a site for its headquarters, receive antitrust approval from the federal government and enlist several new members all before construction starts pir jts computer chip manu-i factoring plant.this fall. Despite all.