The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 42

VtME BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY. AUGUST 31 1987 This Tough time' nudges mortgage ratesj Jos 291 Some Greater-Boston mortgage rates Rates offered at some lending Institutions. Borrowers are charged 2 potnts on 30-year fixed loans. .33 MONDAY The United Auto Workers are expected to announce whether Ford or General Motors will be this year's potential strike target. The union will then focus Its attention on that company in an effort to win a new contract by Sept.

14. when the current contracts expire. tno I.ao sin NorthEastern Mortgage Company 10.50 ComFed Mortgage Company 10.50 Boston Five Cents Savings Bank 10.40 Commonwealth Mortgage Company 10.37 Qulncy Savings Bank 10.50 Home Owners Federal Savings Loan 10.50 Framlngham Savings 10.50 Source: The lending companies. UESDAY The government's report on the leading economic indicators for July should continue By Deslree French Globe Staff Boston-area home buyers who want low-mortgage interest rates ought to act quickly. Rugged trading on the bond market, where prices have plunged dramatically over a two-day period, has prompted lenders to increase their mortgage rates by one-eighth to one-quarter of a percentage point, with additional increases likely in the future.

"It doesn't look good," said Ann Eggleston, vice president at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston. "For a long time I had thought we were In for a time of stability and was wondering what all of this upward pressure on rates is, but it's there. Maybe it relates somewhat to the value of the dollar; and the economy is somewhat stronger than it was a few months ago. "It's a tough time." she adds. "I don't expect any dramatic changes, but it's more likely rates will go up." Lenders, who began to feel the upward pressure on rates Thursday when bond yields rose and prices plunged Vh points, got a double dose Friday.

Bond prices dipped about another half-point. At least two lenders, NorthEastern Mortgage Co. and ComFed Mortgage raised their mortgage rates by one- Lenders are Jittery because the leading factor influencing fixed-rate is the long-term bond market. As bond yields increase, the price lenders can get for their mortgages decreases. Furthermore, when bond prices -which move Inversely to bond yields 4 drop, mortgage rates generally rise' when prices soar, rates fall.

To a lesser extent, adjustable-rate mortgages are impacted by short-terrri Treasury bonds, those one-year lnstru ments that have not yet moved enough to cause widespread rate hikes the way that 30-year Treasury bonds have pushed up the rates on fixed mortgages But other factors such as the fur ture of the US economy, the growing trade deficit, credit actions taken by the Federal Reserve to make money el? ther less or more expensive to borrow; and the performance of the US dollar against major foreign currencies die tate how the bond market will perform Bond prices are said to be plummeting because investors are convinced the Fed has moved to raise interest rates. Since predictions run from one ex: treme to another, it is difficult, say lenders, to detect where the economy and hence the bond market and mort: gage rates, will head. "The market has MORTGAGE, Page 43 up, anywhere from one-half of 1 percent to 1.1 percent, economists say. WEDNESDAY American Telephone Telegraph and Unisys, both trying to find room for themselves in a world increasingly dominated by IBM and Digital Equipment, introduce new computer and networking products. son HURSDAY Burlington Indus tries shareholders vote In New York on takeover by Morgan Stan- iJ i Globe staff chart They could go either way.

Some people are saying that between now and the end of the year the yield on bonds will continue to increase. Other people say otherwise, that they will drop." No one, it seems, knows for certain. But George Ellis, a senior vice president at Framlngham Savings Bank, is convinced that Thursday "was a big enough step to make everybody raise rates. Bond yields jumped enough to make everyone concerned," he said. "A lot of banks that got caught in April by not raising rates are acting quickly now.

We bit the bullet." eighth of a percentage point Thursday and increased them by another one-eighth of a percent Friday. "Consumers will still get deals with our adjustable mortgages, but we're pricing right off the market" with the fixed-rate instruments, according to Karen Carpenter, a senior vice president at ComFed, the region's largest mortgage originator. Thursday, ComFed's rate climbed to 10.37 percent. It went to 10.5 percent Friday. Robert Parrish, a senior vice president at NorthEastern, said he thinks mortgage rates are "at a crossroads.

ley. kRIDAY More good news on the employment front. The govern- 4-1 1 L. UlCMl 1CJAJ1 13 Ull U1C UllClllJJlUy- ment rate for August, and it should be lower again, to 5.9 percent from 6 per-ni i( cent in July and 6.6 percent last March. SMALL GUSIKZSS Boesky ready to testify in Britain Last week's biggest percentage gainers and losers on the New York Stock Exchange.

Munford (MFD 30): Munford, owner of Majik Market, WorldBazaar and Leewards Craft Bazaar stores, has hired an investment counseling firm to assess means to "maximize shareholder value." This wording has been read by Wall Street as signaling that the company could be acquired, that it would consider a leveraged buyout or that it may separate its different operations. Triton Energy (oil 17): This Dallas oil exploration company received a letter from Brierley Investments, a $5.6 billion firm based in New Zealand, indicating Brierley's interest in acquiring control of Triton. Brierley could obtain at least 50 percent of the total 14.6 million outstanding shares of Triton. Todd Shipyards (tod The price of the nation's largest independent shipbuilding company rebounded after a low set Aug. 17, when the company filed for Chapter 1 1 bankruptcy protection.

A technical rebound and the company's efforts led to the advance last week. Munsingwear (mun 14): since mid-1986 shares of Munsingwear have steadily declined. Earnings turned sour in the fourth quarter of 1986 and the company is expected to experience its first negative year since 1982. The chief executive officer resigned last month and on Aug. 19 Value Line reduced the rating to its lowest standard.

30 I "3" vh Country store's ambience hangs on By Davis Bushnell Special to the Globe ABINGTON The old country store, with its postcards, pickles and parkas, loses some luster, retailing analysts say, every time a shopping mall opens and trumpets the advantages of one-stop shopping. Country stores are still found on byways and in small-town centers, but in diminishing numbers. Last month, for example, CML Group Inc. closed the main facility of The Country Store of Concord, long a fixture in the west suburban town. The inventories of that store and other branches will be consolidated with those of the Carroll Reed subsidiary.

"The sales of places like The Country Store are being drawn away by the malls," said Margo McGlade, an analyst in the New York City office of Paine Webber IncL who monitors the Acton-based CML! Group, which has annual revenues of $280 million. In addition, customers long ago stopped relying on country stores "for necessities," noted Howard Henschel, immediate past president of the Gift Association of America in Washington. "I would suggest that the gift store is the next generation, as it were, of the old country store," he said. James J. Collins, 34, would have no quarrel with that statement, even though the Abington store that he and his brother, Thomas 36, opened last May is called "The Homestead Country Store." Explained Collins: "We tend to think of it as a furniture store that also sells gifts and accessories.

It's country in the sense of having a country motif, as opposed to being contemporary or colonial." So far, gift items such as framed prints, baskets, lamps and candles are generating most of the sales, but Collins expects that upholstered and finished furniture will be the most sought after in the near future. STORE. Page 43 Reportedly offers data on takeover of Distillers Reuters LONDON New York financier Ivan Boesky, awaiting sentence in the United States for illegal Insider trading, has offered information to British authorities investigating the country's biggest takeover battle, the Observer newspaper reported yesterday. Boesky was ready to testify on alleged irregularities in the successful $4.3 billion bid by Anglo-Irish brewing giant Guinness for Scotch whisky company Distillers, it said. 1 Financial specialists believe Boesky has critical information about the undercover mechanics of the takeover, in which Guinness outbid the Argyll: supermarket group, and about ousted Guinness chief Ernest Saunders and other key figures.

Inspectors from the Department of Trade and Industry began investigating the case last December to determine if Guinness sweetened its bid for Distillers through an illegal share price sop-port scheme. Boesky's testimony could also shed light on a $100 million payment by Guinness into his billion-dollar investment partnership fund in 1986. vp Guinness has filed suit against Boesky in New York alleging it was deceived into putting the money into the fund. C-i Boesky has also offered information on three other British takeover cases, the Observer said, without giving details. The former Wall Street speculator could face up to five years imprisonment when sentenced on Oct.

9. Trying to reduce his sentence, Boesky had made it clear that his cooperation with the British authorities depended on three conditions, the Observer said. These were that his help should be recognized by the US prosecutors, that he would not be prosecuted in Britlan and that he would be allowed to visit Britain in the future. 17 MFD n. 14 14 OIL TOD MUN SRC KGE -16 -15 -15 Consolidated Stores (cns 16): This Ohio company operates retail that sell close-out merchandise.

Promotional markdowns and higher advertising costs have hurt earnings, but the company said its latest quarterly if If it 1" If 5 5 Globe staff photoTom Herde results of 2 cents versus 10 cents were New owner James J. Collins, In his Homestead Country Store In Abington. "We'll have to continue to let people know that we're very different" from the previous store he and his brother bought in March. 'Hold' music approaches outer limits due to lower inventory levels, resulting in slower sales. Service Resources (src -i6): This supplier of office-support services has been restructuring its operations for two years to resolve liquidity problems.

Last week SRC announced net income from continuing operations of 10 j.j cents versus 78 cents last year. L.F. Rothschild Holdings (R 15): Attempting to strengthen its small base of only 250 securities salesmen, Rothschild hired 17 brokers from Shearson Lehman. In retaliation, Shearson has offered some Rothschild brokers full commission payouts for a year instead of the usual rate of less than 50 percent. Kansas Gas Electric (kge 15): KGE owns a 47 percent share in the Wolf Creek nuclear plant.The Financial Accounting Standards Board has ruled that utilities with rate phase-in plans such as KGE's must recover deferred costs over 10 years.

KGE said cash flow, dividends and utility rates will not be affected, but reported earnings Xwlll be down. Source: MPACT SacurttiM, Austin, Tax. Closer to home. South Station and Boston's Greyhound terminal both play soft mood music heavily laden with violins. While the Colonnade hotel doesn't offer any melodies spokeswoman Bobby Albre notes, "There's nothing wrong with silence once.lnfa while" the Ritz-Carlton plays carefully selected waltzes.

"That's the sort of hotel we are: a very classical, traditional hotel. You wouldn't find a disco in the Ritz-Carlton," explains executive assistant manager Michael Karsch. At this earjy stage in the development of the hold music industry, radio stations have a central role. Allan Ross, chief tape-maker for Rowe International Inc. in Dedham, estimates that 92 percent of hold music is standard FM fare on phone systems designed to receive radio signals.

Two such systems, Merlin and Spirit, have been introduced by in the past three years. 5- Page 43 By Joseph Menn Contributing Reporter The possibilities are endless. You could call the White House and hear the "Star Spangled Banner" while on 'hold'. Or tap your toes to the "1812 Overture" as you wait to chat with a Defense Department strategist. What could be more appropriate than listening to the Beatles' "Money (That's What I Want)" during the several minutes it takes the secretary at Bear Stearns to track down your broker? Finding hold music in such high-level places might not be that far off.

New York Air used to play songs about New York for waiting callers, but then it was bought by Continental Air Lines, which approaches the unformed concept of hold time the way the stereo dealer Crazy Eddie approaches 30 seconds of late-night tejevison. When Lotus Development the Cambridge computer software firm, introduced the Macintosh program Jazz, that's what it played over the phone. And Graceland, past home of Elvis Presley and present home of Elvis Presley Enterprises hasn't missed the opportunity to convey the words and music of the King. So far those companies and a few others are the exceptions. But more businesses are trying to ameliorate the annoyance of getting put on hold by piping in selected radio stations or pre-recorded music.

The New York publishing house McGraw-Hill Inc. plays well-worn classical pieces. The brokerage firm Gruntal Co. plays Just one a music-box synthesized version of Beethoven's "Fur Elise." Gruntal vice president of communications William Lewis said the switchboard they bought had that song, a Japanese song, and silence. Lewis said he chose Beethoven because, "It's better for a customer to know you didn't hang up on him.".