The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 24

2D The News Observer Raleigh NC Tuesday Nov 12 1991 a US to insure investments in Soviet firms VVRDC owners turn profit investors she said "We've certainly heard that and it's some- thing we're not naive about" One of the prospects is Lenin- grad Optical Mechanical prises Amalgamated makes lenses for the military and microscopes and medical devices for looking inside the human body Ms Pitchford said Another pros pect produces aircraft and another specializes in metallurgy and ceramics OPIC is reserving for the Soviet Companies Fund $100 million of its available insurance coverage The insurance will cost roughly 25 cents to 60 cents for every $100 of coverage for the fund's investors US taxpayers will have to pay only if claims are filed and OPIC cannot collect from Soviet or republic authorities Given the mounting political economic and financial chaos in the Soviet Union the insurance premiums represent "a fantastic buy" Mr Milosh said Mr Berg said that OPIC's premiums were based on the type of project rather than the location OPIC's loss rate is less than 1 percent he said Marilyn Pitchford chief financial officer of Batterymarch said the company had identified six Soviet companies as likely investment prospects and eight additional companies as promising Referring to recent reports that some Soviet entrepreneurs may be seeking to defraud foreign insurance The managers of the investment fund called the Soviet Companies Fund have not yet struck any deals with Soviet companies And no insurance policies will be written until the agency has an agreement with the Soviet Union or the republics for either Moscow or the republic governments to take primary responsibility for any claims Mr Berg said he expected an agreement by the end of this year The collapse of central authority in the Soviet Union has made investing there more treacherous with success no longer assured by cozying up to a few key ministers said Eugene Milosh president of the American Association of Exporters and Importers A small company in northern Virginia recently held a news conference in Washington to announce that it would be marketing Soviet jet fighters and aircraft engine parts An official from the company's Soviet partners then took the podium and announced that the jet fighters would not be available at all The fund is being sponsored by Batterymarch Financial Management a Boston company and the State Commission on Military Industrial Production in the Soviet Union It will invest up to $250 million in commercial companies being created by military enterprises the commission oversees By KEITH BRADSHER New York Times News Service WASHINGTON A federal agency has agreed to provide partial insurance against expropriation political violence and currency convertibility problems for a US investment fund that plans to invest in the commercial affiliates of Soviet companies in the military industry James Berg executive vice president of the agency the Overseas Private Investment Corp which is known as OPIC said Monday that the agreement was reached Friday and represented the agency's first dealings on investments in the Soviet Union The move came in response to President Bush's endorsement of closer economic ties with the Soviet Union at his meeting with President Mikhail Gorbachev in July Then in September the president waived for the Soviet Union a clause in the Foreign Assistance Act that barred OPIC from doing business in communist countries Mr Berg said OPIC's purpose is to further US foreign policy and to enable US companies to compete with foreign rivals which often receive more generous assistance from their governments Formidable barriers remain before OPIC actually provides the Although Soviet consume goods industries have a dismal reputation for backwardness the Soviet military sector is considered to have some of the world's' best scientists pioneering some technologies Based on informal commit: ments and expressions of interest from investors mostly large pension funds the Soviet Companies: Fund will have about $250 million when legally binding commit-: ments are made at the end of this month Ms Pitchford said 14' over Durham Corp the Raleigh insurance company that owned the Raleigh station through its broadcasting subsidiary Other investors include American Founders Life Insurance Co in Phoenix Gayle Adams the wife of Adams Communications Chairman Stephen Adams and Vickie Street WRDC's newly appointed general manager Terms for the WRDC purchase weren't disclosed But Mr Land-street and several Durham Corp shareholders paid $3 million in cash and tendered roughly $26 million in Durham Corp stock to buy all the broadcasting properties Those properties the television station and four radio stations were split three ways Mr Brissette and the other investors joined Mr Landstreet to buy the television station In an interview at WRDC's studios and offices in the High-woods office complex in North Raleigh Mr Brissette said he Mr Landstreet and station management had little choice but to ax the station's news department "We have never seen a network affiliate with local news as low-rated as it was here" he said "We could have quadrupled our spending on it and it would not make any progress And we think that the other guys that do news in this market are terrific" he said referring to WRAL-TV in Raleigh and WTVD in Durham Mr Brissette said Triangle viewers upset at the decision to cancel the news would be surprised to hear of his successes with news operations in other markets At the eight stations he has operated for Adams and is now attempting to buy all are rated either tops or No 2 in news ratings "We're very news-oriented but this is a rare case" he said "We won't ever attempt to do this cut news again We're just operating this one according to the market" 4 I Get Reports On More Than 9000 Stocks With STOCKQUOTE HOTLINE IT'S FREE Here's How To Use Stock Quote Hotline Continued from page 1D women's basketball games Being in charge of WRDC is the latest in a long career of executive positions at TV stations for Mr Brissette A native of Springfield Mass and a former minor-league baseball player in the Chicago White Sox organization Mr Brissette for seven years was president and chief operating officer of two TV subsidiaries of Adams Communications Corp a large broadcast station owner in Minneapolis Ile also has a financial interest in and once served as general manager of WWAY-TV in Wilmington Now he finds himself directly involved both in ownership and operations not just at WRDC but at eight other stations as well The executive has reached an agreement with his former employer Adams Communications to buy eight TV stations in six states To operate his new stations Mr Brissette 60 has formed Brissette Broadcasting Corp in Boca Raton Fla His deal with Adams is being financed by General Electric Capital Corp and by an undisclosed partner while his share of WRDC was purchased mainly with financing from Chrysler Capital Corp a unit of the automaker With WRDC Mr Brissette isn't the principal investor That distinction belongs to Bev Land-street III the Nashville Tenn money manager who led several unsuccessful attempts to take Home sales fall off in Triangle Continued from page 1 trenched that people aren't even refinancing their existing loans in order to lower their monthly payments "To me that indicates that it's going to take more than lower interest rates to spur interest" Mr Davis said "They're going to need to feel more comfortable with the economy in general But it's really interesting because this is really an opportune time Interest rates haven't been this low in a long time" The bulk of the decline in the Triangle's housing sales through the first three quarters was in the so-called "attached housing market" of condominiums and town amoreo-NgtRilms' 1 Call 549-5100 When prompted enter category 9999 2 Enter your stock ticker symbol found in Standard 8c Poor's Stock Guide or by calling your broker Convert each letter contained in your ticker symbol into two numbers See our alphabet code for conversion examples 3 Once you've entered the code press the star () key 4 To exit Stock Quote Hotline and request another CITYL1NE category press the I key followed by the star () key For further instructions on how to use Stock Quote Hotline enter category 9991 ALPHABET CODES: A 21 14 42 22 I 43 23 51 31 52 32 53 33 61 41 62 63 71 01 72 73 81 82 83 IV 91 92 93 03 11 13 CITV'LINE The News and Observer NISITMMIIMUMMEI CALL 549-5100 Category 9999 Get the latest stock prices direct from the wires of Standard 84 Poor's Comstock Service More than 9000 stocks are listed from the NYSE Am Ex and OTC available 24 hours a day Receive up to 10 quotes with one easy call 1 1) gi 'nat 'St tom li rvil HP LaserJet IIP phis printer 300-dpi printing with faster 41016 16 MHz processor 189 HEWLETT PACKARD 1 Authorized Dealer moot 1 A 1 1111111 HP DeskWriter printer 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Factory trained HP authorized technicians for rapid turnaround on-site service contracts and carry-in depot service COPLEY Ma SYSTEMS The Best of Today's Technology-In A Word Copley" 100 Dominion Dr Morrisville NC 27580 Hours M-F Boston Hartford Baltimore Washington BC Raleigh Now York I III la 41104 1 rvp9 1111 11 112 Iltilrfa' 4' I 'ILIWNPAtk -401411104 A3 STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST 9990 HOW TO USE STOCKQUOTE HOTLINE 9991 Neither Comstock nor The News and Observer guarantees the accuracy or completeness of the information nor shall either organization be liable far any delays inaccuracies or en-on in the service RE Crabtree Associates supplies the technical support services to cement the relationship between Owner Architect and Contractor Contract preparation review Dispute resolutions Project management Claims analysis preparation Estimating scheduling Inspections 919783-5691 Fax 919783-7053 AACE ACI AGC CSI NCMA NFPA PCEA 114 A- ota tr- ri tkt RE Crabtree Associates supplies the technical support services to cement the relationship between Owner Architect and Contractor Contract preparation review Project management Estimating scheduling 919783-5691 AACE ACI AGC CSI Dispute resolutions Claims analysis preparation Inspections Fax 919783-7053 NCMA NFPA PCEA houses where sales were off more than 15 percent from 1990 The popularity of condominiums and townhouses has waned since the mid-1980s with most homebuyers opting for the more traditional single-family or detached houses Sales of single-family homes were off a modest 3 percent through the first nine months Market Opportunity Research reported The company compiles its information from closings reported in the Durham Orange and Wake County courthouses The depressed real estate market also has spilled over into the average sales prices of homes After several years of annual double-digit increases in the values of Triangle homes the value of houses is increasing only modestly in the region The average selling price of new and existing homes increased about 3 percent to $107673 in Durham County by about 25 percent to $126777 in Orange County and 7 percent to $126660 in Wake County 65 Cl a 4i' i 1'4 tr 1 1 S- 41sr's slk N(14 1 4 tw I's Resolution Trust Corporation Receiver 3 for cS Fulton Federal Savings Bank e' has sold '1- Mitsy Woods Apartments 4 a Cary North Carolina to it $9000000 Robert Hultstrand 1 James I Anthony Jr 4 Represented the Seller We are proud ANTHONY CO t' COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE to announce the -r 1 i' 1015 Wade Avenue Raleigh NC 9198321110 pening of our nevi 1 1 1 111111110111111111EW all' repair shop featuring ii-c4 et -0 t' 0 I the most modern body ti4 011 1 1 '4Ai iv 4 rtho-tti'44 repair facilities in our area including: --4 k----w-eft-rt--s -A Controlled Environmental -----------vit -7---- ----r downdraft paint booths 4L yen Factory trained painters repair technicians egi 0101- A' P''''Il 1 Chief Easyliner frame machine it poo-Aift It -t- ikc -I cri1 Computerized paint matching system o3 4- Computerized instant estimating system 1 -vi-z- 4 i I 1 'You look down at the speedometer and wonder how mi the world We specialize in all GM cars Call you got there Driver August 1990 a Mike O'Neil Manager today! 4 44 4 4- 1 )' 454 4zi')" a 1991 BMW 650i LEASE FOR 073mo 1mot p' ft fiL41 0" am td VI 4:: lift Payments based on 54 month dosed4ted lease Firal mond payment a fully refundable aemarty depoatt luxury tax clac tee eo: M04 WO tags and salmi tax 'sewed UPOn delwery wan agpteved raft You bay 15 cents per mia ova( 10000 PIP Pal ILWV 77' 1 Fantgeat th 54 netcomma lie imm -m 4 i t'ir LeithBMIV 0 Irs MP I 5601 Capital Boulevard (5 miles north of the Beltline) 0 Oa ac 0 ds Raleigh 919-876-5432 elthir 7 -1 08301:1 411 1n I I' 1 Resolution Trust Corporation Receiver for Fulton Federal Savings Bank has sold Mitsy Woods Apartments Cary North Carolina to $9000000 Robert Hultstrand James I Anthony Jr Represented the Seller ANTHONY CO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 1015 Wade Avenue Raleigh NC 919832-1110 YR74441Y-'1 'A "You look down at and wonder how you got there:" 1991 BMW 650i LEASE FOR ONLYS79 073M0 Payments based on 54 month closedead lease Fast month 's payment a fully retundable leftUrtty deposa luxury tax dos lee tags and salos tax Napped upon deltvery wan approved weft You pay 15 cents per mat over 10000 Par yew al lease ond Leith BMW 5601 Capital Boulevard (5 Raleigh 919-876-5432 0 110 -le' the speedometer in the world Driver August 1996 Driver August 1990 miles north of the Beltline) We are proud 't1Nfor to announce the '4- opening of our neilv'' I i'-'' repair shop featuring qiz the most modern body repair facilities in our area including: A Controlled Environmental downdraft paint booths Factory trained painters repair technicians Chief Easyliner frame machine Computerized paint matching system Computerized instant estimating system We specialize in all GM cars Call ''1J Mike O'Neil Manager today! r7gtt044 i 1 DOUBLE GRAND OPENING IN A We're celebrating two new offices in Gary with Open Houses and everyone is invited Tuesday Evening November 12 6:00 to 7:30 Come see our new offices in Cary Parkway Pointe Office Old ApexUS 1 64 and Cary Parkway Swift Creek Office Holly Springs Road near Swift Creek Elementary School Free Prizes Free Refreshments Free Favors The Adelity Bank pr SINCE 1909 Now Four Locations in Cary Downtown on Chatham Street Parkway Pointe Mayfair Plaza Swift Creek Member Federal Domed inourance COIPersbon 1.