Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 57

I' BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY A57 STOCKS' MUTED RESPONSE 8 Markets inch higher after interest rate hike Barneys New York said it is looking into the potential to open other flagship stores in selected markets It currently has six stores including this one in Manhasset three co-op stores geared to a younger market and 12 outlets -'Tf JL Jrt'stV fryZ(- 0 A percent to 204779 Yesterday marked the halfway point of 2004 as well as the end of the second quarter So far this year the Dow is off 02 percent but the 500 has gained 26 percent and the Nasdaq has climbed 22 percent All three major indexes were up for the quarter as well as the month of June Before the Fed announcement stocks were sluggish as investors hedged their bets against a Fed surprise that never materialized Investors are now looking ahead to the key Labor Department report on employment tomorrow as well as July's second-quarter earnings reports anticipation of this rate hike has been far worse than the reality of said Brian Bush director of equity research at Stephens Inc think going to be a positive for the market to get past announcement so we can start looking at earnings pre-announcements and the underlying economic In a preview of what the second-quarter results might look like a number of companies reported bettcr-than-expected earnings late Tuesday and yesterday before the session Cereal and packaged foods producer General Mills Inc pined $141 to $4753 after posting earnings that beat Wall Street expectations by 2 cents per share Sr- TV shops for shares rose 27 percent to $1625 on the news This be the first change in ownership The New York icon declared bankruptcy in 1996 driven by overexpansion and a nasty dispute between Japanese investor Isetan and the Pressman family that founded Barneys Two turnaround investors Whippoorwill Associates and Bay Harbour Management LCL took control of the company when it exited bankruptcy in 1999 and stand to gain the most if it is purchased Barneys said options include an infu sion of cash from a third major investor or an outright sale The posh retailer implied yes-tial sale is terday that the potential i not a sign of poor performance but an opportunity for growth Its news release read 2003 the company achieved THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Wall Street ended the first half of the year with a moderate advance yesterday as the Federal widely expected interest rate hike allowed investors to put weeks of uncertainty behind them The markets' reaction to the move which raises the benchmark lending rate by 025 percentage point was somewhat muted as the hike was what investors had anticipated The increase bringing rates off their 45-year low of 1 percent to L25 percent was the first in four years Although the market worried about the size of the increase and the Fed's accompanying policy statement there were few surprises in the end The Fed promised to continue a of rate increases to combat inflation And while it acknowledged there is a somewhat higher risk of inflation the statement added that some of the inflation factors were transitory and that the risks were balanced has certainly been a very well telegraphed change in aid Jack Caffrey equities strategist at Morgan Private Bank The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2205 or 02 percent to 1043548 Broader stock indicators were moderately higher The Standard Poor's 500 index was up 464 or 04 percent at L140A4 and the Nasdaq composite index gained 1286 or LI STOCKS The Newsday Bloomberg Long Island Index 205 ill 200 195 190 185 Jan 11997100 STOCK WATCH How long Island's 10 largest stocks based on market value fared yesterday NEWSDAY FUE PHOTO BID TO SELL OR EXPAND Barneys BY LAUREN WEBER STAFF WRITER Barneys New York is having a sale and even bigger than the the legendary warehouse sales The luxury retailer has retained the investment banking firms Morgan Stanley and Peter Solomon Company to strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder In everyday terms that means the store is up for sale or the company is looking for financing partners for an expansion Barneys may be taking advantage of foe robust health of the luxury market which could help it fetch a high price is the hot part of the market in said Wendy Liebmann president of Manhattan consulting firm WSL Strategic RetaiL MUSIC VIDEO SHOW OKs DOWNLOADS A new cable music video show that debuted this week allows viewers to download songs online for free during the broadcast Fuse Music Network's show broadcasts a 1 password that viewers can use to go on the network's Web rite and download a specific song typically the song corresponding to a video being aired or in conjunction with an in-studio performance by the artist The downloads in MP3 format are being provid- ed by Blue Mountain and Towercom the network owned by Rain- bow Media said The pro-- gram which airs weeknights will also rank the top downloaded songs of the day based on digital music sales over licensed services such as "Apple Computer STunes Music Store Roxk) Incs Napster 2 JO or MusicNow Inc LONG -AV -tl options record sales and or earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortization a common measure for determining financial health strong performance has continued in The release also cited the for the opening of Barneys New York flagship stores in selected Barneys founded as a low-price store in 1923 currently owns six stores three youth-oriented co-op stores and twelve outlets In the fiscal year 2003 ended Jan 31 Barneys' sales rose 69 percent to $4095 million Sales at stores open at least a year a key measure of retail performance rose a healthy 62 percent But net income fell 16 percent to $71 million because of debt refinancing costs and higher taxes pared with a rise of 72 percent nationwide BLOOMBERG NEWS GMAC OKs LOAN FOR NEW TIMES BUILDING Forest City Ratner Cos and ING Real Estate obtained $320 million in financing to begin work on the 52-story tower in Manhattan's Times Square that will serve as the new headquarters for the New York Times The loan is being provided by GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp a unit of GMAC Commercial Holding Corp The New York Times Co will occupy 27 floors of the L67 million-square-foot midtown build ingThe upper floors containing more than 700000 square feet of office space will be owned by a Forest City Ratner-ING Real Estate partnership and will be available for lea for lease BLOOMBERG NEWS ISLAND INC MARKET STATS MARKET INDEXES Ck ChgMhg Dow Jones 104354822115 -18 Nasdaq Composite 20477? 1286 222 Stf500 Russell 2000 DUET Advanced Declined Unchanged New highs New lows MONEY AND NEWS Prime rate 4001 10-yrTnote yield 4531 fisMounce $39445 Crude Oilbarrd (West Texas) $3705 FOREIGN EXCHANGE The Web site will also offer ringtones and other multimedia AP CORCORAN BUYS FLA REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE Corcoran Group the largest residential brokerage in Manhattan said it bought McCann Coyner Clarke Real Estate Inc in Palm Beach Fhu to expand in a vacation-home market popular with New Yorkers Corcoran disclose the price it paid for the two-office brokerage which sold $310 million worth of homes last year the second purchase in Florida by Corcoran a unit of NRT Inc the largest owner of US real estate brokerages Eight months ago Corcoran bought Paulette Koch Real Estate Inc a one-office firm also in Palm Beach Home sales in Florida rose 20 percent during the first quarter from a year earlier com- i 5 6 2D Computer Assoc Key Span Corp North Fork Bi Cablevision NYCmtyBcp Re Kimco Realty Weight Watchers ComverseTech Symbol Techno! Pall Corp nVyTTjTP If- JL.