Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 18

Business editor. Jennifer Pittman 429-2447 1 B-4 Tuesday, August 31, 1999 Sentinel Weirwiias mmanrkelis decBDime Business T.lAnilETGt ilWS Dally markets roundup SCO stock climbs; Linux growth cited Dow Jones August 30, 1991 Close High, 11,123.09 Net change TT 10,914.13 Low 10,902.42 Pet. change 11,700 11,100 10,500 Market In brief August 30, 1999 DOW(lndiutrials) 500 'RUSSELL 2000 NASDAQ 9,900 9,300 8,700 8,100 'We think it has to do with the resurgence in the Linux April Cook, SCO spokeswoman 7,500 9199 8199 5199 7199 6199 Net change Pet. change Close High 1,350.70 1,324.02 Low 1,322.80 600 August 30, 19 Dow falls 176; Nasdaq, also tumble By EILEEN GLANTON The Associated Press NEW YORK Stocks fell sharply for a third straight session Monday as bond yields rose and investors, seeking clues to the future course of interest rates, braced for another round of economic data. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 176.04 to 10,914.13.

The Dow has fallen more than 100 points in each of the last three trading days. Broader stock indicators also suffered steep declines as light trading volume exaggerated price moves. The Standard Poor's 500 fell 24.25 to 1,324.02, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 46.21 to 2,712.69. Investors remained nervous about interest rates as they awaited reports this week on manufacturing activity and unemployment, which are expected to offer some evidence of how fast the U.S. economy is growing.

Analysts say signs of inflation could convince investors that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates for a third time this year. Generally, higher rates are bad for stocks because they can cut into corporate profits and make other investment vehicles including bonds more attractive. The market is following what has become a familiar pattern after inter-, est rate increases. The Fed raised rates in late June and last Tuesday, and after each move, stocks managed a short-term rally only to tumble as investors locked in profits and economists resumed their watch over inflation. "The complacency that allowed the market to rally after the last increase has evaporated," said William Mee-han, chief market analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Meehan said Federal Reserve By JENNIFER PITTMAN Sentinel staff writer SANTA CRUZ Santa Cruz Operation watched its stock jump inexplicably as above-average trading swept share values up more than a point Monday. The 16 percent jump was a good sign for the software company, which has been struggling for a comeback since its stock plummeted on Wall Street in recent years. Christopher Galvin, an analyst with Hambrecht Quist in San Francisco, said companies using Linux technology in their products experienced price climbs Monday but he didn't know why. Doug Michels, SCO's chief executive officer and president, earlier this month said the company was gaining value because of streamlined procedures and winning technology. "We think it has to do with the resurgence in the Linux movement," said April Cook, SCO investor relations spokeswoman.

"People are very excited about anything that has to do with the Linux movement." The Linux free software movement has developed a loyal and growing following of computer users, programmers and companies who subscribe to its "open source" 930 9199 7199 8199 6199 5199 policy. Users can modify the free software to their own needs and the technology has been moving beyond corporate server machines onto home desktops and new games. SCO announced recently that; it was setting up technical support and services for Linux users, but it was unclear why that would not be felt on the market until Monday. The latest executive hire in the company two months ago Michael Orr as vice president of marketing also could be a factor, Cook said. Orr has a Linux background.

"We don't know exactly what was behind (the rise in stock price)," Cook said. Today there was unusual volume and the price did go up corresponding to that. We think it's Linux media basically carrying over the interest into our products." The company's stock closed at its highest point in the past year, 9, an increase of 1 or 16 percent The 52-week low: 2. Dly YTD Him Dtv PE Ul ChgChfl ll'sHf I Coirwic 1.44 14 52" -1 DMnFd .88 11 40V -V .1.4 DowJns .96 35 60'V 5.3 Golchk 15 8 14 6 QranlaC .28 14 25V LockhdMt .88 21 37 Pwiiwy 2.18 18 38" PUntrn 16 51 -3 SBC Com .98 26 50Vt -8 5 Salway 29 46' -'A Seagals 7 33to 10 3 Tsxlnsl 9 .17 71 80 87.5 WalUn .48 33' 84.1 WWBFrgo .80 29 40Vi -1 .8 Wligloy .88 29 76 li'fiH'iH 3 ApplaC 18 62V -2" 51.6 Coco 66 -143 9 CoastBops .32 15 19Vt 17.7 Inprtss 3 4Va Mai .12 39 82V 38 8 MMaCrsat 6' 27.9 MonlBB .18 19 15Vl -1 6.6 Novell 49 22V) -V 24.1 Odwalla 7V t's 8.6 Santera 24 1123.9 WstMai 81 8' -Vie Nasdaq August 30, 1999 Close High 2,769.07 2,712.69 Low 2,703.10 Net change Pet. change 1,400 9199 7199 8199 6199 5199 about inflation, he put them to rest on Friday." Stocks were further hampered Monday as bond prices dropped, sending the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond past 6 percent for the first time since Aug.

16. ket while setting monetary policy. Greenspan also deemed the market's long rise "inexplicable." "People have good reason to be concerned and cautious," said Meehan. "If anyone had any doubts that Mr. Greenspan is still concerned ESPN stores to close BURBANK The Walt Disney Co.

Chairman Alan Greenspan helped de- Friday that the central bank should flate the rally by saying in a speech consider the effects of the bull mar Local employment picture mixed Security flaw shuts Hotmail Tha Associated Prass REDMOND, Wash. Microsoft temporarily shut down its free Hotmail e-mail system Monday after the discovery of a security flaw that left millions of e-mail accounts vulnerable to unauthorized access. The Redmond-based software firm took roughly two hours to fix the problem, which was first reported by the Swedish newspaper Expressen. "As soon as we were notified, we got our developers and testers on it, and we were able to determine a fix," said Deanna Sanford, lead product manager for MSN marketing, Microsoft's Internet division. According to the newspaper, several hackers around the world had set up Web sites offering unauthorized access to Hotmail's 40 million accounts simply by typing in a user name.

Unauthorized users were able to read and send mail from any account without knowing the user's secret password. Sanford said she does not know how long the Web sites were accessible, but the company was not alerted to the problem until early Monday morning. "We haven't heard any reports, any customers calling to say they were affected by this directly," she added Hotmail users don't need to worry about downloading a fix, said Sanford, adding that the security flaw in the company's servers had been plugged. "The good news is the Hotmail servers are back up and running now and the issue has been resolved," Sanford said. By JENNIFER PITTMAN Sentinel staff writer CAPITOLA More Santa Cruz-area employers intend to hire than fire in the last quarter of this year, but the hiring numbers are expected to drop from the same quarter last year, according to the latest Manpower survey of local employers.

As many as 23 percent of employers surveyed in a quarterly poll of 30 local Manpower company clients said they would boost personnel during the last three months of 1999. Seventeen percent intend to cut jobs and 57 percent expect no changes. Last year half of the survey respondents planned on expanding their work forces. Just three months ago, according to a survey of about the same clients, recruitment was at 40 percent in the area and only 3 percent of the employers sought workforce cutbacks. The forecast is still strong for California, said Mary Stewart, a Manpower spokeswoman.

"The western region is leading all the other regions of the country for the first time in quite a while," Stewart said Monday. "I would not be overly concerned from the increase (in planned cuts) in a year ago," Stewart said. "It's still positive. You still have more hiring than you had cutting back." Rob VanNoordwyk of the Manpower office in Capi-tola said his office is having trouble filling jobs. "It's more of a workers' market where they're controlling the prices," he said.

Industrial jobs are not being filled as quickly as they could be, he said. People believe they will receive higher wages in the San Jose area. "That's one of the problems. A lot of them seem to go over the hill because they know they can make more money over there," VanNoordwyk said. "All the agencies are going through the same problems with a lull in recruitment.

As part of a national quarterly survey of customers, Manpower questioned 30 local companies in a variety of areas including wholesale retail, service industries and education industries. The cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville were included. Loren Fontinell, a recruiter with Sun Personnel Services in Santa Cruz, said there may be jobs in the area, but most of them don't pay competitively. People in business Nick Barrett has been appointed director of engineering at BC Tech a Soquel-based company that specializes in the development of medical devices. for bringing a range of financial resources to customers, including a team of specialists in financial planning and investments, lending, and financial services for business vice.

Ghahremani was born in Colombia and is a graduate of Cabrillo College. Carolyn Mora is the new owner of the Subway sandwich shop on Barrett has 30 years of experience in a variety' of high tech in Mora says she is changing the store's menu, extending the hours and lower prices on most items. Dale Fuller, interim CEO and president of Inprise has joined the board of directors of the Object Management Group. The group is a software consortium that establishes component-based software specifications for enterprise-wide distributed object computing. Fuller joins 29 other board members.

His term expires Dec. 31, 2000. A new group of officers has been selected at Capitola Le Tip, an organization of non-competing business people who "tip" each other by linking members with business associates at weekly meetings. Nancy Ross is the group's new president. She works in property management.

Caleb Lawrence, investment counselor, is the new vice president; Martine Mahoudeau, massage therapist, has been selected as secretary; Sharon D' Andrea, owner of a carpet cleaning company, is treasurer and Frank Lewis, who works in janitorial services, is the new member at large. will close its three ESPN stores and focus on restaurants and the Internet to sell merchandise for the cable sports network, the company said. Disney executives decided they can sell more product through the ESPN Zone restaurant and entertainment centers, the ESPNstore.com Internet site and through non-Disney retail stores, said Tom Park, executive vice president of The Disney Store Worldwide. Disney will close ESPN-The Store sites in Glendale, Santa Ana and Torrance on Oct. 1.

About 40 employ-' ees will be affected, with some being transferred to other Disney operations, according to a press statement Monday. strikes back NEW YORK Corp. battled back against phone rivals on Monday by slashing long-distance rates to just 7 cents a minute for calls made any time. While the rates are bargains for frequent long-distance callers, average users might wind up paying more, not less, consumer groups warned. People who sign up for cheap rate must pay an additional $5.95 a month.

Sprint, which helped trigger the price war early this month, charges the same monthly fee for a rate of 5 cents a minute at night, and 10 cents at other times. MCI WorldCom also offers weekend and weekday nighttime rates of 5 cents a minute, with two distinct plans that also charge monthly fees. It'll cost more to smoke RICHMOND, Va. The country's leading cigarette manufacturers have raised wholesale prices 18 cents a pack, anticipating an upcoming excise tax increase and higher costs stemming from their $206 billion settlement with the states over health care costs. After markups, the move is likely increase retail prices by about 22 -cents per pack, analysts said.

Philip Morris USA, the world's biggest tobacco maker, initiated the -increase last Friday, which was matched by competitors Carrefour buys rival PARIS French supermarket group Carrefour said Monday it was acquiring rival Promodes in a deal that would create the world's second-largest retailer and a European challenge to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The friendly stock deal valued at about $16.3 billion was expected to prompt similar mergers across Europe, where retailers are scrambling to find partners as Wal-Mart seeks to expand on the Continent New home sales inch up WASHINGTON New home sales rose a tiny 0.1 percent in July but still managed to post the second-highest level ever, a sign that the housing sector continues to thrive despite rising mortgage rates. The Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new single-family homes increased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 980,000 units last month up from 979,000 units in June. July's rate was the highest since 985,000 new homes were sold in November 1998. Many analysts had expected higher mortgage rates to cut into sales.

Some predicted 905,000 units would be sold. SentinA wire services i Robison dustries, and worked most recently at Guidant Vascular Inter-' vention. In his. new position, he will be responsible for directing the efforts of the Ghahremani 41st Avenue in Capitola. She recently completed the Subway training course at the company's corporate headquarters in Connecticut.

Barrett She joined Bank of America as a business banking specialist in Anaheim in 1978 and moved to northern California in 1990. She became a client manager in the bank's Los Gatos branch in 1997 and moved to Scotts Valley in 1998. Robison attended Bethany College in Scotts Valley, where she majored in business and psychology. She is a member of the Scotts Valley Exchange Club. Gladys E.

Ghahremani has joined Bay View Bank as a financial service representative. She worked at Great Western Bank for several years before joining Bay View and has a strong background in sales and customer ser- company's multi-disciplinary teams in the design and development of medical and consumer products. Thomas S. Brazier has been appointed to serve on the National Government Relations Committee of the BPO Elks of the USA. Brazier is a resident of Scotts Valley and a member of the Santa Cruz Elks Lodge No.

824, where he has been recognized for years of service. Scotts Valley resident Kathy Ro-bison has been named a vice president by Bank of America. Robison is a premier banking client manager for the Scotts Valley area, where her unit is responsible Monyca D. Wilcoxen Inside Sales Representative I have worked as an inside sales Rep. in the Classified Department for the Sentinel for a little over 1 Vx years.

I find my work very rcward--' ing. I help customers place ads from lost keys to selling million dollar rr homes. I am able to express my creative side in advertising and also enjoy the reward of customer satisfaction. 1 I moved to Santa Cruz From Berkeley 2 years ago and I have simply fallen in love with the natural beauty of this area. I have met people K--jT 1 from every walk of life, mostly through my work at the Sentinel and I in ama mz rcsiacnts colorful (if not more so) as I did in Lrl jri f' Berkeley.

I am married and I have 2 teenage sons who can't get enough "v7iiiv of Santa Crux. i 1 Whether you call, or come in person to place your ad in the Sentinel Classified, I will be very happy to help you in any way I can. (Actual Size) mm This special advertising feature will focus on women in business. The profiles of individuals give you opportunity to spark interest in who you are, what you do, where you've been, and where you're headed. A black and white photograph as well as a maximum 115 words of copy plus your name and company logo wHI be Included In your 4.25" 2.5" profile space.

(iy id Its hoc to ntumad lor () Copy Phut Deadline Tuesday September 7, 1999, 5pm For Mora Information, Please Call Your Sentinel Sales Representative at 426-0000 SHOP for a home with a pre-approved loan. C.07Q 15 YEAR FIXED starting at 7,00 (APR Based on Loan of $240,000 sivc Mmy by onus Ion or Mary Davb ACCOLADE BrokerOwner PHt 335-0840 FAXt 335-7555 PACIFIC INLAND Call Early to Avoid the DeadlinACrtmch! SantaCruz County financial, inc. 475-2600 Sentinel r5 tSINCtD KAL tSTAIt WOKH LkKXWiKK CA. MPT. Of Him ljeS30H (9161.