Omaha World-Herald from Omaha, Nebraska • 14

business Markets calorld Hcrald 14 Tuesday October 31995 Daily Digest WALL STREET Earnings Concerns ull Down Dow In Early Trading flNew York (AP) Stocks were lower Tuesday as concern about upcoming third quarter profit reports carried over frfim weak session Several technology companies issued disap pointingprojections for the quarter Al noon cui on Wall Street the Dow Jones industrial average was down 2493 points to 473633 Declining is sues led advancing ones by a ratio of about 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange NYSE volume totaled 18328 million shares up from Monday The NYSE composite index was down 078 to 31130 The Standard 500 stock index was off 153 to 58019 The technology heavy Nasdaq composite fell 917 to 101840 while the American Stock market value index was off 197 to 53863 BUNKING irsTier Merger Means Job Cuts 'Scottsbluff Neb (AP) About 20 irsTier Bank employees here will lose their jobs when the bank merges with a Minnesota company "The jobs will be eliminated in late ebruary or early March said Don Smith executive vice president for irs Tier Scottsbluff Gering announced the merger with irst Bank System of Minneapolis in Ajagust As part of the merger data processing will be moved to centers in Minneapolis Denver and possibly Omaha Smith said All of the jobs being lost in Scottsbluff are in data processing UNIONS a Dow Jones At Noon 473633 1 Down 2493 Union Boeing Still ar Apart 'fl SEATTLE (AP) Boeing Co nego tiators made their and con tract proposal to the Machinists union dft a day that saw demonstrations and a slowdown by members of the aerospace company's largest union Machinists leaders said the offer made late Monday is and recommend a strike vote ACQUISITIONS Omaha irm Buys German Company Transaction Systems Architects Inc said Tuesday that it has completed the purchase of MR GmbH a 16 year old software company with headquarters in Wiesbaden Germany Transaction Systems based in Omaha will use the acquisition to ex pand its sales and services in Germany MR GmbH will market and support the electronic funds transfer software devel oped by Transaction Systems subsi diaries Applied Communications Inc and US Software Inc both of Omaha The purchase price was not disclosed INVESTIGATIONS Orange County Charges Reported Los Angeles (AP) ederal regula tors have told at least two major financial firms they may face civil charges for misleading investors in the Orange County financial collapse the Los An geles Times reported Tuesday The Securities and Exchange Commis sion warnings went to CS irst Boston Corp and Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc of Dallas the Times quoted unidentified sources as saying irst Boston sold a $110 million pen sion bond issue for Orange County in1994 that is now in default Rauscher wasfinancial adviser for a $299 million bond on behalf of 27 Orange County School districts which then put the money into the pool CURRENCY Dollar Is Mixed In Early Trading London (AP) The dollar was mixed Tuesday against other major currencies in European trading Gold prices marks from and dropped Dollar rates compared with late rates Monday includ ed 14284 Ger Iman down 14286 10063 Japanese yen down from 10070 The British pound was quoted at $15906 up from $15816 late Mondayfl major bullion dealers fixed a recommended gold price of $38225 perounce down from the closing price of $38290 bid Monday from World Herald wire services I 1 II IBB I Bl ffi I I I I 8 1 In 11 i 1 1 1 1 11 1 Iloilo Ifi a Mi I Jt 1 i 1 1 ih i 4 I 1 1 1 i 1 1 1 I i 4 8 'll I I BBlIlliHb'InL i i 1 i 1 1 1 1 I I It I I I ta i 11 I kill i I i 1 1 1 i i i 'Js 1 13 IJIJn 14 1 1 i I MU Mil 1 I I j'i iH t'I fj 1 ph! 4 'hH' i I'4 1 00 1 RWbiI JBlii hmM i Sil i i I S'Jj 4 14f fj fl i r4 I BJ BW 14 Ip tt hl Vl Bl I 1 I is wJ I flfl THE WORLD HERALD AUCTIONED: The Continental Building lies near the Douglas County Courthouse and the planned new federal courthouse Downtown Site Sold at Auction or $13 Million I BY STEVE JORDON WORLD HERALD BUSINESS EDITOR The Continental Building at 19th and Douglas Streets brought a $13 million bid Monday in Kansas City Mo in an auction of repossessed savings and loan property Closing the sale depends on a financial review of the transaction said Mike ulwider a spokesman for the Resolu tion Trust Corp which was set up by the government in 1989 to manage and dispose of assets of failed savings and loans He declined to identify the buyer until the sale is final but said all bids received Monday were acceptible Jim MacDonnell a senior vice presi dent for Sheldon Good Co the company that handled the auction said Tuesday a buyer from outside Nebraska won the bidding with a $13 million bid He declined to identify the winner Omahan Dean Halsey a retired real estate broker for the Union Pacific Railroad attended the auction was hoping to get it on the Halsey said figured I could probably buy it for around $450000 to $500000 1 thought it might sell for that because in such bad condition and only 43 percent He said he had planned to bid as much as $600000 and to invest an additional $250000 to $300000 in improvements t'OJ bring the building up to Class A office standards thought it really could be made into a viable asset for downtown The location near the Douglas County Courthouse and the planned new federal courthouse could make it a valuable property if renovated into offices suitable for attorneys br others who deal in legal matters Halsey" said The building has asbestos insulation he said but a letter from the Environ mental Protection Agency indicated the insulation is not harmful unless dis turbed Halsey said he had planned IQ" spray the insulation with plasticto( encapsulate it He estimated more than 1200 people attended the auction held in a large meeting room at the Kansas City Mar nott Downtown Haisey saia ne maae the second bid $300000 was caught in a he said 30 seconds it was at $700 and then it went on up It was goings fast I just let things go and waited Then it got out of my When the bidding passed $750000 he Please turn to Page 17 CoLI MS Creates 3 New Units or Expansion BY MELINDA NORRIS WORLD HERALD STA WRITER MS Communications Co Inc said it has created two new organizations to oversee its operating companies and has formed a new international compa ny The steps are intended to accommo date the continued growth and accelerated expansion plans an nounced earlier this year MS said The North American General Ac counts Group will combine the serv ices of MS Intelenet and RealCom two divisions responsible for services to small and medium sized business es Kirby Pickle has been named president and chief executive officer The North American Major Accounts Group will combine the resources of MS Telecom and MS Datanet which serve large businesses Ronald Beau mont is president and chief executive officer of this group The new Global Network Services Co will manage the inter national network platform Kevin is president and chief execu tive officer have evolved from having ad vanced fiber networks in metropoli tan areas so called city to having a fully connected and inte grated international network said James Crowe chairman and chief executive officer MS International provides services to growing multinational custom er base in London rankfurt Pans Stockholm and Zurich It plans to ex pand into 25 other cities primari ly in Europe The company plans no changes in its MS Network Technologies divi sion which designs develops and man ages the installation of fiber optic networks and network expansions for MS and third parties In a separate announcement MS said that some of its newest stockhold ers have agreed not to sell or transfer their shares before May 1997 Those stockholders are directors of MS and Peter Kiewit Inc who gained their shares last week in a stock spinoff by Kiewit World Herald KPTM Reach Agreement The Omaha World Herald and KPTM ox 42 said Tuesday they have reached agreement on sharing of news reports and joint activities in promotion public affairs projects and selling John Gottschalk president and chief executive officer of The World Herald and Howard Schrier executive vice president and general manager of KPTM said the agreement gives KPTM access to World Herald news reports and grants permission for their use on 9 pm newscast KPTM will promote The World Her ald as an attribute of ox 42 news The newscast is to expand to a full hour from a half hour starting Oct 16 Schrier said with World Herald information playing a prominent role in the new format Gottschalk said the business alliance with Pappas Telecasting of the Mid lands owner of KPTM another step in broadening the presence and influence of The World Herald in the Schrier said the agreement has been in the works for several years and gives KPTM access to World Herald re sources He said the agreement is com prehensive and offers long term growth to both parties Terms of the agreement were not disclosed Yields on Treasury Securities II Washington (AP) Interest rates on short term Treasury securities rose in auction to the highest level in more than a month The reasury Department sold $1 26 billion in three month bills at an average discount rate of 534 percent up from 514 per cent last week An additional 126 billion was sold in six month bills at an average discount rate of 538 percent up from 527 per cent The three month bill rate was the highest since it sold for 543 per cent on Aug 21 The six month bill rate was the highest since it also averaged 543 percent that day The new discount rates under state the actual return to inves tors 550 percent for three month bills with a $1 0000 bill selling for $9865 and 562 percent for a six month bill selling for $9728 The ederal Reserve said Mon day that the average yield for one year Treasury bills the most 26 WkTreasury Bills 65 I I I I I I I I I I I 60 Oct 2: fl I 538 55 'J 5i0oo 4 5oZo 4 40 10 17 24 31 7 14 21 28 5 11 18 25 3 July Aug Sept Oct 'X popular index for making changes in adjustable rate mort fl gages rose to 569 percent last week from 557 percent the previ ousweek ConAgra Ranks in Top 100 in Ads BY JOHN TAYLOR WORLD HERALD STA WRITER ConAgra Inc spent $2077 million on national advertising in 1994 placing the Omaha based food company 67th on a list of 100 top advertisers The ranking was made in Advertising Age 40th annual list of the leading national advertisers In 1993 ConAgra ranked 68th on the list spending last year was 1 33 percent greater than the $1834 million the company spent in 1993 the magazine said No other Omaha based company was on the list although two companies with major plants in the city were among the top spenders In 17th place was the Kellogg Co which spent $7329 million on advertis ing in 1994 a 179 percent increase over the $62 16 million it spent in 1993 Ranked 56th was the Campbell Soup Co which spent $2286 million in 1994 or 314 percent more than the $1739 million it spent in 1993 According to the magazine ConAgra spent $1146 million for unmeasured advertising which was defined as direct mail promotions co op coupons cata logs and special events The remainder $931 million was spent on measured advertising newspapers magazines television and radio Among top brands the company spent $346 million to advertise its Healthy Choice foods $161 million on Redenbacher popcorn and $101 million on its Banquet frozen foods The Banquet spending was a signifi cant change from 1993 when the compa ny spent only $43000 to advertise the brand Another trade publication Brand Week reported in its latest issue that ConAgra will spend $44 million to ad vertise its Healthy Choice line next year In a separate listing of the top 10 frozen dinners and entrees Advertising Age said that the Healthy Choice brand was the leader with 154 percent of the market Two other ConAgra brands also made the top 10 Banquet was in 7th place with 67 percent of the market while Marie Callendar was 9th with a 3 1 percent share of the market Crown Closings Affect Omaha Plant BY JOHN TAYLOR WORLD HERALD STA WRITER The Omaha plant of Crown Cork Seal Co will not be one of the seven plants the company plans to close a Crown Cork executive said Monday Crown Cork a Philadelphia Pa maker of cans and other containers announced that it will close the plants and make changes in others to reduce costs The company said it would take a charge of $54 million or 60 cents a share to cover the cost of the closings is not among those said Craig Calle senior vice president of finance and treasurer of Crown Cork The Omaha plant is at 41 33 72nd Street Its 270 employees work in a 347000 square foot plant and turn out steel and aluminum food and coffee cans as well as can ends which are shipped to other customers and other Crown Cork plants Calle said he know whether the Omaha plant would get more business or need more employees as a result of the closing the plants think the fact that not closing is a positive he said Crown Cork operates nearly 150 plants in 43 countries In its announce ment the company said it will close two aluminum beverage plants one beverage can end plant three food can plants and one plant in its plastics division reeze Effect flfl Still Haunts Nebraska Crops BY ANN TONER WORLD HERALD STA WRITER Crop conditions continued their slow march downward in Nebraska in' th? aftermath of a late September freeze that stopped crop growth in most areas of the state But amid reports that the frost did less damage to com and soybean numbers nationwide than expected soybean prices fell to a two week low on the Chicago Board of Trade Monday while com for December delivery gained half jt cent fl The Agriculture Department reported Monday that 52 percent of the com crop is in good to excellent condi tion That compares to 53 percent ih Iowa and 44 percent in Nebraska (54 percent of the irrigated crop and 26 percent dryland) i The com crop is starting to roll in the US Agriculture Department said Mon day Nationwide 17 percent of the crop has been harvested but grain analysts told Bloomberg Business News that early yield reports have been under the US estimate of 121 bushels per acre 'An updated estimate will be issued Oct 11 Nebraska farmers have 2 percent of their com harvested 81 percent of the crop is considered mature Iowa farmers have 9 percent of their com harvested and 94 percent is mature ahead of Ute five year state average Nationwide the USDA said 44 jler cent of the soybean crop is in good to excellent condition That compares to 53 percent good to excellent in Iowa and 22 percent in good or better condition in Nebraska Iowa fanners have 13 percent of their soybeans harvested with yields from 30 to 60 bushels reported and 98 percent of the crop shedding leaves In Nebraska' 5 percent of the crop has been harvested and aided by frost 99 percent has turned color and 91 percent is dropping leaves as the beans dry down for Officials say yields coming out of the field particularly later yields from crops that were still growing at the time of the freeze will be the most telling measure of last frost damage The big phjjl covered most of Nebraska where the loss has been estimated at $400 million In Iowa southern counties where crops were the furthest behind were hit the hardest But Iowa damage was thought to be more spotty because the Please turn to Page 1 7 Col I I THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEEKS PARTNER: A USAir jet takes off from Washington National Airport United American Eye USAir New York (AP) Now that airlines are starting to make money again become takeover candidates for the first time since a flurry of mergers nearly 10 years ago USAir on Monday said American and United airlines have been in talks with the carrier about a possible buyout troubles with a string of crashes and stubbornly high overhead have kept its recovery from turning into a boom but the carrier is one of the most promising money makers because of its dominance in flying to major eastern centers United and American are relatively thin in stronghold flying up and down the East Coast and any deal would have the added plus of keeping the other airline from dominating markets like Pittsburgh Philadelphia and the Washington Baltimore area strategically a nice fit operationally it would be a Ray Neidl airline analyst at urman Selz said of both United and American biggest trouble its high operating costs stand to run smack into the employee ownership structure at United While costs could be shrunk by extending ownership to its workers current United employee owners might balk at seeing their share diluted to make room for USAir workers And at American chairman Robert Crandall had the kind of luck he needs to bring that costs down let alone take on the troubles of another carrier But United and American the na first and second largest airlines are serious rivals and neither would be excited to see USAir fall into the lap of a competitor particularly not at a bargain basement said Daniel Kasper an industry consultant at Coopers Lybrand Any ideas that airlines may have had in recent years about buying one another have been nixed by a lack of cash unattractive stock and collateral already tied up with other loans inancing might be getting easier now that profits have started rolling in again and some stock prices have been trading around record highs I I Of' I 1 ft.