Santa Cruz Sentinel from Santa Cruz, California • Page 43

ii 'U I Saturday. November 18, 2000 SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL Mare DesJardlns. city editor. 429-241 1 epm BUSINESS lowed baaildliiinig to DamidllDDDg- market PLAGE Nov. 17,2000 DOW(Industrials) i 500 a seventh time, citing more evidence of moder-' ating economic growth.

That slowdown haV' reduced pressure on long-term Interest rates, The rate on a fixed-rate 30-year mortgage aver aged 7.8 percent last month, down slightly from the average 7.9 percent rates posted In Septem- ber and in October 1999. 11 With mortgage rates holding steady below the. 8 percent mark, builders say they feel good about future sales. Economists expect housing starts and home sales, which have been an engine of the robust economy, to soften this year, reflecting the tojl of higher rates interest rates. Rates on 30-year mort-.

gages hit a five-year high of 8.64 percent, around the same time as the Fed's last interest-rate-increase in mid-May. economist Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors. "For the first 10 months of this year, housing starts are down about 3.5 percent, not a really large number given that we did set a record last year." The Federal Reserve has boosted short-term interest rates six times since June 1999 to slow the economy's growth enough to keep inflation in check, but not so much that it triggers a recession. The Fed's rate increases are designed to raise borrowing costs and dampen demand for big-ticket items such as homes and cars. Many call this an attempt to reach a "soft landing" for the high-flying economy.

"This report is as 'soft landing' a reading as one could hope for," said First Union's chief economist, David Orr. The Fed decided Wednesday not to raise rates for forecasting at the National Association of Home Builders. "Traffic is a little reduced, sales are not coming as quickly and as easily, and builders are telling us the marketplace is cooling," he said. "But nobody is telling us the market is really dropping like a rock." On Wall Street, stocks closed lower as an earnings warning from BellSouth rattled investors. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 21.16 points to 10,629.87.

The latest housing report was weaker than many analysts anticipated. They had expected that September's strong 0.7 percent increase would be matched in October. Still, "not too many builders will be crying too loudly they are still digging those holes," said By JEANNINE AVERSA THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Housing construction moderated last month as builders broke ground on more apartments than single-family homes, the latest evidence that the nation's economy is slowing to a more sustainable pace. Housing starts inched up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million in October, aO.l percent increase from September, the Commerce Department said Friday. Even with the small advance, new housing construction, which declined each month from May through August, remained at a solid level, analysts said.

"It's not the fantastic market we saw one year or 114 years ago," said Stanley Duobinis, director NASDAQ RUSSELL 2000 1,000 layoffs follow recalls at Firestone CnmnaM atum Via" CorXJllrr Warning on earnings sinks stock prices Another earnings warning this time, from BellSouth sent prices lower on Wall Street Friday. Dejected investors, focusing on high-tech issues, followed a now-familiar pattern and turned against any company expected to deliver disappointing earnings. The Dow Jones industrial average, which closed down 26.16 at 10,629.87 on Friday, finished the week up 26.92, or 0.3 percent. The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index slipped 4.69 to 3,027.19 on Friday and closed down 1.80 for the week despite a 133-point loss on Thursday. DaimlerChrysler picks leader for turnaround DETROIT With its appointment Friday of Dieter Zetsche to run Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler AG has chosen a trusted lieutenant to fix the a i Rv AMY GREEN VYv 0t Army awards $4 billion contract General Dynamics, GM will partner By ROBERT BURNS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON The Army took an important step Friday toward transforming itself for future conflicts, announcing the award of a $4 billion contract for new wheeled combat vehicles.

At the same time, it acknowledged that plans for fielding the new vehicles with infantry units will be delayed by more than a year. Lt. Gen. Paul Kern, military deputy to the Army's chief weapons buyer, said the new vehicle will make infantry units lighter, more mobile and better suited to conflicts expected in the post-Cold War era. "We are now under way to transform the U.S.

Army for the 21st century," Kern told a Pentagon news conference. The vehicle, called the Interim Armored Vehicle, is not meant as a substitute for the tank but as a prototype for a radically different combat vehicle that is barely on the drawing boards. The Army chose to invest the $4 billion for an interim solution so that The Associated Press THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NASHVILLE, Tenn. stoneFirestone Inc. announced Frl- day it will lay off 1,100 workers at two plants and curtail production at a third because of sluggish tire sales.

Workers at plants in Oklahoma City and LaVergne, will be notified in the next couple of weeks of layoffs that will take effect Jan. 21, the com-. pany said in a statement. Meanwhile, the embattled tiremak-. er's chief financial officer announced his retirement, and the company said it will replace him with the treasurer of its Tokyo-based parent company, Bridgestone Corp.

The 700 workers being laid off in -Oklahoma City represent 37 percent of the plant's work force. Another 400 workers are being laid off in LaVergne, or 27 percent of that plant's work force. Also, a plant in Warren County, will shut down for two weeks beginning Jan. 14, but no one will be laid off there, the company said. BridgestoneFirestone president and chief executive officer John T.

Lampe said he is optimistic sales will pick up next year, enabling the company to bring back laid off employees. "We are in a situation where sales of replacement tires have declined for sev- eral reasons," he said. "Obviously con- cerns surrounding the recall of certain Firestone tires is a contributor to this decline. However, the entire indus- try is experiencing a slowdown' in Army Lt. Gen.

Paul Kern tells reporters at the Pentagon the contract has been awarded for an armored, wheeled vehicle to complement the heavy, tracked tank that has been the backbone armored forces since World War I. ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER MISSION RULE REIIUIIIEMENIS Tactical mobiriy lor all types of terrain Ftrcpowet to defaat toft and armored taigets Battlefield eurvivabilrlv to cany out combat mbitona Supponability and affofdability division's problems before they begin to severely harm the rest of chairman Juergen Schrempp's automotive empire. Zetsche, a Turkish-born German electrical engineer, will face tremendous pressure to achieve quick results, analysts said. His selection came as DaimlerChrysler warned the embattled U.S. division will fall short of fourth-quarter expectations.

The company also said Friday that higher U.S. incentives, inventories and production cuts would push results "below the last forecast." DaimlerChrysler did not provide specific numbers. Airlines boost fares for business travelers HOUSTON United Airlines increased domestic business fares Friday by as much as $100 each way. Continental Airlines and American Airlines quickly matched the United move, which boosted fares for one-way tickets purchased fewer than three days before the flight by $50 for trips of less than 1,500 miles and $100 for flights 1,500 miles or more. Other carriers, including Minneapolis-based Northwest Airlines and St.

Louis-based Trans World Airlines, were reviewing the boosts. United wins court ruling on mechanics' slowdown CHICAGO United Airlines won a court order Friday preventing its mechanics from carrying out a work slowdown as Thanksgiving begins. U.S. District Judge William J. Hib-Bler brushed aside an International Association of Machinists request for a delay until Tuesday, saying the order was needed now to prevent weekend disruptions.

United said contract-seeking mechanics have caused hundreds of cancellations this month by doubling the maintenance time and sharply increasing the number of planes taken out of service for maintenance. Sentinel wire services include tanks. As to whether the Army eventually would abandon tracked vehicles entirely. Kern said, "That is still an open question." Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, had hoped the first brigade combat team would be equipped with the Interim Armored Vehicle, or LAV, by December 2001.

The $4 billion contract was awarded to a partnership of General Dynamics Corp. and General Motors Corp. They are to deliver 2,131 of the eight-wheeled vehicles by 2008. The Army had received bids that included both wheeled and tracked vehicles, but chose the wheeled version. It runs quieter than a tracked vehicle and can transport a nine-man infantry squad at speeds up to 60 mph.

It also is transportable in a C-130 cargo plane, a requirement necessary to meet Shinseki's goal of having combat teams that can deploy anywhere in the world within four days. The vehicle will come in two basic configurations: as an infantry carrier and as a mobile gun system. Its infantry carrier configuration will present variants for reconnaissance, as a mobile command post, as a mortar carrier and to coordinate supporting fire from artillery. The mobile gun configuration will have variants for an engineer squad, for medical evacuation, for anti-tank fire and for detecting and identifying nuclear, biological and chemical agents. POWER IIIAirjUSUSI'INSIflN EM SIr-WMtiHT 283 inchet 103 India 103 Inches 3I.TO lbs 31.000 Ibt.

Length Width Height Curb weight Combat weight QWV Engine: Transmission: Translor case: Difforennalr Tires: Suspension- 3hp 6 snoeds forward I reverse 2 speod 4 automotive 1200 R20CTIS (option) 6 wheel independent -hydropneumatic. with optKinat height management system it could get started now on making the myriad other changes in training and doctrine, for example. "It is not the final answer, by a long shot," Kern said. He noted that while the Interim Armored Vehicle is expected to be used for 30 years, it is being built mainly with off-the-shelf technology. Scientific research is under way to develop the combat vehicle that the Army hopes to have by 2010.

Heavy tanks, the backbone of Army forces for decades, will be retained and even upgraded. In the meantime, a newly established force called a brigade combat team is being created to give the Army more quick-response capability than it has ever had. For at least the next decade, the centerpiece of these teams will be the Interim Armored Vehicle, and they will not I'fBfOIIIVI-lNCrW 6VW Maximum spocd 62 rnph Masimiim range 312 miles Minimum turn diamoter 55.8 It. Maximum uanch crossing 6.S ft. Meximum grede 60 Meximum side slopo 30 Full lime 4 wheel drive (rear) Selective 8 wheel drive Powor steering with ground dirven beck-up pump Power brakes witfi ABS on rear three exles (when in 4 wheel drive) F1 Defense The company said it had already bol; stered its inventory of tires in antict pation of a strike earlier this year when it began experiencing decreases' in sales.

The strike was averted when union workers accepted a contract Sept. 16 after difficult negoti- ations. It is the second round of layoffs since Nashville-based BridgestoneFirestone announced in August a recall of 65 mil-. -lion tires. The ATX, ATX II and Wilder- -ness AT tires, most of them on Ford Explorers, have been linked to 119 deaths and 500 injuries in the United States.

The company announced Oct. 17 plans to lay off 450, or 25 percent, of its 1,950 workers in Decatur, 111. In addition, it slowed production at its LaVergne plant, with a full shutdown scheduled for Dec. 14 to Jan. 1.

The Oklahoma City plant follow a similar -slowdown. "Some people may ask why we did not take more drastic steps last month," Lampe said. "As we recently began our budget development and sales forecast processes for 2001, it became apparent our earlier production adjustments were not adequate and a more aggressive plan was need-' ed." The retirement announcement by Tet' suo Ando, 59, comes after 40 years with the company and seven years as CFO. He will be replaced by Akira Nozawa, 51, treasurer of Bridgestone Corp. BridgestoneFirestone spokeswoman Christine Karbowiak said Ando's retirement is not linked to the tire recall.

Agilent spins off medical supply group to Royal Philips stocks "communications and life sciences markets." Shares of Agilent were up nearly 14 percent, or $5.8, to close at $47.38 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, where Philips' American shares were up 31.3 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $35.81. Agilent was spun off last year as one of the first steps in Hewlett-Packard's consolidation and restructuring. Agilent has 46,000 employees and had sales of $8.3 billion last year. Philips is Europe's largest electronics company, with 232,000 employees in more than 60 That would complement Philips' medical systems group, which makes diagnostic Imaging machines, such as CT and X-ray scanners, and would free Agilent to concentrate on making measurement and monitoring instruments and semiconductor and optical components. "In order to meet customer needs in today's healthcare marketplace, we believed we had to offer a broader range of solutions, and that required substantial investment," said Ned Barn-holt, Agilent's president and CEO.

He said Agilent wanted to focus instead on the THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PALO ALTO Agilent Technologies the testing and measurement equipment company spun off from Hewlett-Packard is selling its medical supply group to Royal Philips Electronics for $1.7 billion. In the deal announced Friday, the Dutch company would get Agilent's health care solutions group, which has annual sales of $1.5 billion in patient monitoring, ultrasound imaging, resuscitation and other high-tech medical supplies. OP LOCAL INTEREST NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE (My YTO Local firm involved in bike-helmet recall TvTUC ic roallino aVimit MM "TSG Metallic Gold." 1.000 Instructions: A ticker symbol consisls of up to live letters. Kach letter corresponds to a two-digit number on your telephone keypad. The first number represents the telephone button on which that letter appears.

The second digit Is the letters specific position on the button. For example. Is 2-1, Is 2-2 etc. The Idler "0" Is 1-1. and Is 1-2.

For spc cial Issues like preferred of warrants the stock symbol may Include a period or slash. The period Is 1-3 and the slash Is 0-1. To expedite your slock request, please enter the asterisk key after your slock quote. 24-HOUR INFORMATION SERVICE Updates every 20 minutes up to stock closing Daily highs lows Volume Period ending ratios lb use the Sentinel NcwsiVne Slock Ouolc Service, call 423-NEWS (0307) from a phone and enter selection 1 100. Nmw DW Lwt Chg SChg Comwio 1.60 11 49.06 5.1 DaanFd .90 12 34.00 06 DowJna 1.00 34 68.13 .13 Qolchk 14 4.76 GranlteC .40 20 28.25 .26 53.2 IBM .52 25 102.19 4.25 LockhdM .44 33.38 .14 52.8 Nokia a .19 40.00 .13 Panrwy .60 10.94 Plantront 31 41.06 1.44 72.0 SBC Com 1.02 23 66.00 14.9 Salmay 27 67.81 .56 61.7 Seagata 36 67.00 22.4 Taxlnatt .09 23 43.75 WollaFrgo .88 18 44.76 .25 10.7 Wflgtoy 1.40 30 68.38 4.1 NASDAQ My YTO Nama Ptv PE Uat Cm Ct ApplsCa 16 18.50 CntiCat 1 1.75 14 17.76 18.3 Claooa 52-75 1.69 QitiBaya .40 23 30.13 40.6 Inprk 844 Intala .08 32 41.60 1.60 .9 MataCraat 8.88 .13 3.3 MontBB .06 13 10.60 3.7 NavtStal 6.13 Novaf 16 7.75 .03 Odwata 24 10.44 76.8 PacCap i .88 14 26.75 .44 -130 PumaTa 13 00 .44 Ralnmkr i 1.34 SantCfl 3.44 Vfaaa.t 110.19 16.6 WatMar 7 25 By DAVID HO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON Three companies are recalling about 243,000 bicycle helmets because they failed government impact testing and don't provide adequate protection from falls.

The companies Varlflex, of Moorpark; NHS, of Santa Cruz; and First Team Sports, of Anoka, Minn. have not received reports of injuries, but are recalling the helmets as a precaution, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday. The commission advises consumers to stop using the recalled helmets Immediately. Most of the recall concerns Varlflex's "X-Games Aggressive" bicycle helmets, which are either black, white or chrome. Each of the about 240,000 recalled helmets has a red "X- Games" insignia on the front and "X-Games" written on the back.

A large label Inside these helmets reads "SGS CPSC CY50159." Writing on the packaging says Variflex "Static" and "Made In Taiwan." Sporting goods and discount department stores nationwide sold the Variflex helmets from October 1999 through September 2000 for about $20. Consumers can return them to the stores where purchased for a refund or replacement helmet For more Information they can call Variflex at 1-800-248-5327 between 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. EST Monday through Friday. "TSG Gloss Black" and 500 "TSG Foundation Blue" helmets.

The Metallic Gold and Gloss Black helmets have "TSG" written on the front and rear. The Foundation Blue helmets have the word "Foundation" across the front and a star and moon on the side. They have serial numbers beginning SN: 00170 or SN: 00171, and a date code of January, February and April 2000 written on the white label inside the helmet. Sporting goods stores nationwide sold the NHS helmets from February 2000 through October 2000 for between $35 to $45. These helmets should be returned to NHS for a refund and not to the store where purchased.

For return instructions, consumers can call the company at 1-877-743-7820 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. PST Monday through Friday or visit their Web site at http:www.tsgprotection.comrecall.htm. First Team Sports is recalling about 1,000 "Guardian Junior Helmets." They are slate blue, and have "Guardian" written on the front and rear. They have model numbers 007471, 007958, 009437, 009455 and date code "200004" written on a label inside.

Sporting goods stores in the East and Northeast sold the First Team Sports helmets from February 2000 through October 2000 for about $25. They should be returned to those stores for refunds. Consumers can call 1-800-S28-5872 between 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST Monday through Friday.

Translnilon Chan A2I B22 C23 D3I K32 F33 G41 H42 143 J51 K52 1,53 M6I N62 063 P71 OH R72 S73 TBI U82 V83 W91 X02 Y93 Z12 All .32, lb jolect press 0 and I (tor warrams and classes) To solccl press 0 and 2 (lor preferred slock). Tit select press 0 and 3 (other special character). Santa Cruz Sentinel Following each stock quote, additional Information may be requested by pressing the asterisk.