BIZ WATCH.FISCAL HEALTH: Drug and biotechnology stocks, which often perform well during economic downturns, made strong gains Friday. Merck rose 1 to 67-7/8, Pfizer added 1-3/4 to 65-7/8, and Amgen rose 2-1/8 to 59-1/8. SATELLITE TALKS: Tele-Communications Inc. President John Malone has held conversations with News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch about joining its venture with MCI Communications This article is about MCI before it merged with WorldCom. For other uses, see MCI. MCI Communications was an American telecommunications company that was instrumental in legal and regulatory changes that led to the breakup of the AT&T monopoly of American telephony and Corp. to provide satellite television service, two people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg Business News. A combination of TCI (Trustworthy Computing Initiative) An umbrella term from Microsoft for its efforts to improve security in Windows. TCI was announced in 2002 after viruses such as Code Red and Nimda had succeeded in attacking numerous Windows computers. , the largest U.S. cable operator, News Corp., owner of the Fox Television network, and MCI (1) (Media Control Interface) A high-level programming interface from Microsoft and IBM for controlling multimedia devices. It provides commands and functions to open, play and close the device. (2) (Microwave Communications Inc. , the No. 2 long-distance company, would be a potent force against other cable companies and the few competitors in the fast-growing satellite TV market. "TCI felt that a high-powered service was a strategic decision worth pursuing at any price," said Rick Westerman, cable analyst at UBS UBS Union Bank of Switzerland UBS United Bible Societies UBS United Blood Services UBS United Buying Service UBS Used Bookstore UBS University Business Services UBS Universal Building Society (UK) UBS Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System Securities. Through a spokesman, News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch denied there were serious talks under way with Malone. A TCI spokeswoman wouldn't comment. HEALTH CARE EXPERIMENT: Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care organization, based in Oakland, California, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield. plans to mothball moth·ball n. 1. A marble-sized ball, originally of camphor but now of naphthalene, stored with clothes to repel moths. 2. mothballs a. part of its Oakland hospital soon and instead send inpatients to non-Kaiser medical centers, the San Francisco Examiner The San Francisco Examiner is a U.S. daily newspaper. It has been published continuously in San Francisco, California, since the late 19th Century. History 19th century The beginning of the Examiner is a topic of some controversy. reported. Under the Kaiser proposal, patients needing hospitalization would no longer be sent to Kaiser's hospital in Oakland but would keep their Kaiser doctors. Kaiser is testing the waters in the East Bay. But if successful, the concept seems likely to spread. EXECUTIVE CONFIDENCE: Kmart Corp.'s top executive says he will invest his $1 million bonus in the company's stock in anticipation that he will turn the struggling discount retailer around. Floyd Hall, Kmart's chairman and chief executive, already owns 500,000 shares of the company's stock, which closed down 12-1/2 cents at $5.75 per share Friday on the New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. . Kmart has endured 11 consecutive quarters of disappointing earnings or losses, which with rumors of bankruptcy have contributed to a 50 percent drop in its stock price since June. Hall has been criticized on Wall Street for not being more aggressive and forthcoming in dealing with Kmart's troubles. TOBACCO REPORT: In a blow to the tobacco industry, a former top cigarette researcher has reportedly testified that his company's chairman lied when he told Congress he did not believe nicotine was addictive. The Wall Street Journal on Friday published excerpts of a pretrial pre·tri·al n. A proceeding held before an official trial, especially to clarify points of law and facts. adj. 1. Of or relating to a pretrial. 2. deposition of Jeffrey Wigand, the former head of research at Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. In it, Wigand also charged that lawyers for the company hid potentially damaging research. Gordon Smith, an attorney for Brown & Williamson, said the newspaper had published "an incomplete deposition that has been improperly leaked in violation of a court order." CAPTION(S): CHART[ordinal indicator, masculine]PHOTO Photo no caption (Kaiser hospital building) Chart (1) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2) BIZ FACTS Sliding oil prices Average crude oil import price worlwide, in dollars per barrel 1980 $32.90 1994 $32.90 |
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