BIZWATCH : MARKETS.WAL-MART DROPS: Wal-Mart, down 1 to 23. Bill Fields, heir apparent heir apparent n. the person who is expected to receive a share of the estate of a family member if he/she lives longer, or is not specifically disinherited by will. (See: heir) at Wal-Mart, was hired away by Viacom to head the Blockbuster Entertainment Group. The retailing veteran had headed Wal-Mart's main discount store business since 1993. The loss of Fields was seen as another blow to Wal-Mart, which has seen weaker profits lately. MARKETS HOLD THE PHONE: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. said Friday it will provide coupons that may be redeemed for $2.50 in long-distance service to repay customers who were overcharged for collect calls. 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. said it learned in January that some customers placing collect calls were billed for an extra minute because of a computer software problem. Since mid-1993, the billing error has cost customers an estimated $44 million, or an average of 18 cents a call, MCI spokesman Michael Tierney said. SUTRO SUED: More than 50 Californians have filed a lawsuit against San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden brokerage Sutro & Co., accusing the firm of fraud and negligence in the collapse of a Southern California real estate deal that cost investors $2.5 million. FLOOR ME: The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday approved a controversial system that lets brokers execute trades in a computer away from the floor of 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. and other auction markets. Some academics sharply criticized the SEC's decision for the Cincinnati Stock Exchange Cincinnati Stock Exchange (CSE) Stock exchange based in Cincinnati that is the only fully automated stock exchange in the US. It has no trading floor, but handles all members' transactions using computers. trading system, saying it may limit the opportunities for customer stock orders to mingle with the most number of potential orders and get the best price. MEDICAL MERGER: Abbott Laboratories, a powerhouse in the medical diagnostics and drug industry, will acquire MediSense Inc., a maker of portable blood sugar monitors used by diabetics. The $876 million cash purchase announced Friday adds to Abbott's line of testing devices. CAPTION(S): 2 Charts Chart: (1) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2) BIZ FACTS TOP FARM EXPORT S |
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