BIZWATCH : MARKETS.MARKET LOGIC: The Dow Jones industrial average Dow Jones Industrial Average The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. rose 78.50 to 7,067.46, with most of its gains coming in the final hour of trading. That pushed the blue-chip index well above Thursday's record of 7,022.44. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock list and the NYSE's composite index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". also hit new highs. MEMO T-BILLS FALL: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Tuesday's auction to the lowest level since December. The Treasury Department sold $13.1 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 4.98 percent, down from 5.02 percent last week. Another $13.1 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average rate of 5.03 percent, down from 5.07 percent. The three-month bill rate was the lowest since they sold for 4.92 percent Dec. 23. DREAMWORKS SHAGS ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. EXEC: DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global said it has signed former ABC Entertainment ABC Entertainment is a network production company owned by The Walt Disney Company and ABC that created in 1982. It produced shows like America's Funniest Home Videos, America's Funniest People, and H.E.L.P.. executive Ted Harbert Ted Harbert was in charge of programming for ABC for several years in the 1990's. He held a similar position for E! Entertainment Television and Style Network until mid-October 2006, when he got promoted to the newly created position of CEO at the Comcast Entertainment to an exclusive two-and-a-half year contract to develop and produce new television shows. Harbert, who resigned as chairman of Burbank, California-based Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Entertainment on Feb. 15, will immediately begin working as executive producer of ``Arsenio,'' a situation comedy starring Arsenio Hall that will premier on ABC on March 5th, DreamWorks said. MARRIOTT MERGER: J.S. Marriott Jr., left, chairman of the board of Marriott International shook on a deal Monday with Dr. Henry K.S. Cheng, chairman of Renaissance Hotel Group. Marriott said it agreed to buy Renaissance for $1 billion, or $30 a share, in cash and assumed debt, topping a Doubletree Corp. bid for the upscale lodging chain. Doubletree stands to receive a $15 million breakup fee breakup fee A provision in a takeover agreement that requires a firm to pay the investment banker a large sum of money if another firm takes over the target company. A breakup fee tends to discourage other firms from making bids for the target. from Renaissance. SUPERIOR LOWERS BID: Calabasas-based Superior National Insurance, a workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. insurer operating in California and Arizona, reduced its bid for Pac Rim Holding Corp. to $42 million to account for an increase to Pac Rim's loss reserves. Pac Rim is based in Woodland Hills. Stock of Superior was off $1 to $14 and Pac Rim stock declined 25 cents to $2. GAS PRICES DIP: The nationwide average for self-serve regular gasoline dropped a tenth of a cent in February, the American Automobile Association American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and international travel assistance, e.g. reported Tuesday. The auto club said the average price was $1.287 per gallon, with drivers in the West paying $1.366, the highest, and prices lowest in the Southeast at $1.215. HEALTHSOUTH SPREADS OUT: HealthSouth Corp., the nation's largest rehabilitation company, moved toward its goal of operating in every major U.S. city Tuesday, announcing the purchase of No. 2 Horizon/CMS Healthcare Corp. If the $1.6 billion stock-and-debt takeover is approved by Horizon shareholders and antitrust regulators, the combined company will have rehab centers, outpatient surgery centers and other facilities in 250 of the nation's 300 largest cities and annual revenues of some $5 billion. CAPTION(S): 2 Charts, Photo Chart: (1--Color) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2--Color) BIZ FACTS TRENDY DISHES Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network Photo: (Color) No caption (J.W. Marriott Jr. and Dr. Henry K.S. Cheng) |
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