BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

MARKET LOGIC: The Dow Jones industrial average finished nearly unchanged Friday, rising 0.86 to 7,331.04 after swinging from an 88-point loss to a 41-point gain, trimming the week's loss to 14.87.

MEMO

GREAT WESTERN SETTLES SUIT: Great Western Financial Corp. reached a $6 million settlement Friday with thousands of Florida customers who accused the company of conning them into investing in risky mutual funds. The payout affects between 5,000 and 8,000 mostly elderly customers who moved their money from insured accounts to Great Western mutual funds, lawyers who filed the class-action suit charged. They alleged customers were told there was little risk in the money transfer. Chatsworth-based Great Western, the parent of the nation's second-largest savings and loan, settled a similar suit in California for $17.2 million in February.

?13- Associated Press

GLENFED TO ESTABLISH HOLDING COMPANY: Glendale Federal Bank has filed with the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Securities and Exchange Commission to establish a holding company. The holding company will be named Golden State Bancorp Inc. Glendale Federal's common stock will be exchanged for Golden State Bancorp Inc.'s common stock on a share-for-share basis. Then Glendale Federal would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Golden State Bancorp. The move allows the company to more easily repurchase stock, and it facilitates acquisitions.

?13- Daily News

NEWBURY PARK COMPANY TO MERGE: Newbury Park-based DDL Electronics Inc. plans to merge with Century Electronics Manufacturing Inc. The agreement calls for Century to provide up to $3.3 million for the retirement of some short-term debt of DDL. The agreement also calls for DDL to exchange 33 million shares of its common stock and acquire 100 percent of the equity interest in Century, an electronics manufacturer in Southborough, Mass. DDL provides electronic manufacturing services and also makes printed circuit boards.

?13- Daily News

LUCKY PARENT SIGNS STRAWBERRY PACT: American Stores, which owns Lucky Stores and two supermarket chains in the East, agreed Friday to require growers to respect the collective bargaining rights of strawberry workers. Ralphs and A&P have also made similar pledges. The pact, reached Friday with the United Farm Workers, was hailed by union officials as historic. An industry rights group, the Strawberry Workers and Farmers Alliance, also hailed the agreement, noting that - under the deal - the chains do not favor any particular union.

?13- Associated Press

CALABASAS COMPANY'S STOCK SOARS: Tekelec said it signed a multiyear agreement to supply switches and other systems to Bell Atlantic Corp. Shares of the Calabasas-based company rose 5-1/8, or 17 percent, to 35, an all-time high for the telephone equipment maker. Terms of the agreement weren't disclosed. Tekelec said its products will used in Bell Atlantic's Intelligent Network strategy, including its plans for local number portability. Local number portability aims to allow consumers to be reached with one telephone number wherever they are.

?13- Bloomberg News

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MEXICAN FORECAST

Average of economic predictions made by three leading Mexican economists for 1997

Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network