BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

DOWNER DAY: Stock prices were down as the Dow industrials tumbled 70.09 points to 5,549.93, in large part because of IBM's cautious outlook. The dollar fell against most key currencies. Gold and bond prices also fell. On commodities markets, grain and soybeans futures prices turned mostly higher as heavy commercial buying revived worries about supplies falling to their lowest levels in decades.

MEMO AMGEN LOSES FOR WINNING: First-quarter profits jumped 32 percent at Amgen Inc., the biggest biotechnology company, but Wall Street had expected better and Amgen's stock price fell on the news Wednesday. Amgen, whose Epogen and Neupogen drugs promote blood cell growth in kidney and cancer patients, earned $144 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with $109 million, or 39 cents per share, during the first quarter of 1995. Sales rose by 16 percent, from $411 million to $477 million. A Zacks Investment Research survey of analysts who follow the Thousand Oaks-based company found a consensus estimate of 58 cents per share earnings. Amgen shares fell by $1.37-1/2 per share to $53.12-1/2 in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

NO PAIN, SOME GAIN: AT&T Corp. chairman Robert Allen said he feels ``no pain'' accepting more pay while the company is laying off thousands of workers. And he got little at AT&T's annual meeting. Just two shareholders raised the issue. The company reported a 17 percent jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, more than it would have earned before breaking up. While AT&T has not completed its break into three companies, it reported financial performance as if it had. AT&T earned $1.44 billion, or 90 cents per share, meeting the expectations of Wall Street analysts. A year ago, AT&T earned $1.2 billion, or 80 cents per share, in the same period on comparable operations.

STALLED FORD: Ford Motor Co.'s costs of launching redesigned vehicles combined with weak U.S. sales for a 58 percent drop in first-quarter profits, the No. 2 domestic automaker reported. The company earned $653 million, or 54 cents a share, in the first three months of the year. That compared with Ford's unusually strong showing of $1.55 billion, or $1.44 a share, in the first quarter of 1995. Still, Wednesday's results were better than Wall Street's expectation of 33 cents a share. Revenues were up 4 percent at $36.3 billion from $34.8 billion in the year-ago period, largely because of a strong showing by Ford's Financial Services Group.

MONEY MATTERS NOTEWORTHY RETURNS: California sold $2 billion in notes today at yields high enough to attract many buyers, including institutions that received concessions to boost returns, investors said. While the state sold the 60-day revenue anticipation notes at a yield of 3.5 percent to individual investors, underwriters said some large customers received a concession that raised their returns to 3.7 percent. BA Securities Inc. managed the negotiated offering, sold to bridge a cash shortage until the start of California's next fiscal year in July, when it should receive an influx of tax revenues. ``We were able to get a good price from the financial markets,'' California treasurer Matt Fong said in a statement. ``Aggressive pricing helps hold the line on debt payments, which leads to savings for taxpayers.''

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Chart: (1--Color) DOW INDUSTRIALS

(2) BIZ FACTS

WHO SELL S LAPTOPS?

Top five laptop computer vendors, by worldwide market share, 1995

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