BIZWATCH : MARKETS.MARKET LOGIC: Stock prices surged Thursday on some positive corporate profit reports and comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan Alan Greenspan Dr. Greenspan is Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Dr. Greenspan also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's principal monetary policymaking body. seen as suggesting that interest rates might hold steady for a time. 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. , the stock market's main index, ended 87.30 points higher at 5,464.18. Broader market averages advanced as well. EARNINGS AMGEN AMGEN Applied Molecular Genetics (original meaning) PROFITS: Biotech leader Amgen Inc. said second-quarter profits rose 30 percent thanks to higher sales of its two major drugs and a licensing payment from an overseas partner. The Thousand Oaks-based company earned $178.7 million, or 64 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , compared with $137.7 million, or 49 cents per share in the second quarter of 1995. Revenues rose 16 percent to $571.4 million compared with $493.7 million last year. TELEDYNE IMPROVEMENTS: Teledyne Inc.'s second-quarter earnings increased 22 percent from last year, led by improvement in its speciality metals business and improvement in its consumer segment. The company said Thursday that its profits rose to $39.9 million, or 69 cents per share, from $32.6 million, or 59 cents per share, a year ago. Sales fell to $662.8 million from $706.7 million. DIALING FOR DOLLARS Dialing for dollars A term used to describe the practice of cold calling, but which has negative implications as it is frequently applied to salespeople selling speculative or fraudulent investments. : The local phone company for California and Nevada earned $281 million, or 66 cents per share, in the second quarter. Pacific Telesis
Pacific Telesis Group was one of the seven Regional Bell Operating Companies created after the 1984 breakup of AT&T as a holding company for Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell. Group earned $260 million, or 61 cents per share, in the same period last year. Revenue was $2.39 billion, up from $2.23 billion a year ago. CALLING LONG DISTANCE: Profits jumped for long-distance rivals AT&T 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. in the second quarter, although AT&T had trouble in the huge residential market and again lost ground to competitors. Analysts were surprised by AT&T's misstep. Several lowered their recommendations on AT&T's stock and its price tumbled 4 percent. But the overall results that AT&T and MCI reported, along with those from No. 3 carrier Sprint Corp. on Tuesday, depict an industry that continues to grow strongly. MCI experienced a 15 percent jump in profits and a 23 percent gain in revenue. AT&T had an 11 percent profit increase while revenue rose just 2 percent. Sprint's profit rose 23 percent and revenue 12 percent. DISK DRIVEN: Iomega Corp., whose disk drives and tapes have exploded in popularity this year, reported a $14.1 million second-quarter profit on sales that are more than five times better than a year ago. The company's profit amounted to 11 cents per share for the quarter that ended June 30. It lost $1.9 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.Revenue was $283.6 million, up from $52.6 million in the same quarter a year ago. DEVELOPING GROWTH: Netscape Communications Corp., the closely-watched Internet software developer, earned just under $1 million after special charges in the second quarter as sales continued to grow strongly. The company reported a profit of $906,000, or 1 cent per share, in the quarter that ended June 30. Revenue was $75 million, up 36 percent from $55 million in the first quarter. Netscape's sequential sales growth is followed closely because the company is so new. MEMO FORD RECALL: Ford Motor Co. announced safety recalls of nearly 100,000 1996 Taurus-Mercury Sable sable, species of marten, Martes zibellina, found in Siberia, N European Russia, and N Finland. This carnivorous mammal is highly valued for its thick, soft fur, which is dark brown or black, sometimes with white underparts and sometimes flecked with silver. sedans and Windstar minivans to fix a defect that could cause them to roll when parked. Ford also said it was voluntarily recalling 7,125 1995 Mercury Villager The Mercury Villager and Nissan Quest were the products of a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Nissan. The goal was to produce a smaller and more stylish minivan to compete in the traditional minivan market. minivans because the third-row bench seat might not properly latch to the seat rail. ON STRIKE: About 2,700 workers of National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. went on strike at the West Coast's largest shipbuilder. The walkout that started Thursday came after talks deadlocked dead·lock n. 1. A standstill resulting from the opposition of two unrelenting forces or factions. 2. Sports A tied score. 3. on whether workers should be required to join one of seven unions. CAPTION(S): 2 Charts Chart: (1) OWNING A PIECE OF AMERICA (2) DOW INDUSTRIALS |
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