BIZWATCH : MARKETS.MOTOROLA DOWN: Motorola, down 5-16 at 61-1/4. The maker of cellular phones and semiconductors said late Tuesday it will boost its dividend 20 percent.Associates First Capital, up to 34-3/4 from initial offering at 29.The unit of Ford's financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. group began trading Wednesday after the second-largest IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. in Wall Street history.Zenith, up 1-1/2 at 18-3/4. The stock retreated again after almost quadrupling in less than two weeks. MEMO YIELDS RISE: Yields on 10-year Treasury notes rose in Wednesday's auction to the highest level in 15 months as the government continued its quarterly refunding. The average yield was 6.902 percent, up from 5.649 percent at the last auction Feb. 7, 1996. The notes will carry a coupon interest rate of 6-7/8 percent with each $10,000 in face value selling for $9,980.70. A total of $14 billion in notes were sold out of bids totaling $33.5 billion. BLUE CROSS:Blue Cross of California, Woodland Hills, said Wednesday its shareholders approved its plan to transform into a for-profit operation and transfer all of its assets into two charitable foundations valued at about $3 billion. The deal, which is expected to be finalized this month, will transfer BCC's assets to one charitable foundation that will sell the stock and shift 80 percent of the proceeds to a second foundation that will offer a range of health services health services Managed care The benefits covered under a health contract to Californians. The first foundation will retain the remainder for operating expenses Operating expenses The amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. . THE WAIT IS OVER: Warren Buffett Warren Buffett Known as "the Oracle of Omaha," Buffett is Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and arguably the greatest investor of all time. His wealth fluctuates with the performance of the market, but for the last few years he has been reported to be worth over $30 billion, making , the consummate buy-and-hold investor, is selling. After years of waiting for his $358 million investment in USAir Group Inc. to make money for Buffett's investment company, Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA, NYSE: BRKB) is a conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. Inc., the billionaire is uncharacteristically un·char·ac·ter·is·tic adj. Unusual or atypical: an uncharacteristic display of anger. un giving up. Buffett wants USAir to buy back his 10 percent stake in the airline. Berkshire said it would try to find other buyers if USAir didn't take its offer. PRODUCTS RECALL NO.1: Nissan Motor Co. plans to recall 1.1 million vehicles, including 70,000 exported to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , to repair defective condensers and seat-belt devices, the Transport Ministry said Wednesday. Nissan has reported six cases of fires from the defective equipment so far in Japan. No injuries have been reported. The exported cars to be recalled for defective seat-belt devices are Infiniti J30 and G20 models produced between July 1992 and March 1994 and shipped to the United States. RECALL NO.2 General Motors Corp. is recalling 44,000 1996 Buick Regal and Chevrolet Lumina
The Chevrolet Lumina sedan and minivan were first introduced in 1989 for the 1990 model year as a new range of vehicles from the cars to fix a possible problem that could cause reduced braking power. GM said Wednesday it had received five reports of brake lines wearing through because they were rubbed by the front brake pipe. The worn brake lines can lose braking fluid and eventually could cut braking power in half, GM said. Dealers will inspect the cars to see if the brake pipe and lines have enough clearance, and do any needed repairs free, GM said. It said it expects about 5 percent of the affected vehicles to need new brake systems. CAPTION(S): Photo, 2 Charts Chart: (1--Color) DOW INDUSTRIALS (2) BIZ FACTS S PENDING AT THE LOCAL LEVEL Annual spending by state and local governments, in billions of dollars Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network Photo: No caption (Warren Buffett) |
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