BIZWATCH : MARKETS.

MARKET LOGIC: Stocks shot sharply higher, as the lure of moderate earnings, economic growth and restrained inflation all gave investors some new confidence, analysts said. But as many stock watchers know, this rally, which began Friday with the release of the August employment report, comes in the most dangerous of months for optimism.

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LOSING INTEREST: Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction to the lowest level in two weeks. The Treasury Department sold $11.1 billion in three-month bills at an average discount rate of 5.17 percent, down from 5.19 percent last week. An additional $11.2 billion was sold in six-month bills at an average rate of 5.30 percent, down from 5.38 percent.

NEW COMPUTERS: Dell Computer Corp. will introduce three lines of server PCs at prices undercutting the competition. The first to debut, the Dell PowerEdge 2100, uses a 180 MHz or 200 MHz Pentium chip. A model with a 180 MHz chip and 32 megabytes of memory will cost $3,799. Hewlett-Packard charges $10,900 for a server that uses a 166 MHz Pentium Pro chip and has 64 megabytes of memory. In the next few months, the Austin, Texas maker plans to introduce the PowerEdge 4100, which can have one or two microprocessors, and PowerEdge 6100, a rack-mountable system with up to four microprocessors.

RETURN TRIP: Thomas Cook, the London-based global travel and financial group that sold its U.S. travel agencies two years ago to American Express, hopes to return to the market by teaming up with the American Automobile Association. A deal announced Monday would combine operations at Cook's 1,800 worldwide offices with the AAA's 1,000 travel agencies as of Jan. 1. U.S. regulators must approve the linkup, which involves no exchange of equity.

BAD CHEESE: Americans should not eat a type of imported cream cheese that has been linked to one death and at least three cases of botulism in Italy, the Food and Drug Administration warned. Imported mascarpone cream cheese sold under the Giglio, Parmalat and Sol di Valle brand names may be contaminated - even if the cheese doesn't look or smell spoiled, the FDA said. The products are commonly found in tiramisu, an Italian dessert, and other gourmet foods made with very soft cream cheese. Consumer information line: [phone].

NEW STRUCTURE: Kaufman and Broad Home Corp. has announced a new regional management structure and the resignation of a key executive. Under the new structure, three senior vice presidents will have general management responsibility for the home building divisions within their respective regions and will report directly to Bruce Karatz, chairman and chief executive officer. Previously, all division presidents reported to Roger Menard, executive vice president and president of U.S. operations. Menard has resigned his position effective immediately. He will take on a long-term consulting role with the company.

MISCELLANEOUS: The Glendale Chamber of Commerce's Network AM and Good Morning Glendale Breakfast groups will have a special combined meeting at 7 a.m. Thursday at Anoush Restaurant at Colorado Street and Columbus Avenue. The event - $12.50 for members, $15 for nonmembers - will feature a quarterly business update and a candidate forum for the 27th congressional district. . . . REAL Applications Ltd. of Woodland Hills says it will distribute the Software 2000 applications to its IBM AS/400 midrange systems customers and prospects.

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