BIZWATCH : MEMO.

MARKET LOGIC: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 10.77 to 6,813.09, trimming the week's advance to 116.11 points. The dollar was mixed, gold fell and bond prices rallied. Wheat futures prices fell to their lowest level in nearly 21 months, soybean futures prices retreated, crude and its products tumbled, and gold fell to new lows.

OVERSEAS EXPANSION: Computer network switching equipment specialist Xylan Corp. expanded its already strong presence in Europe and the Far East by adding 11 support and sales offices. The new international offices are located in Belgium, China (Beijing and Guangzhou), Finland, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Switzerland and Taiwan, bringing Xylan's total international locations to more than 30. Calabasas-based Xylan, which has 430 employees, said the number is expected to continue to grow rapidly throughout 1997.

PRICE CUTS: Apple Computer Inc., faced with sagging sales and squeezed by competitors, is cutting prices up to 27 percent across much of its product line. The reductions for Power Macintosh and Performa personal computers announced Friday follow similar cuts last fall. Apple also cut prices for its servers, machines that manage networks of computers. Chairman Gil Amelio confirmed that the company will lay off an undetermined number of employees as it undergoes a further restructuring in hopes of making money again by September.

HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT: Chatsworth-based COHR Inc. announced it has bought four health care equipment servicing companies for an undisclosed price. They include MediQuip Sterilizer Division of the Stryker Corp. with 75 employees and revenues of $9.4 million in 1996; RadServ, which provides sales and service of radiology and radiation oncology equipment; the Fresno office of Biomedical Engineering Center of Sutter/CHS; and Triad Medical Services of Arlington, Wash. COHR, a health-care outsourcing specialist, said the deal with Stryker is its largest acquisition ever.

BAD CHECKS: In Seoul, South Korea, the head of the Hanbo conglomerate was arrested on charges of bouncing millions of dollars in checks drawn to finance his bankrupt steel company. Chung Tae-soo, 73, was the first person to be arrested in the growing scandal, which is becoming a political headache for President Kim Young-sam. Prosecutors said the probe continues and more arrests were to come.

STRONG EARNINGS: Coca-Cola said that its profits soared 18 percent during the fourth quarter, buoyed by growth in international soft-drink shipments and by an increase in market share throughout most of the world. Net income rose to $762 million, or 31 cents a share, from $648 million, or 26 cents a share, in the fourth quarter of 1996, meeting Wall Street analysts' estimates.

GUILTY PLEA: The former chairman of Systems of Excellence was sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar stock fraud that used the Internet to promote his company's shares. Charles O. Huttoe pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one count of money laundering in November but that plea was kept under seal while he cooperated with federal prosecutors.

BURMA DEAL: The Unocal Corp. has signed a deal with the government of Burma to expand its rights to explore and develop gas fields off the country's coast. The signing came as the Clinton administration weighed whether to impose a ban on new American investment in Burma because of its human rights abuses.

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