TAKING A TAILSPIN; LOCAL STOCK INDEX LOSES 6-3/4 PERCENT OF VALUE IN DIVE.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer Investors hammered shares of local companies Monday during the stunning 554-point plunge in 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 worst tumble since the October 1987 stock market crash. The Daily News/Bloomberg Index, composed of 50 of the largest publicly traded companies publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. based in the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. , Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, , Simi and Conejo valleys, lost 6.76 percent of its value in dropping by 8.44 to 116.64 - its lowest level since Aug. 22. Of the 50 stocks in the index, 47 posted a loss, two were unchanged and one - Woodland Hills-based insurer Unico American Corp. - eked out a gain of 6.25 cents. More than a quarter of the stocks in the index saw their value decline by at least 10 percent and more than three-quarters lost more than 4 percent. Hardest hit was Calabasas-based computer-networking specialist Xylan xylan /xy·lan/ (zi´lan) any of a group of pentosans composed of xylose residues; major structural constituents of wood, straw, and bran. Corp. with shares falling $3.375 to $14.50 for a loss of nearly 19 percent. High-tech issues have been clobbered since Southeast Asian markets began spiraling downward last week due to concerns that the financial crunch will lead to a decline in demand for computers in that region. Xylan shares have dropped $8.19 over the last three sessions for a 36 percent loss. Other chip stocks taking heavy hits included Chatsworth-based Trikon Technologies, down 75 cents to $4.125; Chatsworth-based Special Devices, off $3.75 to $22.25; Camarillo-based Vitesse Semiconductor, down $2.625 to $40; Westlake Village-based Diodes, off 62.5 cents to $13.75; and Newbury Park-based Semtech, losing $5.81 to $49.75. Every other sector suffered but health-care stocks took an especially big hit Monday due to a downbeat down·beat n. 1. Music a. The downward stroke made by a conductor to indicate the first beat of a measure. b. The first beat of a measure. 2. Informal A period of stagnation or inactivity. earnings forecast by Oxford Health Plans. Woodland Hill-based Wellpoint Health Networks posted the biggest point decline among the 50 stocks, losing $8.375 to $47.50, while Tarzana-based clinical test specialist Unilab fell 31 cents to $1.69 for a 15.6 percent decline. Thousand Oaks-based biotech leader Amgen Inc. lost $1.75 to $46.50 and Sylmar-based infusion products specialist Mimimed plunged $4.25 to $36.50. Burbank-based entertainment giant Walt Disney Noun 1. Walt Disney - United States film maker who pioneered animated cartoons and created such characters as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck; founded Disneyland (1901-1966) Disney, Walter Elias Disney Co. sustained the largest value loss, dropping $4.625 to $77.75. With 675 million shares outstanding, the decline represented a paper loss of $3.12 billion to shareholders, although the company retains a total market capitalization Total Market Capitalization The total market value of all of a firm's outstanding securities. of more than $52 billion. Legendary investor 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 , Disney's largest shareholder, lost more than $110 million from his 3.65 percent stake in the entertainment company. Disney spokesman John Dreyer John Louis Emil Dreyer (February 13 1852 – September 14 1926) was a Danish-Irish astronomer. He was born Johan Ludvig Emil Dreyer in Copenhagen. In 1874, at the age of 22, he went to Ireland to work as the assistant of Lord Rosse (the son and successor of the said the company remains optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op about its future financial performance due to a strong upcoming film slate, the start of its cruise-line business and the opening a new wild-animal theme park in Florida. ``The economy's fundamentals are solid and our prospects are very strong,'' he said. Calabasas-based Cheesecake Factory, fresh from reaching a record high Friday due to strong earnings and an affiliation to provide food service to the Disney Quest interactive theme parks, came back to Earth on Monday with a decline of $1.50 to $27.75. In addition to Unico, a pair of local financial stocks in the index survived Monday's plunge undamaged - Burbank-based Highland Federal Bank was unchanged at $31.75 and Calabasas-based insurer Superior National was also unchanged at $14.50. Unico, which has about 150 employees and sells commercial insurance primarily in California, achieved a record high of $12.625 last week. ``We tend to just keep plugging along with a fairly low profile,'' said Erwin Cheldin, chairman, president and chief executive officer. ``I'm surprised at what the market did today. It looks like things went crazy.'' Milestones for the Dow Jones industrial average: July 3, 1884 - Dow Jones Dow Jones the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202] See : Finance publishes its first average of U.S. stocks in the Customer's Afternoon Letter, forerunner of The Wall Street Journal. Jan. 12, 1906 - Closes above 100 for the first time, at 100.25. Sept. 3, 1929 - Reaches its closing peak for the bull market of the 1920s, at 381.17. Oct. 28, 1929 - Plummets 38.33 points, cutting nearly 13 percent of the average's value, closing at 260.64. March 12, 1956 - Closes above 500 for the first time, at 500.24. Nov. 14, 1972 - Closes above 1,000 for the first time, at 1,003.16. Dec. 6, 1974 - Closes at a 12-year low of 577.60, ending the worst bear market since the '30s. Aug. 17, 1982 - Rises 38.81 to 831.24, then-largest one-day gain, as a long rally begins. Jan. 8, 1987 - Breaks the 2,000 level for the first time, rising 8.30 to 2,002.25. Oct. 16, 1987 - Plunges 108.35 to 2,246.73, falling more than 100 points for the first time. Oct. 19, 1987 - Plunges a then-record 508 to 1,738.74, a drop of 22.6 percent that became known as the Black Monday Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. The Dow Jones Average fell 508.32 points, a drop of 22.6%, the largest since 1914. The point decline as well as the volume, 604.33 million shares, exceeded previous records. crash. Oct. 13, 1989 - Falls 190.58 to 2,569.26, later dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. the Friday the 13th Friday the 13th regarded as unlucky day. [Western Folklore: Misc.] See : Luck, Bad minicrash. April 17, 1991 - Rises 17.58 to 3,004.46, first close above 3,000. Feb. 23, 1995 - Crosses 4,000 for the first time, rising 30.28 to close at 4,003.33. Nov. 21, 1995 - Closes above 5,000 for the first time, rising 40.46 to 5,023.55. Oct. 14, 1996 - Rises 40.62 to close at 6,010.00, first close above 6,000. Feb. 13, 1997 - Rises 60.81 to close at 7,022.44, first close above 7,000 and fastest 1,000-point gain ever. July 16, 1997 - First close above 8,000 at 8,0259.31. Aug. 6, 1997 - Dow rises 71.77 to record 8,259.31. Oct. 27, 1997 - Dow falls a record 554.26 to 7,161.15, a drop of 7.2 percent, as worries over a sharp selloff sell·off n. The sale or disposal of a relatively large number of stocks, bonds, or commodities that often causes a sharp decline in prices. Noun 1. in Asian markets spread worldwide and lead to selling by traders seeking to lock in some profits from the year's gains. Trading is halted twice during the day, ending the session a half hour early - a first under rules adopted after the 1987 crash. CAPTION(S): 2 Charts, Box Chart: (1--2--Color) CRASH HITS HOME Forty-seven of the 50 companies in the Daily News/Bloomberg Index lost ground Monday. The index is comprised of 50 of the largest publicly traded companies headquartered in the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, Simi and Conejo Valleys. DAILY NEWS BLOOMBERG INDEX Box: Milestones for the Dow Jones industrial average (See Text) |
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