PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 19
Reuters Story - June 19, 1998 02:46
%PRESS %US %PRESS/WSJ TXN MU DIS SEEK GM VC NIS PMTS BA MRK ASTRa.T CW.L MCIC WCOM LMEb.ST ERICY FPAM AXP MWD LEH V%REUTER P%RTR
NEW YORK, June 19 (Reuters) - The following stories were
reported in Friday's electronic version of The Wall Street
Journal:
* Texas Instruments said it will sell its struggling
memory-chip business to Micron Technology and lay off
about 8 percent of its work force, reflecting an overcapacity of
chips that has sent prices plunging.
* Disney will buy a 43 percent stake in Infoseek
, an on-line search and directory service, vaulting
Disney into the Internet portal business.
* The U.S. trade gap widened during April to $14.5 billion,
the worst showing since 1992, reflecting a slump in exports to
Pacific Rim countries.
* GM is heading toward a total shutdown in the next
few days, with 88 percent of its North American production
already idled. The effects have begun to ripple through parts of
the economy.
* Vencor warned of layoffs and construction cutbacks.
It also said earnings for the rest of this year and next will
be below analysts' expectations.
* Nova agreed to buy PMT Services for about
$1.23 billion in a stock deal uniting two firms that process
merchant credit-card transactions.
* Boeing signalled that it is prepared to provide
additional financing for some airlines, amid signs of deeper
problems among Asia's carriers.
* Major airlines have mounted a lobbying campaign that
threatens to scuttle a DOT proposal to crack down on unfair
competition at hub airports.
* Merck and Astra expect to announce a
definitive pact to restructure their longstanding joint venture,
say people familiar with the matter.
* Cable & Wireless dropped its suit against MCI
, clearing an obstacle in WorldCom's drive to
win regulatory approval of its takeover of MCI.
* Sweden's Ericsson is looking at 10
networking companies in the U.S. as possible acquisitions, and
already has begun talks with three of them.
* FPA has stopped paying some doctors in parts of
three states, suggesting the physician-management company's cash
crisis is worsening.
* American Express plans to buy blocks of airline
seats to Europe on Continental and Virgin Atlantic for resale to
corporate clients, a move that could lead to a wave of bulk
buying.
* REIT shares are down about 9 percent so far this year, and
some foresee the end of a bull-market circle of acquisitions and
rising stocks in the sector.
* Russia launched its largest international bond offering
yet and said it will seek as much as $15 billion in financial
aid to shore up its markets.
* Morgan Stanley and Lehman had their
best-ever quarterly profits amid a rush of mergers and
acquisitions. Morgan Stanley's net rose 45 percent, and Lehman's
more than doubled. |
