The Motley Fool's Market Movers (Heroes)
The Motley Fool - September 23, 1998 18:22
September 23, 1998/FOOLWIRE/ -- Bank stocks were boosted today
by Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's comments before Congress and
the Fed's conditional approval of the mega-merger between Citicorp (NYSE:
CCI) and insurance powerhouse and Salomon Smith Barney parent Travelers
Group (NYSE: TRV). Wall Street deciphered Greenspan's comment that economic
slowdown will keep inflation at bay as a sign that the Fed likely will cut
interest rates as early as Tuesday, when the Federal Open Market Committee
(FOMC) next meets. Meanwhile, the Fed approved the Citicorp-Travelers merger
on condition that the two sell or divest certain subsidiaries, representing
less than 15% of the companies' combined assets, within two years after
their merger. Citicorp jumped $10 3/8 to $105 1/2 and Travelers picked up $3
5/8 to $43. Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) added $4 5/16 to $58, Chase Manhattan
(NYSE: CMB) rose $4 to $50 1/8, BankAmerica (NYSE: BAC) advanced $4 7/8 to
$65 1/4, BankAmerica merger partner NationsBank (NYSE: NB) was up $4 1/4 to
$58 1/4, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (NYSE: MWD) climbed $3 3/4 to $57 1/4,
J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) leapt $5 1/16 to $93 1/8, BankBoston (NYSE: BKB)
finished up $3 5/16 to $39 3/8, First Union (NYSE: FTU) gained $2 13/16 to
$57 7/16, and Bankers Trust (NYSE: BT) picked up $6 to $68 1/16.
Dell Computer (Nasdaq: DELL) gained $4 5/16 to $64 3/8 as the PC maker and
direct seller announced a new "ConnectDirect" initiative aimed at providing
customers with easy, fast, and personalized access to the Internet. Under
the new program, which will be available this week on Dell Dimension desktop
PCs, customers will be able to connect to the Web using AT&T's (NYSE: T)
WorldNet Service and will then be greeted by a personalized Excite (Nasdaq:
XCIT) home page at www.dell.excite.com. Excite CEO George Bell said the
alliance with Dell is a "very significant distribution deal" for the
Internet portal company. Investors thought so, too, bidding Excite shares up
$9 3/8 to $37 3/4 on the announcement. Dell is also teaming up with SBC
Communications (NYSE: SBC) to provide Dell customers with Internet access
over existing phone lines at speeds up to 50 times faster than today's
traditional modems. The joint project will equip Dell Dimension PCs with
high-speed modems and services starting early next year. SBC picked up $1
9/16 to $42 1/2.
Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings (NYSE: LEH) reported fiscal third
quarter earnings of $1.10 per share, down 15% from $1.30 in the same
year-earlier period but in line with analysts' estimates, which had already
been reduced following the company's recent earnings warning. Revenue after
interest expense dropped 13% to $930 million from $1.07 billion a year ago.
Return on shareholders' equity came in at 13%, substantially lower than last
year's 20.5%. Still, the results were better than some investors had
expected, and Lehman shares climbed $1 3/4 to $37 7/8. Like other investment
banks, Lehman has been hurt by trading losses in Russia and other emerging
markets. But Lehman's fiscal third quarter ended last month and therefore
did not include September, which is expected to be killer for banks and
brokerages. To soften the blow a bit, Lehman announced plans to buy back an
additional 7.5 million shares, or 6.4% of its stock. |
