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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (14446)	8/24/1998 1:47:00 AM
From: zax	Respond to of 164684

I'm sure we'll see another flight to quality stocks* like AMZN on Monday...* Tokyo Stocks Drop in Early Trading From The Post Associated Press Sunday, August 23, 1998; 11:12 p.m. EDT TOKYO (AP) -- The dollar soared against the yen Monday morning after political turmoil in Russia prompted world investors to seek a safe haven in the U.S. currency. Tokyo stocks plunged. The dollar bought 145.06 yen in midday trading, up 2.12 yen from late Friday in Tokyo and also above its New York rate of 144.91 yen late Friday. On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average dropped below the psychologically-significant 15,000-point level, falling 408.69 points, or 2.67 percent, to 14,889.51 at the close of morning trading. On Friday, the average fell 93.21 points, or 0.61 percent. Both Tokyo stocks and the yen tumbled after Russian President Boris Yeltsin dismissed his government Sunday. In the surprise announcement, Yeltsin reappointed former Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin, who was fired five months ago, to pull Russia out of one of its worst economic crises since the Soviet collapse. The news boosted the dollar, often regarded a safe place to park money in times of international unrest, against world currencies like the yen and the German mark. ''It's yet to be seen whether the market has already factored in Russia's instability or the mark will be sold further on a view that Chernomyrdin's appointment will add to the uncertainty,'' said Ryohei Muramatsu, treasury manager at Commerzbank in Tokyo. The yen also suffered from concerns about the health of Japan's economy. On Friday, the medium-sized trading company Okura and Co. filed for bankruptcy with debts totaling 257.7 billion yen ($1.8 billion), becoming Japan's third-largest corporate failure this year. Political uncertainty also faces the government's plans to stabilize the nation's shaky banking system. While Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi has promised more than 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion) to help ailing Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan Ltd. merge with Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., opponents have vowed to derail the effort. ''But investors are cautious about whether parliament will smoothly pass bills designed to restructure the financial system, including bills that would allow the use of public funds to support LTCB,'' said Sachio Ishikawa, general manager of the stock division at Chuo Securities Co. The prospect of delays in the bank-clean up bills also weighed on the stock market, where banks are the market's biggest components. The broader Tokyo Stock Price Index of all issues listed on the first section of the exchange dropped 22.57 points, or 1.92 percent, to 1,153.94. The TOPIX closed down 5.16 points, or 0.44 percent, on Friday. The yield on the benchmark No. 182 10-year Japanese government bond fell to 1.140 percent from Friday's finish of 1.180 percent, driving its price up to 112.16 yen from 111.87 yen.