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To: Terry Rose who wrote (24247)	12/13/1998 10:37:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Respond to of 116957

. . . and the big punters are starting to feel it Wall Street, By Alan Deans Investors have shrugged their shoulders for most of the year about President Bill Clinton's impeachment woes. Their focus has been on the barnstorming United States economy that continues to deliver strong growth, despite being slugged by the effects of the Asian recession and a credit market crunch. But after five consecutive down days last week marked by vexed debate by the House Judiciary Committee, it seems that leadership worries could dog Wall Street during the Christmas period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed last Friday 19.8 points lower at 8821.7, making the second sizable decline in two days. Share prices are now 5.9 per cent off the record high set three weeks ago. What made the price slide worrying is that it was accompanied by a sell-off in bonds, a slump in the US dollar and another fall in commodity prices. It seems that investors just don't like the idea that Congress soon will be arguing the impeachment case. Nor does it help that analysts are warning of weaker 1999 earnings for a growing number of major stocks, including Coca-Cola, Merck, Proctor & Gamble, AMR, J P Morgan and many leading financial industry players. This is likely to lead to a marked reduction over coming weeks in expectations of fourth-quarter profit growth, something that now is hovering at an unrealistic level of just over 4 per cent. All of this indicates that Wall Street may have trouble rebounding back through 9000, despite recent strength in technology leaders. Salomon Smith Barney's technical analyst, Alan Shaw, expects the Dow will pull back to the 8600-8800 level, but still within what he calls a structurally uptrending equity market environment. "In light of the extraordinary gains over the past three months, by any measure, the market is due for a refresher or consolidation phase," he says. Meanwhile, Prudential Securities' Ralph Acampora has become one of the first leading analysts to forecast how Wall Street will trade next year, saying it could trade as low as 7800 and as high as 11,500. That gives him a huge leeway, in effect saying that prices could fall by 11.5 per cent from present levels or rally by 30 per cent. Mr Acampora says 1999 will be an erratic year, but one that should mark the renewal of the bull market that began in 1984: "Sudden and very nasty declines should mark the coming year. As there are no quick fixes to all of our global problems, international aftershocks will most likely occur frequently," he says. The upshot of this is that Mr Acampora recommends that investors spend more time on stock selection, adding that it will be a time to be more aggressive with secondary issues. Market darling Abby Joseph Cohen also seems set soon to unveil predictions of a higher Dow after claiming victory with her 9300 target for the year just ending. "In recent weeks, US equity prices have returned to levels first reached last spring and summer," Ms Cohen says. "We believe that this is consistent with ongoing economic and corporate performance. "Actions undertaken by the Federal Reserve and other central banks should limit the damage to real economic activity from recent financial market disruptions. The US economy continues to expand and create jobs, and corporate profits continue to rise in most industries despite sluggish conditions abroad." afr.com.au

To: Terry Rose who wrote (24247)	12/14/1998 3:58:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116957

U.S. Embassy in Saudi Warns of Possible Attack More bin Laden aspirin factories on the move DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia told Americans in the kingdom Sunday there was a strong possibility of a ''terrorist'' attack on U.S. targets in the Gulf in the next month and advised them to exercise caution. ''The embassy has information indicating a strong possibility that terrorist elements are planning an attack against U.S. targets in the Gulf, possibly in the next thirty days,'' said the message to Americans. A copy of the message was obtained by Reuters. ''All American citizens should remain alert to any suspicious activity and take precautionary steps to reduce the profile and vulnerability of any U.S. facilities,'' it said. The embassy advised the 35,000 Americans living in the kingdom, including about 5,000 military personnel based there, to be vigilant, take steps to ''increase their security awareness,'' maintain a low profile, vary travel routes and treat mail from unfamiliar sources with suspicion. ''Any suspicious activity, individuals or vehicles should be reported.'' The message did not say who the ''terrorist elements'' were. The message updates a warning on November 13 of continuing threats of attacks by leading Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden against Americans in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi dissident has been indicted for attacks on Americans, including the August bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Five Americans were killed by a car bomb at a U.S.-run military training center in Riyadh in 1995 and in 1996 a truck bomb at a U.S. military housing complex in the eastern city of Dhahran killed 19 U.S. servicemen. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef was quoted early in November as saying bin Laden did not mastermind the two attacks. He did not rule out that people adopting bin Laden's Muslim extremist ideology may have carried out the bombings. Security has since been stepped up at official U.S. complexes in the kingdom. Reuters, Dec. 13, 1998