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Strategies & Market Trends : Graham and Doddsville -- Value Investing In The New Era -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1244)	2/12/1999 5:49:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1722

Mir's Last Stand? Mir Prepares for Last Commander Mir Prepares for Last Commander By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV= Associated Press Writer= STAR CITY, Russia (AP) _ The next mission to Russia's Mir space station could be the last, and the aging outpost may finally come down in August, a crew commander said Friday. Viktor Afanasyev, 50, who will lead the crew due to blast off Feb. 20 for the station, still hopes he won't be the one to bid farewell to the beloved Mir, the pride of Russia's space program for 13 years. ''We hope that we will have a replacement,'' he said at a news conference at Star City, the cosmonauts' training center north of Moscow. Afsanayev's crew ends its mission on Mir on Aug. 23. After they leave, if no money is found to finance a replacement crew, Mission Control will fire the engines on Mir's cargo ship to send the station plummeting into the ocean. Afanasyev, a Mir veteran with 357 days logged in two stints on the station, blasts off for Mir from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakstan with French astronaut Jean-Pierre Heignere and Slovak Ivan Bella. After an eight-day stay, Bella will return to Earth with the Mir's current commander, Gennady Padalka. Padalka's crew-mate, Sergei Avdeyev, will stay aboard with Afanasyev and Heignere through Aug. 23. NASA has long urged Russia to forgo the Mir and commit its meager resources to the international space station, a 16-nation project that is a year behind schedule because of Russia's failure to build a key segment on time. The government had planned to discard Mir in June, but the station was given three more years of life when a private sponsor was reportedly found to pay for its operation, rather than the cash-strapped government. Russia's space chief Yuri Koptev, however, said Thursday that the mysterious investor so far had failed to come up with money. The station has been running relatively trouble-free since a string of breakdowns and accidents in 1997 that culminated in a near fatal collision with a cargo ship and led many to compare Mir to a rusting jalopy.

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1244)	2/12/1999 7:10:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

Japan Cuts [already negative] Interest Rates [Given Japan's deflation rate, the real rate of interest on Japanese short-term money is actually negative. In effect, Japan is paying borrowers to borrow money. But, what private for-profit institution would want to lend under such circumstances? -- RR] Japan Cuts Interest Rates By MARTIN FACKLER= Associated Press Writer= TOKYO (AP) _ Japan's central bank cut the country's already record-low interest rates even further in an effort to end a stubborn recession. The Bank of Japan's policy board voted today to lower the target for overnight call money _ the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans without collateral _ to 0.15 percent from 0.25 percent. By cutting the target, which is a benchmark for rates of interest on other types of loans, the central bank hopes to lower borrowing costs not only for banks but for companies and individuals. Speaking at a news conference after the move was announced, Bank of Japan Gov. Masaru Hayami said the cut will ''without a doubt'' give a boost to corporate borrowing. The new rate, announced after the close of markets in Tokyo, is the lowest ever in Japan. By making it cheaper to borrow, the central bank said it was hoping to spur business activity as the economy continues to show few signs of recovering on its own. A rebound in spending could also drive up prices _ something the bank seeks as it tries to pull the economy back from the brink of a destructive deflationary spiral. The move is also aimed at combating a recent rise in long-term interest rates, the bank said. Yields on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond have surged to more than 2 percent from lows of near 0.7 percent late last year, driven by concerns about Tokyo's ballooning budget deficits. Today, the yield on the No. 210 government bond closed at 2.080 percent. The increases have sent stock prices tumbling in recent sessions as investors fretted the higher cost of borrowing could mortally wound an economy already battling its worst recession since World War II. ''I'm hoping that even if it is indirect (the latest steps) will have the effect of pulling down long-term interest rates,'' Hayami said. When asked about the cut, Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi told reporters he wants the central bank to consider additional steps to cap long-term rates. The rate cut _ the second since September _ also highlighted how few options the Japanese government has left for reviving the economy. Key short-term interest rates now stand at close to zero percent, leaving little room for further cuts. Meanwhile, successive stimulus spending packages have driven Japan's cumulative national debt to close to 110 percent of the gross domestic product _ the highest ratio in the industrial world. In response, a few Japanese economists and officials have begun calling on the Bank of Japan to take the highly unorthodox step of intentionally sparking inflation by freely printing new money. Hayami has so far brushed aside such suggestions. Friday's decision does not affect the discount rate, which is at a record low of 0.5 percent. The discount rate is the central bank's charge on loans to banks.

To: porcupine --''''> who wrote (1244)	2/12/1999 10:15:00 PM
From: porcupine --''''>	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1722

GM looks to make air bags safer with new device By Todd Nissen CHICAGO., Feb 11 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. said on Thursday it will be the first automaker to offer technology that stops a frontal air bag from deploying if a small child is in the seat. The new air bags will be introduced on the Cadillac Seville early next year. Over the next three years the No. 1 automaker plans to have it on a majority of its vehicles, GM North America President Ronald Zarrella said at the Chicago Auto Show. GM said its system uses weight-based sensors and pattern recognition technology that can tell the difference between a small adult female and a child in a safety seat. If it is a child weighing up to 66 pounds, either in a safety seat or not, the air bag will not inflate. "Yes, this thing can actually recognize your rear-end," Zarrella said during a speech. GM said its system is safer than those that offer dual-stage or multi-stage inflation rates to lessen the deployment force. Ford Motor Co. last month said it plans to offer in future models an advanced restraint system that uses sensors to measure the severity of an impending frontal collision, whether or not the air bag is needed and at what force it should be deployed. Although proven to save lives, front-seat airbags were initially tested with adults in mind and can be fatal to small-stature adults or children riding in the front seat. Government statistics show there have been 125 deaths associated with front-seat air bags. Ford has stepped up its use of safety as one of its product attributes, but Zarrella said that is not GM's aim. "Our objective is not to get a competitive advantage," he said. Separately, GM caused a stir Thursday around the issue of side air bags by saying it had tested air bags in competitors models that could cause serious harm to improperly restrained children. During a speech, Zarrella showed three video tapes of children test dummies being thrown violently forward by the force of a deploying side air bag. GM said its side air bags are more safe because they have special vents that lessen the impact when a child is riding in the seat. GM would not identify the competitors it had tested. Side air bags, which can reduce injuries to the head, chest and pelvis, are offered in GM, Ford and many import models. There have been no reports of side air bags causing serious injuries. Ford said its own tests show that its side airbags pose a very low risk to children sitting out of position. "We are highly confident that our system poses an extremely low risk to anyone, including out-of-position people or occupants, children included," said Ford spokesman Terry Bresnihan.