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To: Baba 2 who wrote (34261)	5/20/1999 12:15:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116770

on the same lines: And the #1 use of gold is: ''Jewelery is benefitting from the perception that it is investment spending,'' Tuesday May 18, 6:40 pm Eastern Time Tiffany, Zale, Whitehall post higher results NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. jewelry retailers profits sparkled and topped estimates, driven by robust sales. Zale Corp.(NYSE:ZLC - news), Tiffany & Co. (NYSE:TIF - news) and Whitehall Jewelers Inc. (Nasdaq:WHJI - news) each topped Wall Street's earnings expectations, continuing strong trends in jewelry sales over the past three years. ''Jewelery is benefitting from the perception that it is investment spending,'' Salomon Smith Barney analyst Maureen McGrath said. ''This isn't like the 1980s where there was a burning desire for conspicuous consumption. Jewelery represents a product you could have forever.'' Dallas-based Zale Corp.'s third quarter earnings surged to $6.3 million or 17 cents a share for the period ended April 30 on sales of $280 million, compared with $1.5 million or four cents a share a year ago and First Call estimates this year of 11 cents a share. The 1,140 store retailer posted sales of $258.3 million in last year's third quarter. ''We are extremely pleased with the third quarter performance as we are now poised to achieve earnings growth for the year well in excess of our 20 percent goal,'' Zale Chairman and Chief Executive Robert DiNicola said. Profits at Tiffany, a luxury brand and specialty retailer, rose to $16.1 million or 44 cents a diluted share for the first quarter ended April 30, beating estimates of 39 cents a share and last year's profits of $11.1 million or 31 cents a share diluted . Sales at New York-based Tiffany climbed to $272.3 million from $226.2 million. President and Chief Executive Michael Kowalski said, ''We will continue to pursue substantial opportunities than can continue to fuel healthy performance.'' Chicago-based Whitehall Jewelers profits rose to $1.2 million or 12 cents a share from $702,000 or seven cents a share. Net sales increased to $58.9 million from $41.6 million. Whitehall currently operates 262 stores and has plans to open 40 stores this year. Shares in Tiffany increased 37.5 cents to $85.13; Zale rose $1.69 to $39.50, while Whitehall shares fell 37.5 cents to $17.50. biz.yahoo.com NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF - news) reported strong sales and earnings growth in its first quarter ended April 30, 1999. Geographically broad-based sales increases in Tiffany's U.S. and major international markets, combined with a higher operating margin, resulted in 45 percent net earnings growth. In the quarter, net sales of $272,277,000 were 20 percent higher than $226,159,000 in 1998's first quarter. Net earnings rose 45 percent in the first quarter to $16,157,000, or 44 cents per diluted share, compared with $11,120,000, or 31 cents per diluted share. In Tiffany's three channels of distribution: -- U.S. Retail sales increased 22 percent to $131,691,000. Comparable store sales rose 12 percent, which included a similar increase in Tiffany's flagship New York store and strong performance in its branch stores. Sales growth also reflected excellent results in new stores that have opened during the past year. -- International Retail sales rose 22 percent to $117,474,000, due to solid growth in most markets. In Japan, retail sales in local currency rose 16 percent in total and 14 percent on a comparable-store basis. In addition, accelerating sales trends were experienced in most other Asia-Pacific markets while healthy sales growth continued in Europe. -- Direct Marketing sales increased 7 percent to $23,112,000, due to growth in both corporate and catalog sales. (cont) biz.yahoo.com

To: Baba 2 who wrote (34261)	5/20/1999 3:19:00 PM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116770

World demand for gold is up 62% to 787.6 tonnes - World Gold Council By BRETT DUNCAN It was a mostly sideways day on the JSE. The market started off firmer, eased over the lunch session before managing a slight gain before close, to end 14 points firmer on the all share at 6659. The most exciting part of the day was the “downtime” on the JSE trading system, which closed the market between 14h30 and 15h30. Most of the day's action was concentrated on Anglo American ahead of its listing in London on Monday. Anglo alone accounted for almost 30% of the day's trade, the counter adding R5 to R314 with 520 000 shares traded. Across the rest of the market advancing issues lagged declines by 223 to 143 with R1.697 billion changing hands. It was a poor day for the financial stocks with the index falling 0.61% and industrials easing 0.34%. Resources stocks had a good one, the index adding 1.5%. Some respite for gold shares after their pounding of late with the index climbing 2%, aided by news from the World Gold Council that world demand for gold is up 62% year-on-year to 787.6 tonnes. The main contributor was a 75% increase in world jewellery demand and a 20% increase in investment demand. Most of this was fuelled by a recovery in Asian demand after last year's crash. Now, if all the world's central banks would just stop selling their reserves we may see an uptick in the gold price! Bullion is currently trading at $274.10 per ounce. In the currency market the rand is coming under pressure at 6.22 to the dollar and 10.01 to the pound. There has been some concern in currency markets today that Argentina may be dropping its dollar/peso peg. Bonds are softer with the R150 trading at 15.19. The weakening rand spurred another tightening in the repo rate with the Reserve Bank edging it up to 15.463%. On the global front Wall Street marches on as fears of a short term hike in interest rates subsides, with the DJIA currently up 40 points, 0.37%. European markets have benefited from the upbeat mood in New York, the Frankfurt Dax up 1.11% and the London FTSE up 0.25%. info@woza.co.za © WOZA Internet (Pty) Ltd <Picture> woza.co.za