T he P ori land O bserver • J uey 17, 1996
P age A 7
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(Ob s erber
BUSINESS
Our Children, Our Destiny
Japanese purchases o f U.S. car
parts hit a record o f nearly $22
b illio n in the last business year,
fuelled by production sh iftsto North
Am erica and increased safety con­
sciousness in the Japanese market.
Figures released Friday showed
that purchases o f U.S. car parts by
Japanese carmakers rose to nearly
$22 bi II ion in the year that ended on
March 3 1, up from a record $ 19.86
b illio n in the 1994/95 fiscal year.
BRIEFS
Anxiety On Wall
Street
The long anticipated correction
in the stock market may be taking
place. The D ow plunged 161.05
points, o r 2.92 percent, to 5,3 4 9 .5 1
yesterday. The Nasdaq index also
took a hit, tu m bling 43.30 points,
o r 3.92 percent, to 1,060.19. The
s e llo ff le ft analysts w on d erin g
whether the market is starting a
dow nw ard trend after years o f
gains.
“ A n increase in shifts o f produc­
tion fa cilitie s to N orth A m erica by
Japanese carmakers and increasing
installation o f a ir bags made w ith
U.S. components as standard equ ip-
ment, boosted Japanese purchas­
es,” said a spokesman from the Ja­
pan A utom obile Manufacturers’ A s­
sociation.
Market Anticipates
Intel News
In what may be the most w id e ly
watched earnings report o f,h e sea­
son, m icroprocessor giant Intel
plans to report its second quarter
results after the market closes to ­
day. Analysts say the current earn­
ings estimate fo r In te l’ s second
quarter is $1.09 a share, versus
$0.99 a share a year ago.
Tl Shares Earnings
Texas Instruments is due to re­
port its second quarter earnings
today. Analysts say the report w ill
be disappointing at best and dis­
mal at worst. Investors d id n ’ t w ait
fo r the bad news. Shares o f Texas
Instruments fe ll in heavy trading.
GM To Release
Earnings Report
General M otors today is ex­
pected to post an earn i ngs i nc rease
fo r the second quarter. Analysts
say G M should report earnings
from continuing operations o fju s t
over $2 b illio n , o r $2.50 a share,
compared to ju s t under $2 b illio n ,
o r $2.39 a share in the year-ago
period.
Cuba Decision
Due Today
President C lin to n is expected to
announce his decision today on
whether to im plem ent a provision
o f a tough anti-Cuba law. C lin to n
is stuck between a rock and a hard
place. On one hand, the U.S. wants
to hit Cuba where it hurts by dis­
couraging foreign investment in
the com m unist-ruled nation. On
the other hand, W ashington wants
to appease Canada and European
allies. The European U nion has
threatened retaliatory measures i f
C l inton does no, w aive a provision
o f the law that w ould a llo w law ­
suits to be filed against foreign
firm s that buy o r sell A m erican-
owned property that was seized by
Cuba.
Mitsubishi To
Hire Expert
M itsubishi M otors o f Am erica
has scheduled a news conference
today in Chicago, reportedly to
announce the appointment o f an
a ffirm a tiv e action expert. The
Chicago-Sun Times says an assis­
tant to the president o f Illin o is
State U n ive rsity has been hired to
address harassment allegations at
the M itsubishi plant in N orm al.
Tobacco Companies
Sue Utah
The m ajor tobacco companies
are tryin g a new tactic in their legal
battle against states that are suing
the industry. P h ilip M o rris, RJ
Reynolds Tobacco, Lori Hard and
Brow n & W illia m so n have file d a
lawsuit against Utah. T h e y’ re try ­
ing to block Utah from jo in in g the
ranks o f states that have sued the
industry to recover health-care
costs o f smokers.
J
Delta Plans
Budget Unit
In January 1992, when then U.S.
The Urban League o f Portland,
Key Bank o f Oregon and 46 other
companies havejoined forces to fund
the fifth annual Summer Y outh Em­
ploym ent Program, “ O ur C h ild re n ,
O ur D estiny” . The program is p ro ­
v id in g jo b s fo r 25 teenagers from
Northeast Portland during a summer
in w hich jo b s and educational o ffe r­
ings fo r high schools students are
p roving harder to find.
Y outh in the program do yard
care and maintenance w ork on homes
occupied by lo w -in co m e senior c it­
izens in N orth/N ortheast Portland.
Th is year the program has more spon­
sors and m ore jo b s than ever before.
The program began in 1992 w ith
one sponsor. K ey Bank o f Oregon.
Since then, K ey Bank has issued a
challenge to other local businesses
to jo in in supporting the program .
This year 47 companies have taken
on that challenge c o n trib u tin g over
$45,000. M a jo r contributors include,
Key Bank o f Oregon, H arder M e-
Industries, A c k e rly O utdoor A d v e r­
tis in g and Schwabe W illia m s o n &
W yatt. In ad d ition , 18 companies
have made in -kin d donations to the
program.
The project is operating between
June 17 and A ugust 9. A n Awards
Banquet w ill be held on A ugust 8 fo r
youth in the program , seniors they
assisted, and program sponsors.
“ In all my years o f supporting
com m unity and ci vie projects, th is is
by far the most personally rew arding
program I have been in vo lve d w ith
to date. T his program is a w in both
fo r youth and fo r senior citizens. M y
hat is o f f to those 46 other com pa­
nies and in d ivid u a ls who stepped
fo rw a rd to make this year so suc-
Intel C orporation said it w ill lo w ­
stable price and ordered e n v iro n ­
er prices o f its retail-oriented Pentium
processors by cutting more aggres­
sively in August and canceling price
ment during the key final calendar
quarter, w hich is the most im portant
selling season o f the year.
cuts in N ovem ber to help PC makers
satisfy pre-Christm as demand.
Intel said the move, w hich it w ill
“ It’ s all going to be dependent on
the m ix and the volume and w ith those
kind o f variables— and then you throw
spell out in detail to customers in
August, is designed to create a more
predict with any accuracy," he said.
in tim ing as w ell— it ’s impossible to
Wholesale Prices Rise In June
Retail sales fe ll in June and w hole­
sale prices rose only m odestly last
month, the governm ent said Friday,
in tw o reports that soothed but did
not cure in fla tio n jitte rs on W all
Street.
The Commerce Department said
retail sales declined 0.2 percent to
$205.2 b illio n last month, as demand
foreverything from newcars to clo th -
ing waned after several months o f
strength. Sales had risen a brisk 0.8
percent in M ay.
Separately, the Labor Department
said the Producer Price Index edged
up 0.2 percent in June, after a 0.1
percent M ay decline. Energy costs
fe ll last month after risin g earlier in
the year but food prices strength­
ened.
E xcluding vo la tile food and en­
ergy prices, prices at the wholesale
level also rose 0.2 percent after being
unchanged in M ay, the department
said.
Analysts said the data helped ease
investors' w orries that the Federal
Reserve w ould raise interest rates in
the next week o r two, but that a rate
increase was s till lik e ly later this
year. By raising rates, the central
bank hopes to ward o ff a pickup in
in flation, analysts said.
S ubscribe
“ Prices are s till very w e ll be­
haved,” said econom ist D avid Jones
o f A ubrey G. Lanston and Co.
disclose a purchase target fo r the
1995/96 year because Washington
regarded the 1994/95 figure as a
pledge, w hile T o kyo saw it as a
voluntary target.
Production o f cars and trucks by
Japanese makers in N orth Am erica
rose 6.6 percent from a year earlier
to 2.75 m illio n units in calendar
1995, according to industry data.
Japanese carmakers have not said
when they w ill provide details on
their car part purchases in 1995/96.
Japan’ s top carmaker, Toyota
M o to r C orp, bought $5.69 b illio n
w orth o f U.S. car parts and m ateri­
als in 1994/95, up from $4.65 b il­
lion the previous year.
cessful,” said T erry Tracy. Key Bank
Executive V ice President o f A d m in ­
istration. T h is year the number o f
youth crews is up to five . The cost o f
em ploy one youth fo r the summer is
approxim ately $2,600.
U rban League President L a w ­
rence J. Dark noted that the program
continues to have a positive impact
on youth, even after the summer
ends. “ C learly, this program in stills
in our youth w o rk s k ills and e xp e ri­
ence th a tw ill help put them on a path
to a career.”
The youths w ork w ith an adult
supervisor M onday through T hurs­
day, doing landscaping w o rk and
small maintenance jo b s fo r lo w -in ­
come seniors.
M any seniors have d iffic u lty keep­
ing up w ith yard w o rk during the
summer. W ith lim itedsum m erschool
options this year and summer jo b s in
short supply, the program is meeting
an important need fo r Northeast Port­
land teenagers.
Atlanta To Net $1 Billion
It may bejunk, but A tla n ta ’ sO lym -
pic souvenirs are selling w ell.
The A tlanta C om m ittee for the
O lym pic Games (A C O G ) said on Fri­
day its licensing campaign was the
most successful in Games history, and
“ I thought that was pretty am bi­
tious, to say we w ould sell $100
m illio n w orth o fju n k . Y ou know, T -
shirts, hats, buttons, that type o f
th in g ," Y oung said.
was on target to raise $ I billion.
comm ercialized ever, A C O G are sell­
ing sponsors the right to put the O lym ­
pic rings on everything from game
shows to hamburgers.
A C O G said in a statement the sale
o f licensed products, described as
ju n k last month by O rganizing Com-
m ittee Co-Chairm an and form er U.S.
ambassador A ndrew Young, w ould
net tw ice the revenues o f the 1992
Barcelona Games.
“ Licensing revenues are expected
to generate $75 m illio n o r more to ­
ward the cost o f the O lym p ic Games,"
ACO G said.
Y oung told city tourist o fficia ls
last month he was amazed by the
amount o f money being raised by the
sale o f o ffic ia l A C O G products.
The A tlanta Games are the most
C ritics say A C O G has overdone
the sponsorship, but the com m ittee
defends its action, po in ting out that it
has succeeded in raising the $1.7
b illio n it needed w ithout resorting to
public funds. A tlanta is littered w ith
enormous billboards pro m o tin g the
sponsors o f the Games and souvenir
shops, stalls and street stands are
preparing to do a roaring trade dur­
ing the July 19 to August 4 centenary
O lym pics.
T he
“ L a st W e e k , W e
W a l k e d I n t o U .S. B a n k
A n d L e f t W it h
2 B e d r o o m s A n d A B a t h .”
“ The producer price report p ro ­
vides the Fed no leverage w hatso­
ever fo r raising interest rates at this
tim e ,” said Ron Schreibman, vice
president o f the N ational A ssocia­
tion o f W holesaler-D istributors.
Some investors have said Fed
policy-m akers w ould take the un­
usual ste p o f raising rates before their
next meeting on Aug. 20, fo llo w in g
last w eek’ s report o f a sharp rise in
h o u rly earnings and a drop in the
unem ploym ent rate to 5.3 percent,
the lowest level in six years.
The drop in June retail sales fo l­
lows strong gains earlier this year
and could po in t to slow er grow th in
the second h a lf as consumers spend
less, analysts said. M ost analysts said
the economy grew strongly in the
second quarter.
“ T h is number shows us the con­
sumer is not Superman, that there is
some vu ln e ra b ility here," said C h ris ­
topher L o w , a senior economist at
H SB C Markets.
“ T h is weakness comes ju s t at the
right moment and the like lih o o d o f a
Fed move in the neai fu tu ic has been
d im in ish e d ,” he added.
to ari|e Jln rflatth (lObserucr
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have low er costs and o ffe r low er
fares than the main airline.
chanical C ontractors, Inc., N o rth ­
west Pipe Com pany, S hari’ s Restau­
rant, P acific Coast F ruit Com pany,
Embassy suites H otel, Gunderson,
Inc., Blue Cross Blue Shield, M iln e
C onstruction, Legacy Emanuel, H y­
dra-Pow er Systems Inc., W illa m e tte
President George Bush visited T o ­
kyo w ith the heads o f the U.S. " B ig
T hree" carmakers, the Japanese car
industry set a purchase target o f $ 19
b illio n w orth o f U.S.-made car parts
and materials in 1994/95 fo r use at
home and in its U.S. plants.
The Japanese carmakers did not
Intel To Lower Pentium Prices
Delta A ir Lines plans to launch
in and out o f Florida Bu, a Delta
executive says the new service w i II
The association said it w ould
provide details o f the purchases o f
U.S.-made car parts and materials
Monday.
Summer Employment Program participants at work in the community.
a new low -fare service this fall.
I t ’s called “ Project Sunshine” and
Delta already has 200 d a ily flig h ts
Japan Buys Record $22
Billion On U.S. Car Parts
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