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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

More Investment Dollars Land Overseas

From Staff And Wire Reports

The trend toward overseas investment continued apace at the start of the year, despite last year’s strong domestic stock market, according to a survey conducted by the Gallup Organization for Scudder, Stevens & Clark.

At the end of the first quarter, 29 percent of mutual fund investors owned international and global mutual funds, noted the survey, which covered the 12 months ended in March and was released in late July.

Moreover, 50 percent of existing global and international mutual fund owners added money to their overseas portfolios during the 12 months of the survey, while 5 percent reduced their exposure abroad. This brought the size of the average such total investment to $30,100, compared with $23,200 in the 1994-1995 survey.

International funds invest only outside the United States, while global funds can invest anywhere in the world.

The survey was based on 1,000 telephone interviews conducted in a random sample of mutual fund owners nationwide who own funds outside an employer-sponsored retirement or savings plan.

Microbrewery stock index on net

For investors in beer - and we don’t mean six-pack buyers - Microbrews Untapped of Tacoma has launched an Internet page that includes a microbrewery stock index.

The site not only looks at the stocks as a whole, it breaks out the performance of individual stocks.

Information about companies about to go public will also be included.

The page, at http://www.microbrews.com, is an offshoot of Microbrews’ main business, which is the packaging each month of two sample six-packs from different breweries around the country.

Some stock a class apart

Some companies have different classes of stock as a way to raise money by selling shares to the public while keeping control of the company in the hands of a small group of insiders.

The New York Times Co., for example, sold Class A shares to the public. Owners of those shares are entitled to vote for only five of the 15 corporate directors. Insiders, such as descendants of the company’s founders, hold 85 percent of the company’s Class B shares and have the right to elect the other 10 directors.

In other cases, shares sold to the public have only one vote per share, while shares reserved for insiders at the company have many votes per share.

With either method, the goal is to give insiders control.

R-squared an equation to watch

R-squared is a measure of earnings consistency (never mind the details). Analysts at Smith Barney recently compiled a list of large-cap industry leaders with high R-squareds, some of which, such as Hewlett-Packard and Motorola, may have disappointing profits in the short term. But, says Smith Barney, “a volatile market creates an investment opportunity in such quality issues.”

The firm favors: Albertson’s (supermarkets), ConAgra (agricultural products), General Electric (broadcast, appliances), American International Group and General Re (insurance), McDonald’s (fast food), Merck and Pfizer (pharmaceuticals), Philip Morris (tobacco, food) and SBC Communications (telecommunications).

Insurer drops English-only policy

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. has agreed to drop a policy that requires potential customers to understand English in order to buy insurance.

The Milwaukee-based company agreed to the change in settling a class-action lawsuit by a 73-year-old Korean woman who was denied insurance because she did not understand English.

Northwestern spokesman Thomas Towers said the company was glad to reach a settlement without sacrificing consumer protection.

, DataTimes