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

Dow Caps Wild Week With Another Record

Associated Press

Stocks ended at record highs Friday after swinging widely with bonds.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 22.03 points at 5,630.49, its second consecutive record. The blue-chip index rose more than 50 points in the first hour of trading, triggering the New York Stock Exchange’s imposition of a limits on computer-driven trading. It fell to a loss of 48 points in the afternoon before regaining its footing.

“The volatility has become extremely intense,” said James Solloway, research director at Argus Corp. “My one suggestion is that everybody in the world buy (Eli) Lilly stock, because they are the makers of Prozac, and everybody’s becoming somewhat manic depressive.”

On the Big Board, declining issues led advancers by better than 9 to 8. Volume totaled 439.14 million shares as of 4 p.m. behind Thursday’s pace.

Early in the session, “there was just a huge follow-through in the equity market” after Thursday’s 92-point leap in the Dow average to record highs, said Arthur Hogan, the lead stock trader at Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.

But stocks were stopped in their tracks by the bond market, which first rose about 5/8 point but quickly dropped into negative territory.

Bonds backed off after the Commerce Department said U.S. housing starts climbed 4.4 percent in January, much higher than analysts had predicted, to an annualized rate of 1.45 million units.

Some of the stocks that moved substantially Friday:

NYSE

Alumax Inc. rose 5-5/8 to 38-1/8.

Kaiser Aluminum rose 7/8 to 15.

Alumax rejected as inadequate Kaiser Aluminum Corp.’s hostile takeover bid, a cash and securities offer valued between $2.2 billion and $2.5 billion. Alumax adopted a “poison pill” intended to thwart the offer, a combination of cash and stock valued at $40 to $45 a common share.

Baxter International Inc. rose 7/8 to 44-3/4.

W.R. Grace & Co. fell 1-3/8 to 67-1/4.

The company withdrew its unsolicited $3.8 billion bid for W.R. Grace & Co.’s National Medical Care Inc. unit, clearing the way for rival suitor Fresenius AG to take control of Grace’s dialysis business.

Sears rose 2-5/8 to 47-7/8.

The stock rose earlier this week after Sears said it would sell its 50-percent interest in the Prodigy online service to focus on its core retailing business. Late Thursday, Financial World magazine said it had named Arthur C. Martinez, Sears’ leader, as chief executive of the year.

Procter & Gamble rose 1/2 to 83-3/8.

Merrill Lynch upgraded the household-products maker to near-term buy from above average.

NASDAQ

Dell fell 1-1/4 to 35-1/2.

The computer maker said fourth-quarter earnings rose 17 percent but lagged a 49-percent jump in sales. Profits for the fourth quarter ending Jan. 28 were 70 cents a share, up from 68 cents last year but in line with Wall Street expectations.

Mobile Telecommunications fell 3-3/4 to 14-1/8.

Hambrecht & Quist downgraded the stock to hold from buy, saying it did not expect significant appreciation in the stock over the next six months.

On Thursday, the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of 79 cents a share, compared with 43 cents last year. The results included a $18.3 million charge tied to the launch of the SkyTel 2-Way network.