Smithsonian Going Plastic To Help Cover Exhibit Debt
The Smithsonian Institution is turning to credit cards to help it deal with a $20 million deficit racked up by the traveling exhibition marking its 150th anniversary.
The nation’s largest museum complex has struck a deal to issue an “affinity” credit card with Novus Services, a business unit of Dean Witter, Discover & Co.
The card will be available in several months. Novus operates the Discover card and several other credit card brands.
Typically, an affinity card helps an institution by giving it increased visibility and a small percentage of the money charged on that card.
The costs for mounting the exhibition run about $4.2 million for each city on the tour.
The show, “America’s Smithsonian,” contains 336 artifacts, including one of Abraham Lincoln’s stove pipe hats, gowns worn by first ladies, the Apollo 14 command module and a 182-carat star sapphire known as the Star of Bombay.
The next stop for the show, in April, is Portland.
Dean Witter lists top 12 stocks
Each year, Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. comes up with a Top 12 list, stocks that “will benefit from current market, economic and business trends.” The firm sells the 12 in a package, but you can use the list as a starting point for your own noodling. The group shows that, even at its current giddy heights, this market is still offering attractive values.
Among the 12 are Deere & Co., farm equipment; Columbia/HCA Healthcare; Highwoods Properties, real estate; Lomak Petroleum; and First Union Corp., regional bank.
The others: Cisco Systems, computer networks; Dayton Hudson, retailer; OEA Inc., airbags; Oracle Systems, database software; Praxair, industrial gases; Rockwell International, electronics; Texaco, oil.
Funds concentrate on few stocks
Great minds think alike. Perhaps that explains why Intel, General Electric, Philip Morris, Cisco Systems and Microsoft pop up over and over again in mutual fund portfolios.
A recent survey by the fund researchers at Morningstar Inc. of its data base of 2,063 domestic stock funds - excluding index, specialty and other non-diversified funds - found that almost 40 percent own Intel, about a third own General Electric and another third Philip Morris.
Cisco and Microsoft, appearing in 32 percent and 29 percent, respectively, round out the top five.
For individual investors, paying attention to the popularity of certain stocks has some practical use. But it’s worth remembering that the portfolio information for specific funds may be months old.
James R. Raker, a senior research analyst at Morningstar, said he becomes wary when too many of his funds hold the same stocks.