The Ticker

Sat., Jan. 2, 1999

By Oliver Staley olivers@spokesman.com

A look back at the past week on Wall Street

What’s hot

In a slow week on Wall Street, telecommunications stocks surged. Triggering the upswing was news that the Federal Trade Commission gave conditional approval to the proposed $40 billion merger between long-distance giant AT&T and cable company TCI. AT&T stock responded with a $4.13 jump Monday and hit a 52-week high of $79 Tuesday. The stock finished the week at $75.75, up 75 cents. MCI WorldCom also moved on the news, with increased interest from investors who view telecommunications companies as essential to the growth of the Internet. MCI’s stock climbed about $3 to $75.50 in the middle of the week after opening Monday at $72.69. But it finished the week lower at $71.75.

What’s not

The big loser this week was ADAC Laboratories, a California-based manufacturer of medical imaging equipment. The company revealed that it has misstated its finances for the past three years, due to an accounting error.

A slew of investor lawsuits soon followed and ADAC’s stock fell $5.25 Tuesday before recovering to end the week slightly up at $19.32.

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