SUSIE GHARIB: Two way traffic on Wall Street today. The Dow notched up 22 points, but the NASDAQ lost 91. Computer chip stocks and drug stocks were the losers. Well, two other losers today, Time Warner (TWX) and AOL (AOL). Investors backed away from the companies on news reports that regulators might block their merger. Stephanie Woods looks at the issues.

STEPHANIE WOODS, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: The problem FTC staff has with the AOL/Time Warner merger lies here, at the intersection of high speed Internet connections and content. The concern is that the combined company would have too much potential power in the markets where Time Warner has cable assets. Steve Case and Gerald Levin (ph) first pledged to open access to competitors at a Congressional hearing shortly after the merger was announced. The promise was met skeptically at the time and now sources say FTC staffers want a legally binding agreement. But former Federal Communications Commissioner Reed Hundt says that won't be easy.

REED HUNDT, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FCC: If you were at the FTC and you said we really want to mandate open access you would then walk face first into the wall of having to figure out what the price is for that open access.

WOODS: The FTC staff also wants to restrict AOL and Time Warner's future dealings with AT&T (T), the nation's largest cable operator. AT&T has an investment in Time Warner Entertainment that may have to be dissolved to convince FTC staff the companies have an incentive to compete. AOL may also be forced to divest its stake in Hughes Electronics, which owns Direct TV, the nation's largest satellite TV system. Negotiations between the companies and regulators are continuing. Analysts say reaching an agreement may be difficult.

PAUL GLENCHUR, ANALYST, SCHWAB WASHINGTON RESEARCH: There were all sorts of regulatory issues that would arise if something is mandated and that's something that the anti-trust enforcers have to struggle with if they're going to go down that path.

WOODS: That's why Hundt says government shouldn't block the deal.

HUNDT: The government should not think that it's smart enough to solve this problem. It should have the confidence that if there is a monopoly in broadband in the future that government will then be able to open it up, if that ever happens.

WOODS: Sources say the FTC will make its decision by early next month, but the deal still must be cleared by the FCC and European regulators, who have concerns of their own. Stephanie Woods, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date.

The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT.

Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.

©2000 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.


09/05/2000: Kentucky's Healthcare Horse Race

SUSIE GHARIB: Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush today unveiled a $158 billion plan to help senior citizens pay for prescription drugs. Bush says that his proposal would require health plans to take part in Medicare to provide a drug benefit. It would also let seniors choose the health plan that they want and help them pay for it.

PAUL KANGAS: Health care issues like this are playing a key role in political campaigns around the nation, especially in one district in the bluegrass country of Kentucky. As Darren Gersh reports, Kentucky's Sixth District race is a critical gauge of the nation's temperature on health care.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Republicans in Congress hold a five vote majority in the House of Representatives and one of those five votes belongs to first term Congressman Ernie Fletcher.

REP. ERNIE FLETCHER (R), KENTUCKY: Good to visit you down here. I'm asking for your vote in November now.

GERSH: Fletcher is also a doctor and was elected to represent Kentucky's Sixth District in part because he talked about protecting patient rights.

FLETCHER: As a family physician, it's an important issue to me. It's one of the reasons that I ran for Congress.

GERSH: Former Congressman Scotty Baesler is also talking about health care. Baesler hopes to reclaim this seat for the Democrats by mounting a populist attack against HMOs and drug companies.

SCOTTY BAESLER (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: They're unpopular with me because I think they have no conscience and I think the bottom line is profit.

GERSH: Analysts say this race in the heart of Kentucky bluegrass country and a handful of others around the nation are just as important as the presidential contest because the winner here will help determine the fate of legislation dealing with everything from taxes to patient rights and prescription drugs.

PETER BANIAK, POLITICAL WRITER, "LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER": A lot of people in Kentucky like to say that this seat could very well determine the majority control of the House of Representatives.

GERSH: There's no question that health care is the major issue in this campaign. Just ask the women at this Lexington senior center.

UNIDENTIFIED SENIOR: And right now, I'm on $254 a month prescriptions. The insurance companies shouldn't have a right to tell you what drugs you can take and when to take it.

GERSH: Hoping to win over these voters, Baesler has been hammering away at Fletcher for opposing a patient bill of rights he promised to support in 1998. Fletcher says he was concerned the bill would have allowed patients to sue their employers for mistakes made by an HMO.

FLETCHER: If you survey employers and, you know, I've said this, 80 percent say it's going to increase the costs, over 30 percent say they'll drop the insurance and 40 percent say it may affect the insurance they provide seniors who are retired through their companies.

GERSH: Baesler says Fletcher simply caved in to big insurance companies.

BAESLER: If you are an employer of mine and I need coverage and you go interfere with the coverage I'm going to have, shouldn't you be held responsible?

GERSH: At debates, the two have also squared off over prescription drugs and Medicare.

BAESLER: Why is it we can't give something to people who need it and quit all, and quit trying to protect the pharmaceuticals?

FLETCHER: I don't want Washington bureaucrats controlling your medicine cabinet and defining a national formulary. That's not good.

GERSH: It seems fitting that this race is being played out here because Lexington is a city that loves a good horse race and this political horse race is already one for the record books. Even national political players are placing their bets. Labor unions, big business, insurance companies and drug makers are all pouring record amounts of money into this race. The prize may be control of the legislative agenda for the next two years. One thing is clear, this horse race will be tight down to the wire. Darren Gersh, Lexington, Kentucky.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date.

The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT.

Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.

©2000 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

09/05/2000: One On One With Enron President Jeffrey Skilling

SUSIE GHARIB: Now, Enron, maybe a lot of investors don't know this, but Enron is a lot more than the traditional pipeline and gas marketing company. You've expanded over the past, you know, recent years more into telecommunications, a very sizeable fiber optics network and yet your expertise really isn't in this area. You're dealing with a lot of high powered telecommunications competitors. How can you really thrive in that kind of environment?

SKILLING: Well, you know, it's funny but we think that there are a lot of parallels between the gas electric business and the telecommunications business. Basically you're flowing data through pipes. It's a lot like flowing gas through pipes or electricity through wires. And we're also creating markets. We're trying to create a market for bandwidth the same way we created a market for natural gas and a market for electricity. So when you need bandwidth, if you want to watch a movie or you want to send a video across the country, you can call up Enron, you can get it instantaneously and you know what that price will be.

GHARIB: That's why you have that deal with Blockbuster (BBI), right?

SKILLING: Yes. Exactly. The Blockbuster deal is video on demand, which will be the first offering of its type in the country.

GHARIB: Unusual coming from a pipeline company. I mean here you are, really, unusual old economy company that now has a new economy business model. If we look out five, 10 years, how will we be describing Enron?

SKILLING: Well, we like to think of ourselves as a network company. We help build networks of natural gas, networks of electricity, and now networks of bandwidth and I think that's how people will describe us in the future.

GHARIB: Do you see in the future teaming up or maybe merging with a big telecom player?

SKILLING: No, I don't think so. I don't know what we, what benefit we'd get from that.

GHARIB: Expertise?

SKILLING: We have the expertise to do what we're doing.

GHARIB: Tell us about your stock. I mean looking at it, it's had a terrific run. It's almost like an Internet play. What do you think are going to be the catalysts going forward that are going to drive the stock even higher?

SKILLING: Well, I think there are two things. First, in our core energy business, we see tremendous growth prospects because of all the changes that are occurring in the energy industry around the world. And then second, our telecommunications business, I think if we can put some more points on the board like our Blockbuster contract, I think we've got a lot of up side on that side of the business, as well.

GHARIB: All right, and now you also have the new power company, this marketing arm that's going to sell power directly to residential users. When is that IPO going to happen?

SKILLING: We're looking toward the end of September, we think it'll be out, and as you know, that's a joint venture with IBM (IBM) and AOL (AOL) so we think this is a new totally different solution for residential customers to get lower prices on energy.

GHARIB: Thank you very much, Mr. Skilling. We appreciate your talking to NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT.

SKILLING: Thank you, Susie.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date.

The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT.

Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.

©2000 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

©2000 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

09/05/2000: Mutual Fund Report With Amy Schioldager, iShares MSCI Canada Fund

PAUL KANGAS: When it comes to investing, many Americans are so worried about going south that they don't look to the north. That's a mistake because one of the best performing funds of this year invests exclusively in Canadian securities. Through August, the iShares MSCI Canada Index Fund earned almost 34 percent and it's earned annualized returns well into the double digits since its inception four and a half years ago. The iShares MSCI Canada Fund is a product of Barclay's Global Investors and Amy Schioldager is head of international index equities portfolio management for BGI. Amy, welcome to NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT.

AMY SCHIOLDAGER, ISHARES MSCI CANADA FUND: Thank you. Hi, Paul.

KANGAS: First, we should note that the MSCI Index Canada Fund and your other index funds from different countries are exchange traded funds. How do they differ from the standard mutual fund?

SCHIOLDAGER: Exchange traded funds are a marriage between a stock and a fund. They trade like a stock and so they price throughout the day, but they're a fund in that it's a diversified portfolio of stocks.

KANGAS: And unlike closed end funds, you have a constantly changing number of outstanding shares?

SCHIOLDAGER: That's correct. That's one of the benefits of exchange traded funds is you don't see a premium or a discount like you do with closed end funds.

KANGAS: Exactly. Now, because these exchange traded funds are priced constantly rather than just once a day, some have the perception that they're primarily for traders. But do they also make sense for the buy and hold investor?

SCHIOLDAGER: Absolutely. The one, one of the big benefits of exchange traded funds is that it's a diversified portfolio of stocks and we strongly believe that for all investors, your core position should be held in a diversified portfolio.

KANGAS: How many stocks on average do you carry in your fund?

SCHIOLDAGER: Somewhere between 75 and 85.

KANGAS: Looking specifically at Canada, I know that the MSCI Index is designed to track Canada's largest and most established public companies. What are your thoughts as to why it's been doing so well?

SCHIOLDAGER: The Canadian economy or the market return itself has been driven primarily by a few tech stocks, Nortel Networks (NT) being probably the most predominant in that Nortel has had returns of over 200 percent in the last year alone.

KANGAS: Right. And you're still bullish on the large cap Canadian equities now?

SCHIOLDAGER: Well, without a crystal ball, I can only say that the Canadian economy has a good outlook. There's nothing to say that we shouldn't expect continued returns.

KANGAS: And quickly now, Amy, can these be purchased through any broker that trades regular common stocks?

SCHIOLDAGER: That's right. Anybody with a brokerage account can trade this, just like any other stock.

KANGAS: Very good. Thanks very much for being with us.

SCHIOLDAGER: You're welcome.

KANGAS: My guest, Amy Schioldager, head of the international index equities portfolio management for Barclay's Global Investors.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date.

The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT.

Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice.

©2000 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

09/05/2000: Paul Kangas' Wall Street Wrap Up

PAUL KANGAS: An opening rally attempt by the blue chip Dow Industrial Average was quickly undermined by over a 4 point tumble in Intel's stock after the Piper Jaffrey Brokerage issued a negative report on the chip maker, which also took a toll on computer related stocks along a broad front. The Dow saw an early 10 point gain turn into a 40 point loss by 10:30 this morning and the NASDAQ Index, where Intel (INTC), of course, is also a component, posted a 69 point deficit.

The blue chip sector's early weakness began to attract buyers as morning trading continued, especially in the financial group. But the technology sector extended its weakness as profit takers moved in to lock in some of the nice gains made during the month of August. At noon time, the Industrial Average cut its loss to only 20 points, but the NASDAQ Index was down nearly 71.

While selling pressure remained on the tech stocks throughout afternoon trading, some of the blue chips like an American Express (AXP), International Paper (IP), Coca-Cola (KO) all moved higher and helped the Dow Industrial Average push into positive territory with a closing gain of 21.83 points at 11,260.61. In today's 117 point trading range, the Dow closed down 41 points for the best level of the session and up 76 points from the low of the day. The NASDAQ Composite came in with a loss of 91.15, ending at 4143.18 in its 91 point trading range. The Composite settled right at its worst level of the day.

Big board volume picked up to 840.6 million shares from a very slow pace last Friday and just a little bit more up volume than down volume, not quite six million shares.

Transports up 14.48.

The Utilities Index hit another record high, gaining 5.81.

The Closing Tick modestly bullish at +461.

Standard & Poor's 500 down 13.69.

A 6 1/3 point drop in the 100.

The MidCap 400 fell 6.82.

Bridge Futures Price Index up 1.30.

New York Stock Exchange Composite down 1.38.

About a 2/3 point loss in the Value Line.

Russell2000 Small Cap Index fell almost 3 points.

And the broadly based Wilshire 5000 down just over 128 points.

The bond market was not a moving experience today as traders were by and large transfixed between the growing belief that a slowing economy would quash inflation while another jump in oil futures to nearly $34 per barrel revived inflationary fears.

The result was nearly a stalemate as tax free and corporates ended mostly unchanged.

As did the Treasury market. We have a look at the 5-year notes, no change there.

No change in the 10-year note.

Just a little bit of a movement in the 30-year, down 4/32.

A mixed closing on Wall Street today, with the blue chips doing a little bit better than the tech stocks, that's for sure. The Industrial Average up nearly 22 points. But 16 more stocks on the down side than on the up side in the broader market, 125 new yearly highs; only 27 new lows.

Pfizer (PFE) topped the active list on 16.1 million shares, down $2.38. it could be in sympathy with Merck (MRK), which got a downgrading from Bank of America. We'll get to that.

Clear Channel (CCU) down another $4.56. The theory is that arbitrageurs over estimated the demand for this stock on the closing of its merger with AMFM (AFM) and now they're selling off the excess and they do it and they did it in a previous two sessions, as well.

Nokia (NOK) in the weak high tech group down $2.38.

Lucent Technologies (LU) fell $0.88.

But Ford Motor (F) up $1.38 after the company said the Firestone tire fiasco is not having as negative an impact on its SUV sales as feared.

Compaq Computer (CPQ) down $1.13.

A $0.19 drop in America Online (AOL).

Nortel Networks (NT) dropped $2.13.

Motorola (MOT) a $0.75 loss.

And then General Electric (GE) moved up $0.63, 10th in big board volume.

Albertsons (ABS) up $0.75 and after the close it came in with second quarter earnings as it predicted back in late August, $0.50. That's down from $0.56 a year ago but in line with the new estimates. After hours trading, Albertsons was $0.50 higher than the close.

AMR (AMR) up $1.13. The company's August load factor rose 5.5 points to 78.4 percent, not bad.

Hilton Hotels (HLT) rose $0.56 after Bank America Brokerage issued a "strong buy."

And there you see Merck (MRK), down $1.31 after Bank America downgraded it from "strong buy" to just "market perform."

Pioneer off $4.38. The whole electronic group was weak today, but this company did not return our calls. No news on the wires.

Trinity Industries (TRN) moved up $1.31. Carl Icahn notified the firm that he intends to acquire over $15 million in Trinity stock but less than 10 percent of the total outstanding shares. And, of course, the company makes rail cars, among other things.

Fisher Scientific International (FSH) up $9.63. The company and PSS World Medical have mutually agreed to terminate their merger pact. Positive reaction to that.

Equant (ENT) up $5.56 on news the company plans to purchase additional bandwidth, giving its network the ability to handle more Internet protocol between the United States and Asia.

Niagara Mohawk Holdings (NMK) up $1.88. It's going to be acquired by National Grid Group (NGG) for $19.00 a share provided that 5 shares of National Grid's stock holds a value of between $32.50 and $51.00 in value prior to the consummation of the merger.

And Kaydon (KDN) up $2.75. That's a positive reaction to positive mention in the new "Baron's" financial magazine.

Westwood One (WON) down $3.25.

And Hispanic Broadcasting (HSP) off $2.69. The stocks of companies that own radio stations or provide programming content were hard hit today. No specific news.

NASDAQ trading at a loss of just over 91 points, volume up a touch from Friday, about 18 stocks higher for every 22 lower.

Intel (INTC) topped the active list, down $4.69 after Piper Jaffrey downgraded it from "strong buy" to just a "buy."

Ciena (CIEN) losing $13.80. The company's going to take a $0.06 per share fourth quarter charge related to uncollectible accounts.

Cisco (CSCO) down $2.56.

WorldCom (WCOM) down $3.19. The company plans to acquire Intermedia Communications (ICIX) in a $6 billion stock and debt assumption deal.

Microsoft (MSFT) a $0.06 loser today.

Juniper Networks (JNPF) off $1.50.

JDS Uniphase (JDSU) fell $4.44.

But Commerce One (CMRC) rising $3.25.