PAUL KANGAS: Oracle (ORCL) is off to a fast start. Earnings for its fiscal first quarter blasted past Wall Street estimates. Oracle earned $0.17 a share, four cents better than analysts expected. It also announced a 2-for-1 stock split. It's the first report card after the abrupt departure of Oracle President Ray Lane. He left two months ago after a falling out with Chairman Larry Ellison. Analysts say Oracle is heading higher anyway.

BOB AUSTRIAN, INTERNET SOFTWARE ANALYST, BANC OF AMERICA SECS.: I'm pretty optimistic that the rest of the year, their fiscal year ending next May, is going to be good. In the next one or two years they should be enjoying the fruits of their labor in these e-business suite areas. They are really driving the market towards their e-business applications and their core business of database looks to be doing extremely well.

KANGAS: Meanwhile, late today Maytag (MYG) said the second half will be a washout. It's warning results will be 8 to 10 percent off last year's $1.74 a share, blaming lost sales at Circuit City (CC) and Heilig-Meyers (HMY). Circuit City stopped selling large appliances and Heilig-Meyers is in bankruptcy.

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.


09/14/2000: More Indicators Of A Slowing Economy

SCOTT GHARIB: Investors might be worried about earnings but not the economy. Today's reports on wholesale inflation and retail sales shows that the economy continues to slow down, supporting the notion that the Federal Reserve won't have to raise interest rates any time soon. Here's Scott Gurvey with details.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Wholesale prices fell two-tenths of 1 percent in August. Most economists were expecting to see a slight increase. It was the first decline in prices in four months. The Producer Price Index was unchanged in July. This inflation measure reports on price pressures before they reach the consumer level. In August, there were price increases for cigarettes and home heating oil, but they were more than offset by declines in prices for food, children's clothes, and believe it or not, gasoline.

MICHELLE GIRARD, TREASURY MKT. STRATEGIST, PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES: The decline that we saw in the August inflation report in energy prices simply reflects the decline that we saw earlier in late spring or earlier this summer in energy prices. Of course, that has since reversed and in the next couple of months, in the September and October inflation report, the energy components will show a more dramatic gain.

GURVEY: Today's PPI report is seen as more evidence that the economy is slowing. Two more economic snapshots out today support that view. Retail sales in August rose just 0.2 of 1 percent. That's a little weaker than expected. Durable goods sales were flat. And the number of new unemployment insurance claims rose last week to its highest level since January of 1999. The consensus of economists believe the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates at current levels for the near term.

EDWARD McKELVEY, SENIOR ECONOMIST, GOLDMAN SACHS: I think the Fed's on vacation for awhile. I think eventually you will see enough increase in the underlying tone of inflation and enough increase in the basic momentum of the economy that they'll end up tightening further. But that's some distance off and it really does depend on getting those pickups.

GURVEY: The report was generally seen as positive for the market. Wall Street will be watching carefully for any signs of inflation in the consumer price report due out tomorrow. Scott Gurvey, "NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT," New York.

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.

09/14/2000: Air Travel Troubles Land On Capitol Hill

SUSIE GHARIB: If you've been on a plane this summer, you know the situation, delays and cancellations everywhere. Well, members of Congress have been on those planes, too, and at a Senate hearing today, they got a chance to weigh in on the problem. Stephanie Woods reports.

STEPHANIE WOODS, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: With weary travelers complaining about delays and cancellations, Congress is responding. Today's Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain scolded United and American Airlines pilots for their recent work stoppages.

SEN. JOHN McCAIN, R-ARIZONA: And who bears the brunt of the stoppages? Middle America. Average Americans plan for months to take a vacation only to be greeted at the airport by canceled flights and lost vacations due sometimes to pilot greed.

WOODS: But McCain says Congress is also at fault for footing the bill for pork barrel projects like this airport in the middle of nowhere. Also to blame is the combination of bad weather, exploding demand and an out of date air traffic control system, which has one out of every five flights arriving late or not at all. And it's not getting any better.

KENNETH MEAD, INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: It's like filling up a glass. As soon as you empty out some of the water, you pour more back in, and it's almost as though we're treading water.

WOODS: Just two days ago, American Airlines said it would ease delays by cutting flights at its hubs in Chicago and Dallas. But CEO Don Carty says those steps can only go so far.

DONALD CARTY, CHAIRMAN & CEO, AMERICAN AIRLINES: A reduction of capacity by one airline is just as likely to result in an increase by another. Therefore, no one can disarm unilaterally.

WOODS: The FAA is now trying to determine how many flights the nation's air traffic system can realistically handle. But airline execs fear an FAA imposed limit could lead to fewer choices for consumers.

LEC MULLIN, PRESIDENT & CEO, DELTA AIRLINES: Our job is to create capacity in the airports, in the air traffic control system and in the airlines that can serve the traveling public. Anything that has constraint built into it is not doing that job.

WOODS: But building new runways and airports will take years, so frequent fliers can expect even more frequent delays. 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.

09/14/2000: Gore & Bush Go Back To School In Search Of Support

SUSIE GHARIB: Education tops the list of voter concerns this year and that's why Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush campaigned at schools today. Both candidates have plans that they say will send more students to college. But will they work? Darren Gersh gets some answers.

DARREN GERSH, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: In schools across the country, the Vice President teaches the same lesson, explaining how he wants to make it easier for students to go on to college.

AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am proposing specific steps to raise college attendance to record levels with three quarters of all high school graduates attending college and half going on to graduate from college. Let's make most college tuition tax deductible.

GERSH: But many analysts are skeptical the Vice President's plan will do much to make college more accessible. They say most of the benefit will go to students who are already destined to walk through college doors. Families with children in college can already get a $2,000 tax credit on up to $10,000 in tuition. Gore wants to increase the tax benefit to $2,800.

THOMAS KANE, NATIONAL FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTE: I doubt there will be large enrollment impacts from the proposal, even though middle income families may be happy to have the tax relief.

GERSH: Governor Bush's college access plan focuses on expanding Pell grants for moderate income students by $10.8 billion. The Vice President says he also wants an increase but won't say by how much. Educators say direct aid is the best way to help financially pressed families, but they are concerned the Bush plan front loads federal grants, raising the maximum aid to $5,100 in the first year of college.

LAWRENCE GLADIEUX, EDUCATION CONSULTANT: I believe there is kind of a bait and switch aspect to it. It gets students into higher education. What about their second, third, succeeding years?

GERSH: Both candidates want to increase tax incentives to save for college. But education experts say that would mostly help middle income students who have dramatically increased college enrollment in the last 20 years. Tax incentives do little to help the low income students who are increasingly left behind.

GLADIEUX: You're going to be helping those that have tax liability, those who have income and probably have the resources to send their children and would send their children to college anyway.

GERSH: Educational analysts give both candidates an A for focusing attention on increasing access to college, but a lower grade on the details of how to make that happen. Darren Gersh, 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.


09/14/2000: Prime Mover: William Hambrecht, CEO, W.R. Hambrecht

SUSIE GHARIB: A small California investment firm is breaking new ground by changing the way that companies go public. W.R. Hambrecht and Company and its Chairman and CEO William Hambrecht are grabbing attention. Hambrecht formed the firm two years ago after he sold his super successful investment bank, Hambrecht and Quist, which he co-founded when Silicon Valley was hardly a household name. Hambrecht's new company is best known for its open IPO process. It gives individual investors access to initial public offerings using a modified Dutch auction. So far Hambrecht has completed four open IPOs with a combined value of over $164 million. In tonight's prime movers segment, Donald van de Mark of Myprimetime.com asks Hambrecht about his company's recent high profile debt offering for Dow Chemical (DOW).

WILLIAM HAMBRECHT, CHAIRMAN & CEO, WR HAMBRECHT + CO.: Well, I think it shows that the auction process and the Web are a powerful application that you can use in a lot of markets and essentially what it does is it brings transparency and openness and allows everyone to participate. And I think that's a pretty powerful formula in any market.

DONALD VAN DE MARK, MYPRIMETIME.COM: Some people have said that you are early in this particular business. Do you think you're at the point now, whether it's a stock offering, a debt offering, or something else, that the point is now?

HAMBRECHT: You know, there are powerful economic considerations involved in distribution channels in the securities business. In other words, a lot of people make a lot of money doing it the way people are doing it today and they're not going to change in a hurry and we're not going to be very popular. I mean, it's just going to be an uphill fight.

VAN DE MARK: Some would say that you are a traitor to your class or your industry, for that matter, so why, for you, particularly at this stage, are you taking on all your old pals in the investment banking business?

HAMBRECHT: Well, you know, I must admit, on a couple of occasions I've had these kind of conversations with old friends. And I've thought about them a lot. And I think the reality of it is, I'm not a Wall Street guy any more. I've been out here for 35 years. I've lived in Silicon Valley. You know, we grew up with Silicon Valley. We grew up with the Internet. I think we think like an entrepreneurial firm and we're basically a Silicon Valley firm. And entrepreneurial Silicon Valley firms basically change things. They use technology to add to productivity and that's what we're doing.

VAN DE MARK: A problem then is if you are successful, why can't a Merrill Lynch or even more likely a Charles Schwab jump into this business?

HAMBRECHT: Oh, they will, and there's no question about it. If the auction is successful or is as successful as we think it will be, sure, they're going to come into the market. We think we have a good proprietary intellectual property position. I mean we do have, we've done a lot of development work, we have patents pending on our process and, you know, we think we're in a reasonable position. But will they be able to come up with a competitive product? Of course. What we're hoping is that we get what you would call first user advantage, that we're out there first, people will get used to our system and we will keep part of the market share no matter what, if we're viewed as the first mover.

VAN DE MARK: Why is a man your age, and no disparaging comments about your age, but you're obviously older than 25, which is about the average age of an Internet-based entrepreneur these days, but why are you doing this now?

HAMBRECHT: Well, first of all, I have, I'm sure a lot of complex reasons that even I don't understand. But I saw a challenge. I was frustrated like many entrepreneurs get frustrated in trying to make some changes within my old organization to actually do it. And, you know, when you've been fortunate enough to be part of an entrepreneurial company where you could really try ideas and really get them to work or not work, it spoils you, and I found I really missed that. And I'm having the time of my life again.

VAN DE MARK: Thanks very much for joining us.

HAMBRECHT: Thank you.

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.


09/14/2000: Commentary: Education & Economics

SUSIE GHARIB: September is back to school month across the country and tonight's commentator has some thoughts about our school system. Here's Todd Buccholz, author of "Market Shock."

TODD BUCHHOLZ, COMMENTARY: Don't know much about history, goes the old song. It was a great tune sung in the 1950s at a time when people seemed proud of the public schools. Now many of our schools are in crisis and ignorance isn't bliss. In debates, politicians usually separate education from economic issues, but our economy depends on workers who can read, write, add and subtract. If we raise kids with muscles but without brains, who will pay for Medicare and Social Security when the baby boomers retire and stick the rest of us with their bills? Sure, your children may be smart and responsible and model citizens, but in the long run, our standard of living depends on children we don't know and never will meet. Yet, we will expect them to get jobs, earn a salary and pay taxes. We've seen stunning research that tells us what works in schools. In Washington, D.C., one study shows poor African American school kids attending private schools scored nine points higher in math than those stuck in the local schools. In California, Hispanic kids leapfrogged their peers when they were immersed in English language classes, rather than coddled in a bilingual system. Reading scores tripled. Math scores doubled. Now, you may not be Hispanic and you may not be black and you may not be poor, but you would be foolish not to support dramatic changes in our public schools. Ask the presidential and Congressional candidates where they stand. In the long run, your life depends on it. I'm Todd Buchholz.

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.


09/14/2000: Paul Kangas' Wall Street Wrap Up

PAUL KANGAS: That decline in August wholesale prices and the smaller than expected rise in retail sales gave stocks on Wall Street an opening boost because the figures made a much desired soft landing in the economy more probable. At the outset of trading then, the Dow Industrial Average rose 20 points and the NASDAQ Index jumped nearly 70. The blue chip sector however was soon undermined by over a $7 tumble in Colgate (CL) stock after that company warned third quarter sales would be soft, partly because of the weak euro. That hurt other big consumer goods stocks like Proctor & Gamble(PG). However, solid gains in tech titans like Oracle set off a morning long rally in the NASDAQ market. At 12:30 p.m., the Dow was down 72.88 points and in a statistical oddity, the NASDAQ Index was up by exactly that same amount. Afternoon trading brought further weakness in many of the big multinational stocks because of currency concerns, all of which acted as a drag on the NASDAQ. The Dow Industrial Average slumped to a closing loss of 94.71 at 11,087.47. In today's 139-point trading range, the Dow closed down 121 points from the best level of the session, up only 18 points from the worst level of the day. The NASDAQ Composite edged up nearly 20 points, ending at 3913.86. In its 91 point trading range, the Composite settled 71 points below its best level of the day.

Big board volume slipped a bit, some 65 million shares fewer that yesterday but still over a billion. And just a few more shares of up volume over down volume, almost 10 million there.

The Dow Transports Index down almost 18.

Utility Index fell over 3 ½.

But the Closing Tick modestly bullish at +434.

Standard & Poor's 500 off just over 4 points.

3 2/3 drop in the 100.

The MidCap 400 up 5 1/3 points.

Bridge Futures Price Index fell nearly 1 point.

New York Stock Exchange Composite off .80.

A gain of .75 in the Value Line.

Russell2000 Small Cap up nearly 5 1/4.

And the Wilshire 5000 gaining just over 5 or 4 points.

After the market closed, the Federal Reserve reported in the week ending September 4, the M2 money supply rose $6.2 billion. That decline in the August producer price index helped bonds edge higher early today as did the slower than expected retail sales because the reports as I mentioned raised hopes the economy might have a soft landing. However, heavy, long dated corporate debt offerings pushed long maturity yields above those in the 10- year range, causing dealers to bail out of bets that bonds would outperform notes. The result produced 3/8 to ½ point losses in tax-free and corporate issues and big losses in the long end of the Treasury market.

5-year notes down only 2/32.

The 10-year notes lost 14/32.

And the 30-year bond down 1 10/32, with the yield all the way up to 5.82 percent.

The Lehman Brothers Long-Term Treasury Bond Index fell nearly 12 points

Well, the Dow Industrial Average didn't have much of a passing grade today, down nearly 95 points. But the broader market, interestingly, up by about a 14-13 margin, 136 new yearly highs; 52 new lows.

AT&T (T) topped the active list on 22.7 million shares, edging up $0.31. Nothing so far coming out of yesterday's rumor that John Malone (ph) would be replacing CEO C. Michael Armstrong.

Lucent Technologies (LU) moved up $0.31.

And then Nortel Networks (NT) up $4.81. First Boston repeated a "strong buy" yesterday, then the stock was up nearly 3 ½, so still running.

Chase Manhattan (CMB) off $0.38.

And then Colgate Palmolive (CL) tumbling $8.94 on that company prediction of soft third quarter sales due to the weak Euro. And also, Alex Brown Brokerage downgraded the stock from "buy" to just a "market performer."

Compaq Computer (CPQ) rose $1.25.

McDonalds (MCD) losing $1.50. It's one of the big multinational companies, a little currency worry reflected there.

Motorola (MOT) was up $1.38.

Citigroup fell $0.06.

And Micron Technology (MU) down $3.38.

Bear Stearns (BSC) up $0.69. The company's third quarter earnings $1.32, way up from $1.19 last year. That was $0.13 above the Street estimate.

Corning (GLW) rising $15.25. Soundview Financial repeated a "strong buy" and increased earnings estimates there.

Eastman Kodak (EK) up $1.88. PaineWebber was out today with a positive report on the company's prospects with China.

Hispanic Broadcasting (HSP) up $2.31. Bank America Brokerage upgraded it from "buy" to a "strong buy."

Kimberly Clark (KMB) losing $3.00 a share after the A.G. Edwards Brokerage downgraded it from "buy" to just a "hold."

And UnitedHealth (UNH) up $2.88. Merrill Lynch and PaineWebber both repeated "buy" recommendations and the company had an upbeat investor conference, which seemed to help.

CTS (CTS) now of the big percentage gainers, up $8.06. This company received a contract to supply Lucent's (LU) next generation wireless technology needs.

London Pacific Group (LDP) up $2.75. The chairman told us that he gave an upbeat presentation earlier this week and also noted the stock has recently been added to the Futsi 250 Index (ph) on the London Stock Exchange.

SunGard Data Systems (SDS) up $4.50. Robertson Stevens Brokerage repeated a "strong buy" there.

Claires Stores (CLE) one of the big losers, down $2.94. The company said President and COO Marty Neelan (ph) was no longer with the company. He's being replaced by Chief Executive Officer Roland Schaffer (ph).

Sonoco Products (SON) down $2.63. The company sees flat or slightly lower third quarter earnings, down from $0.44 a year ago.

AO Smith (AOS) dropped $1.50. The company sees lower than expected third quarter earnings in the range of $0.29 to $0.31. That's way down from $0.52 a year ago.

NASDAQ trading, a gain of nearly 20 points in the Index, but it was up about 86 at mid session. Volume up 46 million shares from yesterday, about 22 stocks higher for every 17 lower.

Conexant Systems (CNXT) topped the active list, up $15.56. That's a positive reaction to the company's decision to spin off its Internet infrastructure business. Expect an IPO in about six months.

Intel (INTC) down another $1.63. Yesterday, Bank America downgraded it from "strong buy" to just "market perform."

Cisco (CSCO) losing just $0.06.

And then Oracle (ORCL) up $3.13. Now, despite the after market announcement of a 2 for 1 split and higher earnings, the stock was trading 2 points lower than that after hours.

Microsoft (MSFT) fell $2.44.

CIENA (CIEN) up $14.38.