Energy & Employment Shake Consumer Confidence
Jeff Carney, President of Fidelity Personal Investments On The Cost Cutting Plan
The Big Business of Pet Care
"Road to the White House"-Military Spending
"Commentary"-Happy 1st Birthday Mutual Fund Scandal
The Last Word: Flushing Out Ways To Save
Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News
Market Stats

SUSIE GHARIB: Two discouraging reports today about the state of the U.S. economy. The Conference Board`s consumer confidence index showed a much- bigger-than-expected drop in its August survey. And on the business front, new data indicated that growth in the Midwest slowed in August due to rising energy prices. Scott Gurvey reports.

SCOTT GURVEY, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Consumers became more cautious in August, the Conference Board`s consumer confidence index falling for the first time in four months. The slowdown in job growth is the main reason given by people who responded to the survey. Wall Street had expected to see a much smaller decline. The drop from 105.7 to 98.2 is the largest since February. The index for July was also revised lower and the index of future expectations fell as well.

LYNN FRANCO, DIRECTOR, THE CONFERENCE BOARD: What we`re seeing is that they`re telling us that the current labor market is somewhat stalled and that`s obvious in the data. And in looking ahead, their expectations for the labor market are not as optimistic as they were in June and July, so they`re taking a more cautious approach.

GURVEY: Consumers who take a more cautious approach are less likely to spend and that can have a negative impact on the economy as a whole. There was also disappointing news from the manufacturing sector today. The Chicago purchasing manager`s manufacturing index dropped in August to 57.3. A decline to about 60 had been forecast by analysts. The Chicago report is closely watched for insight into the health of the nation`s factories. Job cuts for factory workers have become a major issue in the campaign for president. New orders also fell this month, and production was off as buyers tried to estimate demand for the rest of the year, in light of political uncertainty and higher energy and gasoline prices.

JOHN LONSKI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY`S INVESTORS SERVICE: The latest drop in consumer confidence does not necessarily imply that unemployment is about to soar, nor does the latest dip by the Chicago purchasing manager`s index mean that industrial production is entering into another slump. What it tells me is that the U.S. economy is growing more slowly compared to its very robust start in 2004.

GURVEY: Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan has labeled the current economic condition as a temporary slump. Today`s reports have some analysts wondering just how long temporary will be. Scott Gurvey, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT," New York.

GHARIB: Well, some good news tonight on one of those factors affecting consumer confidence: oil prices. They fell again today on world markets as Iraq restored some exports. October crude futures in New York slipped $0.16 to $42.12. That is well below the highs of almost $49 a barrel which was reached earlier this month, but still way above oil prices at the beginning of this year. We`ll get a clearer picture of the oil situation tomorrow. That`s when new data is out on U.S. government oil inventories.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: Jeff Carney, President of Fidelity Personal Investments On The Cost Cutting Plan

SUSIE GHARIB: Fidelity Investments cut shareholder expenses today on several of its biggest index funds. The reduced fees on those funds make them among the lowest-cost in the mutual fund industry. Joining us now to talk more about the change, Jeff Carney, president of Fidelity Personal Investments. Hi, Jeff.

JEFF CARNEY, PRES., FIDELITY PERSONAL INVESTMENTS: Hi, thanks for having me.

GHARIB: It`s our pleasure. Tell us first of all why Fidelity decided to reduce the fees on these index funds. What is the broader strategy here?

CARNEY: Well, about 20 months ago, we started on a path of offering a much more compelling value story to our customers and it started with the removal of the remaining loads that we had on our retail funds. We then introduced $8 pricing for our active traders and for our high-net worth customers and then we removed the fees on our IRAs which happened just before the IRA season last year. As well we recently introduced the retirement income advantage story, which has been extremely well received by our customers and so all of these were taking our existing offer and making it much more compelling and the next piece in that puzzle was to introduce the announcement today which is all about making it easier for our customers to do business with us and hopefully to attract new customers to Fidelity.

GHARIB: Well, how can you offer these funds at such low prices?

CARNEY: Well, if you look at index funds and what they really are, they`re a commodity and commodities generally are sold through price. And so if you add the services that Fidelity brings to the table and invest in index funds, it`s really a compelling story and we had to go to 10 basis points to make an offer that was competitive against the marketplace and we wanted to really make it a simple offer so we offered 10 across all five of our equity index funds and we have a minimum investment of 10,000 and so this was all about trying to make it easier for investors and hopefully a more compelling story to come to Fidelity.

GHARIB: Until now Vanguard has been the leader when it comes to bargain prices on index funds. Are you expecting with the changes that you have made to attract more investors into your funds?

CARNEY: Yeah. I mean, we compete aggressively against the discount brokerage industry as well as the direct fund business and also against the full service brokers and this allows us to have a more compelling offer against some of the bigger competitors on the index fund side. This announcement today is $40 million more annually going back into the pockets of investors with our index funds here and we certainly expect and hope that we`ve earned the right to get more of our existing customers index fund assets that are held outside of Fidelity, but also get a bigger share of the flows as we go forward and we think this offer combined with everything else that Fidelity has, including our actively managed funds as well as our brokerage platform and the open architecture that we bring to the table is really a very compelling offer when you add it all up.

GHARIB: This has been a really tough year for investors, a lot of uncertainty in the markets. I`m wondering what patterns are you seeing in terms of where investors are putting their money? Are they going into stock funds, bond funds, into specialty sector funds.

CARNEY: We`ve worked really hard at educating our customers on asset allocation and we continually go at that through our web site, through our phone reps and also through our branches across the country and I think that customers are getting more sophisticated and investors are getting more patient in riding out these market cycles. So we`ve seen we think better behavior in dealing with long-term investing and a longer term strategy. And it`s something that we`re very passionate about here and I think that investors are starting to figure that out. So we haven`t seen trends that we`re that concerned about as far as any panic or any concern and really we`ve been seeing great flows across individual securities in our platform, our own funds as well as third party funds and our index funds as well.

GHARIB: All right. Glad to hear that. Jeff, thanks for coming on the program. We appreciate it.

CARNEY: You`re welcome. Thank you very much.

GHARIB: We`ve been speaking with Jeff Carney of Fidelity.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: The Big Business of Pet Care

SUSIE GHARIB: Humans aren`t the only ones battling heart disease, obesity and cancer these days. So are animals. Animal health care is currently a $13 billion industry and Diane Eastabrook reports it`s getting bigger every year, as people take better care of their pets and livestock.

DIANE EASTABROOK, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Over the past quarter century, a dog`s average age has more than doubled from seven years to 15 years. Veterinarian Jon Jorgensen credits the longer life span to changing economics, changing attitudes about pets and better care.

DR. JON JORGENSEN, VETERINARIAN: Owners are now more interested in seeking therapies and medications and the ability to improve their pets quality of life as they get older.

EASTABROOK: That is why animal health care is becoming a more integral part of Pfizer`s business. The drug maker`s animal health division in rural Richland, Michigan, spends $200 million annually developing medicines for livestock and companion animals, like dogs and cats. While animal health represents only about 4 percent of Pfizer`s total business, it`s growing at a respectable rate of about 8 percent a year.

DAVID MCGAVIN, V.P. RESEARCH, PFIZER ANIMAL HEALTH: We think that the growth rate that we have factored in for the next five or 10 years will see us grow, not just within the animal heath business, but as a percentage of Pfizer, Inc.

EASTABROOK: Currently, medications that treat parasites like fleas and heartworms represent nearly half of Pfizer animal health sales. But McGavin thinks drugs that treat ailments common in humans hold the most promise. That`s because Pfizer`s human pharmaceutical unit has a library of two million drug compounds the animal health division can leverage.

MCGAVIN: So, as the human health colleagues say we have new compounds in pain and inflammation or cardiovascular disease or obesity, Pfizer animal health can work with those human health colleagues and try those same compounds out in dogs and cats.

EASTABROOK: Pfizer is already doing just that. Anipryl, a canine senility drug, was developed from a compound that treats human Parkinson`s disease. Simplicef treats pet skin infections, and was developed from a compound that treats a similar disease in people. But analysts say the animal health unit also helps the pharmaceutical unit by providing Pfizer with a reliable income stream.

MICHAEL ZBINOVEC, PHARMACEUTICAL ANALYST, FITCH RATINGS: It provides a foundation for the growth strategies for the pharmaceuticals business. Their stable annuity of cash flows from animal health business and the consumer business provides that growth platform for the pharmaceuticals.

EASTABROOK: The U.S. recently gave the pharmaceutical industry a big shot in the arm when it comes to developing animal drugs. Within the last month, it passed a law that speeds up the approval process for some animal medications. Diane Eastabrook, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Richland, Michigan.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: "Road to the White House"-Military Spending

SUSIE GHARIB: President Bush is taking heat from critics after a televised interview yesterday where he said the war on terror could not be won. So today, Mr. Bush moved to shore up his stance on the war, making it clear he thinks the U.S. will prevail. The issue of defense spending will be key in this presidential year. So tonight, as we continue our look at the candidates and the issues, Stephanie Woods examines the Bush and Kerry positions on military spending.

STEPHANIE WOODS, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: Campaigning before a veterans` group today, President Bush sharpened his rhetoric about the war on terror.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In this different kind of war, we may never sit down at a peace table. But make no mistake about it, we are winning and we will win.

WOODS: The president has committed $200 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BUSH: If America shows weakness or uncertainty in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen on my watch.

WOODS: In addition to the money spent on war operations, President Bush authorized nearly $400 billion for military spending this year. The president proposes a further 20 percent increase over the next four years, to nearly $500 billion a year by 2009, with an emphasis on new technology for weapons systems.

BUSH: No enemy or friend can doubt that America has the resources to prevail and we will.

WOODS: With national security a top priority among voters, analysts expect military spending to increase under either a Bush or Kerry administration.

BRETT LAMBERT, ANALYST, DFI INTERNATIONAL: Neither candidate wants to look weak on defense and unfortunately that translates into defense spending which is not necessarily the case but that`s how the public has become accustomed to judging who is weak, and who is not weak on defense is purely spending.

WOODS: Democratic nominee John Kerry promises a different tact on military spending. He wants to add 40,000 new troops and double special operations forces.

SEN. JOHN KERRY, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As president, I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal -- our economic as well as our military might, our principles, as well as our firepower and only then will be able to tell the terrorists, you will lose and we will win.

WOODS: Kerry would slow spending on the missile defense system and redirect the money to pay for troop strength and homeland security. President Bush has doubled missile defense spending, with nearly $10 billion slated for the program this year.

BUSH: It`s the beginning of a missile defense system that was envisioned by Ronald Reagan, a system necessary to protect us against the threats of the 21st century.

WOODS: To increase fighting capabilities, Mr. Bush will close military bases in Europe and Asia.

BUSH: It will reduce the stress on our troops and on our military families. It will save the taxpayers money, as we consolidate and close bases and facilities overseas no longer needed to face the threats of our time.

WOODS: Kerry says the U.S. needs a presence in places like South Korea and argues the president`s plan will prove costly as our allies no longer pick up the tab for military bases.

KERRY: Nobody wants to bring troops home more than those of us who have fought in foreign wars. But it needs to be done at the right time and in a sensible way. This is not that time or that way.

WOODS: Both Bush and Kerry support upgrading weapons systems to better coordinate the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

LAMBERT: It`s hard for Americans to believe that after spending close to $500 billion a year there are still some agencies within the Pentagon that can`t communicate because they have separate radio systems. Yet that is the case.

WOODS: The U.S. now spends half of all its discretionary dollars on the military, with both candidates promising a strong defense. It will be up to the voters to decide who`ll deliver the most bang for the buck. Stephanie Woods, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: "Commentary"-Happy 1st Birthday Mutual Fund Scandal

SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight`s commentator has been looking at the calendar, and has found an occasion to note. Here`s Allan Sloan, Wall Street editor for "Newsweek" magazine.

ALLAN SLOAN, WALL STREET EDITOR, NEWSWEEK: For most people, next week means Labor Day. But for business junkies, it`s an anniversary. Because it was the day after Labor Day last year that Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, held a news conference that marked the start of the mutual fund scandal. Journalism loves anniversaries, which means it`s time for a question: Has anything really changed for mutual fund investors in the past year? Actually it has. Fund companies are running scared, which is good. Some really bad actors have been purged. Funds that betrayed shareholders have seen investors pull out billions of dollars and give it to funds that acted well. Sin`s being punished, virtues rewarded. Bad actors will give investors around $3 billion in payments and fee reductions over five years. Not that much, given that funds have more than $7 trillion of assets, but better than nothing which is what investors would have gotten without Spitzer. Some honest companies have voluntarily cut fees without pressure from Spitzer. Great news, but competition`s moving slowly. Investors are still paying way too much to too many funds for mediocre performance. Washington has taken action but much of it is cosmetic and will cost investors money. Typical government, it announces solutions, we pay, problems often stay unfixed. A year from now I hope things will be better. Let`s revisit this question next summer. Anniversaries do have their uses, if only to help offset our short attention spans. I`m Allan Sloan.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: The Last Word: Flushing Out Ways To Save

SUSIE GHARIB: And finally, in the "every little bit helps the budget" department comes the story of York, Pennsylvania. Last week, a York city councilman questioned how the cash-strapped city would be able to close a huge $25 million gap in its fire and police pensions. The councilman quipped that the city couldn`t even afford toilet paper. On Sunday, someone dropped off a case of toilet paper at city hall. The toilet paper was given to the public works department and will be used in city buildings. Paul, York`s mayor says he`s pleased the public is paying such close attention to the city`s challenges.

KANGAS: I`ll bet you it was Mr. Whipple that made the delivery. In any case, the city is on a roll now.

GHARIB: Isn`t he the guy who used to say it`s irresistibly soft?

KANGAS: No. Don`t squeeze the Charmin.

GHARIB: Don`t squeeze the Charmin.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: "'Paul Kangas' Stocks In The News

PAUL KANGAS: Wall Street began the day on a positive note thanks to those lower oil prices and some bargain hunting after yesterday`s sell off. But the early strength vanished on those drops in consumer confidence and the Chicago purchasing managers report. The Dow fell to a 32-point loss by mid-afternoon, but then abruptly snapped back thanks to end of month institutional buying. So the Dow Industrial Average came in with a gain of 51 1/2 points at 10,173.92. The NASDAQ Composite managed to end up with a gain of 1.61 at 1838.10. Standard & Poor`s 500 Index rose just over five points ending at 1104.24. In the bond market, the 10-year note rose 16/32 to 101 3/32, putting the yield at 4.12 percent.

The most active New York exchange issue was General Electric (GE) on 12.8 million shares, stock moving up $0.22.

Followed by Texas Instruments (TXN) down $0.17. That`s in sympathy with Intel which some analysts expect to trim its outlook in a conference call to analysts after the close Thursday. The whole semiconductor sector was generally weakened by this. And on top of this, Morgan Stanley cut the price target on Texas Instruments stock from 33 to $30 a share.

Pfizer (PFE), there you see it, up $0.38.

Coach (COH) up $0.36. After the close today, that stock was added to the Standard & Poor`s 500 Index.

Lucent Technologies (LU) gained $0.01. It was fifth in big board volume.

ExxonMobil (XOM) up $0.97.

Time Warner (TWX) dropped a nickel.

Bank of America (BAC) moving up $0.41.

EMC Corp. (EMC) a $0.13 gain.

Tenth in volume Citigroup (C) $0.17 gain there.

Winn-Dixie Stores (WIN), the big supermarket chain, down $0.72. It traded as low as $3.95 on growing doubts that the company`s turnaround efforts will succeed. The company has acknowledged competition is increasing.

Then another big supermarket stock, Albertsons (ABS) down $0.52. Company in with second quarter earnings that were lower than last year`s, $0.34 versus $0.44 then, but that was a penny above the Street estimate but the company says third quarter earnings will fall short of expectations.

Best Buy (BBY) down $1.19. Last Friday, FTN Securities downgraded it from "buy" to "neutral" on concern about a slowdown in consumer spending. The stock still showing signs of weakness.

Kohl`s (KSS) the department store chain, up $0.74. Merrill Lynch upgraded it from "neutral" to "buy."

United Rental (URI) down another $1.31 after dropping over $4 yesterday on news that the SEC is making an inquiry into the company`s accounting practices. Today the Jefferies brokerage downgraded the stock from "buy" to just a "hold" recommendation.

Six Flags (PKS) moving up $1.11, a nice gain of almost 25 percent. Today`s "Wall Street Journal" says Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has acquired almost 9 percent of the stock and may seek control of the company.

IMC Global (IGL) up $1.06. The news here, the company got Department of Justice clearance to merge with Cargil`s crop nutrition company. The new combination company will be called Mosaic (ph) Company.

Guidant (GDT) up $0.10, even though Piper Jaffray brokerage downgraded it from "outperform" to "market perform." It did trade as low as $59.02 during the day, but then snapped back.

Mobile TeleSystems (MBT) doing well, up $7.86. This is Russia`s biggest mobile phone operator and second quarter earnings more than doubled from a year ago, nice move in the stock.

Zale`s (ZLC) jewelry chain down $1.33. The company sees 2005 earnings between $2.23 and $2.27 a share and the Street estimate is higher, $2.30.

NASDAQ`s most active Intel (INTC) down $0.31. Caution over Thursday`s after the market call to analysts and today Morgan Stanley cut its 12-month target from $30 down to $28 a share.

Microsoft (MSFT) no change there.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) $0.27 loss.

eBay (EBAY) managed to gain $1.03.

Applied Materials (AMAT) down a dime.

palmOne (PLMO), losing $4.01. That`s on concern that sales of the company`s Trio smart phone may fall short of analysts` estimates of 320,000.

Research In Motion (RIMM) fell $1.44.

Oracle (ORCL) dropping $0.14.

QUALCOMM (QCOM) $0.34 gain.

And tenth in volume, Dell (DELL) down $0.28 a share.

And those are the stocks in the news tonight, Susie.

Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post broadcast. The program is transcribed by eMediaMillWorks. 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. Copyright (c) 2004 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Terms of use.

08/31/04: Market Stats

				      NET    PERCENT
                         CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE



DOW CLOSE             10173.92     +51.40       + .5
HIGH                                        10173.92
LOW                                         10074.22

NASDAQ COMP.           1838.10      +1.61        +.1
HIGH                                         1842.15
LOW                                          1819.62

VOLUME                                       1,138.4
PREVIOUS                                       848.4
UP VOLUME                                      764.5
DOWN VOLUME                                    365.6

DOW TRANSPORTS         3105.46     +20.11       + .7
DOW UTILITIES           290.55      +3.55      + 1.2
CLOSING TICK                                    +762

S&P 500                1104.24      +5.09       + .5
S&P 100                 538.77      +2.22       + .4
MIDCAP 400              576.62      +4.40       + .8
REUTERS/CRB             276.50      +3.03      + 1.1

NYSE COMPOSITE         6454.22     +39.68       + .6
VALUE LINE              348.77      +1.61       + .5
RUSSELL 2000            547.93      +3.37       + .6
DJW 5000              10719.15     +53.23       + .5

U.S. TREASURIES
5-YEAR NOTE 3.625%
July 15,2009         100 27/32     +10/32     + 3.31

10-YEAR NOTE 4.75%
May 15,2014          101  2/32     +16/32     + 4.12

30-YEAR NOTE 5.375%
Feb. 15, 2031        106 18/32     +24/32     + 4.93

LEHMAN BROS.
LONG BOND INDEX        1750.04      +8.35


DOW CLOSE             10173.92     +51.40       + .5
ADVANCES                                        2322
DECLINES                                        1004
NEW HIGHS                                        121
NEW LOWS                                          21

                                      NET    PERCENT
NYSE MOST ACTIVES    4PM CLOSE     CHANGE     CHANGE
GE    GE                 32.79       +.22        +.7
TXN   Texas Instrument   19.54       -.17        -.9
PFE   Pfizer             32.67       +.38       +1.2
COH   Coach              42.15       +.36        +.9
LU    Lucent Tech         3.13       +.01        +.3
XOM   Exxon Mobil        46.10       +.97       +2.2
TWX   Time Warner        16.35       -.05        -.3
BAC   Bank of America    44.98       +.41        +.9
EMC   EMC Corp           10.77       +.13       +1.2
C     Citigroup          46.58       +.17        +.4

NASDAQ CLOSE           1838.10     + 1.61       + .1
VOLUME                                       1,311.6
PREVIOUS                                     1,008.5
ADVANCES                                        1813
DECLINES                                        1242

NASDAQ ACTIVES
INTC  Intel              21.29       -.31       -1.4
MSFT  Microsoft          27.30      unch.      unch.
CSCO  Cisco Systems      18.76       -.27       -1.4
EBAY  eBay               86.54      +1.03       +1.2
AMAT  Applied Matl       15.89       -.10        -.6
PLMO  PalmOne            32.65      -4.01      -10.9
RIMM  Rsch In Motion     60.22      -1.44       -2.3
ORCL  Oracle              9.97       -.14       -1.4
QCOM  Qualcomm           38.05       +.34        +.9
DELL  Dell Inc           34.84       -.28        -.8

AMEX CLOSE             1232.41     + 8.08       + .7

INDEX SHARES
DIA   DIAMONDS TRUST    101.89       +.48        +.5
QQQ   NASDAQ 100         34.04       +.08        +.2
SPY   S&P DEP.RECEIPTS  111.13       +.60        +.5

STOCKS IN THE NEWS

WIN   Winn-Dixie Strs     4.17       -.72      -14.7
ABS   Albertson's        24.58       -.52       -2.1
BBY   Best Buy Co        46.52      -1.19       -2.5
KSS   Kohl's Corp        49.48       +.74       +1.5
URI   United Rental      14.69      -1.31       -8.2
PKS   Six Flags           5.57      +1.11      +24.9
IGL   IMC Global         15.94      +1.06       +7.1
GDT   Guidant            59.80       +.10        +.2
MBT   Mobile TeleSys    129.36      +7.86       +6.5
ZLC   Zale Corp          25.62      -1.33       -4.9