Ponovno predvajanje torek, 3. januar 1995

F.C.C. Chided In Fox Case

Date: 04 January 1995

James H. Quello, one of five commissioners at the Federal Communications Commission, said today that the agency had embarked on an overly secretive "star chamber" proceeding to investigate the ownership structure of the Fox Broadcasting Company, a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. In a letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, Mr. Quello said the agency had damaged its credibility by trying to impose secrecy restrictions on people who testified in the inquiry.

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G.O.P. Starts Expanding TV Coverage

Date: 03 January 1995

By Katharine Q. Seelye

Katharine Seelye

Whatever happens in the new Congressional era of Republican control, citizens will be able to witness more of it. Striving for a new aura of openness, the Republicans have agreed to allow television cameras into most committee meetings and daily press briefings with the House Speaker and the Senate majority leader. Both houses are still weighing whether to allow C-Span to operate its own cameras in the chambers and to allow those cameras free rein. Currently, cameras are operated by Government employees, who focus only on the person speaking and feed those shots to C-Span.

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Kerkorian Raises Stake in Chrysler

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Kirk Kerkorian, already the largest investor in the Chrysler Corporation, has increased his stake to 10.16 percent of the auto maker's shares outstanding from 9.2 percent. According to a filing today at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr. Kerkorian bought 4 million shares between Dec. 19 and Dec. 30 at prices ranging from $45.92 to $50.05 each. This brings his current holdings to 36 million shares.

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BUILDERS SQUARE TO CLOSE 15 UNPROFITABLE STORES

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Kmart Corporation said its Builders Square unit would close 15 unprofitable stores and substantially slow its conversion of existing stores to larger formats. The closings will idle 1,318 employees, about 6 percent of Builders Square's work force. Builders Square, a do-it-yourself home improvement retailer based in San Antonio, said the moves would produce annual savings of about $7 million. The company said it would convert 17 stores to the Builders Square II format this year. It had planned to convert 40 stores.

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COMPUTER SCIENCES GETS BIG CONTRACT FROM HUGHES

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Hughes Aircraft Company said yesterday that the Computer Sciences Corporation of El Segundo, Calif., would handle all its information processing needs in an eight-year agreement valued at up to $1.5 billion, one of the largest contracts of its type. Hughes Aircraft, a unit of the GM Hughes Electronics Corporation, will transfer about 1,100 employees, or about 2.2 percent of its work force, to Computer Sciences. Hughes Aircraft is based in Los Angeles.

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BOARD OF SLOCAN OPPOSES TAKEOVER OFFER FROM CANFOR

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Slocan Forest Products Ltd. said yesterday that its board was recommending that shareholders reject a stock-swap purchase offer from the Canfor Corporation. Last month, Canfor made an unsolicited offer of 0.935 share for each of Slocan's 40 million common shares. The offer is valued at about $491 million. Slocan and Canfor are forest products companies based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Canfor's offer was financially inadequate, Slocan said.

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SAME-STORE SALES RISE 1% FOR TOYS 'R' US

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Toys "R" Us Inc. said yesterday that domestic same-store toy sales had risen just 1 percent in the Christmas selling period -- the eight weeks ended on Dec. 24. The same-store gains were much smaller than the 7.4 percent reported for the corresponding period a year earlier. Same-store sales are for stores open at least a year. The company, the nation's largest toy retailer, said it expected "significantly increased" earnings for the fiscal year ending this month. Its stock was down 25 cents yesterday, at $30.375, on the New York Stock Exchange. Last week, the stock fell as much as 9 percent as analysts slashed 1994 earnings estimates. Toys "R" Us, based in Paramus, N.J., said total sales, including those of stores not open a year ago, rose 8.7 percent in the eight weeks.

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Magellan Error Is Explained

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

Fidelity Investments yesterday explained the clerical error that resulted in the company's withdrawal of a promised year-end payment last month to shareholders in its Magellan Fund. An accountant who treated a $1.3 billion capital loss as a gain of the same amount was responsible for the mistake in estimating payments, J. Gary Burkhead, managing director of Fidelity, said in a letter to shareholders.

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WALGREEN CO. (WAG,N)

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

The Walgreen Company, the nation's biggest drugstore chain in terms of sales, said yesterday that earnings increased 22 percent in the first quarter as the company opened four new stores a week. Walgreen said net income for the quarter, which ended on Nov. 30, rose to $54 million, or 44 cents a share, from $44.2 million, or 36 cents, in the quarter a year earlier.

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Appeals Court Rules for S.E.C. on Proxies

Date: 04 January 1995

By Bloomberg News

Bloomberg News

A Federal appeals court in New York ruled yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission did not have to require companies to allow shareholders to vote on some proposals involving social policies. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit involved the S.E.C.'s decision in October 1992 to allow Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. to decline to put on its proxy a shareholder resolution banning discrimination against homosexual job applicants.

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