Investor's Business Daily articles from April 2002

Investor's Business Daily archives from April 2002

Blind Diversification Dilutes Your Returns.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
April 1, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG Suppose you have a billion dollars to invest. Spreading the risk makes tons of sense. To do that, you could buy a wide mix of securities. Blue chip stocks in uptrends. High-grade corporate bonds. Short-term...

Soaring Energy Prices Could Derail Economy, Force Early Fed Move Crude Poses Two Threats Consumers may cut back elsewhere, and oil could spark broader price hikes.(A)
April 1, 2002... Byline: DONALD H. GOLD Oil prices have some economists worried about this recovery. They've risen fast. West Texas crude has surged more than 40% since mid-January. It pushed above $26 a barrel on Thursday. And it's more than just...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
April 1, 2002... More Deaths As Arafat OKs Truce 1Yasser Arafat said he's ready for an immediate cease-fire with Israel "without any conditions." His announcement came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Cabinet met to consider its response to the...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... FEDERATED DEPARTMENT Stores is eyeing the sale of individual Fingerhut assets. Also, 3,300 staffers at its catalog unit will lose their jobs by April 5. VIACOM may keep all its TV stations while the FCC reviews broadcast ownership limits....

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... TELECOM GEAR Lucent, Solectron ink 2-part deal The telecom gear firm chose Solectron to supply it with optical gear over three years. The pact should close in Lucent's Q3 and could be worth $2 bil. As part of the deal, Lucent sold its...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... MEDICAL FDA shuns Watson Pharma patch The drug maker's Oxytrol patch to treat overactive bladders was going to help Watson shift focus from generics to its own branded drugs. Watson cut its '02 sales outlook, but raised profit views...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... MEDIA Adelphia falls again on debt woes The cable TV firm said it may be liable for $500 mil in bank loans to its Adelphia Business telecom unit, which filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday. That sent Adelphia Communications down 1.80, or...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... TECHNOLOGY Intel to launch P4 chip at 2.4 GHz Intel will unveil its latest Pentium 4 on Monday. The microprocessors will first be made using current 200 mm wafer technology. But it'll quickly shift to 300 mm technology. That'll make...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... Help-wanted index rose in Feb. The Conference Board's gauge for business hiring rose four points to 51 from Jan.'s 47. That's still below the 72 level of a year ago. The business group said help-wanted ads rose in seven of nine U.S....

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... Continental Air and Expedia, a Web travel site, entered into a new marketing and financial pact. Direct Focus gapped up 2.71, or 8%, to a new high of 38.05 after U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray made bullish comments on the maker of Bowflex home...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... Military set for all tasks: Pentagon America's military brass said despite the war on terrorism and other pressures on U.S. forces, the Pentagon will be able to take on any mission President Bush orders. "You can be absolutely certain that...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... Arabs offer "normal' ties to Israel The Arab world offered Israel recognition, security and "normal relations" in exchange for withdrawal from Arab land Israel has held since 1967 and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees. The offer...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... Daily TV habit linked to violence A Columbia University study found that 5.7% of kids who watched less than an hour a day committed aggressive acts against other people in later years. That's compared to 22.5% of those who watched from one...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
April 1, 2002... American farmers will plant more gene-altered crops this year, including one-third of the corn on U.S. soil. Such soy and corn plantings will rise 13%, The world's people are having fewer kids and living longer, turning not only Europe but...

Hecht At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
April 1, 2002... Hecht At A Glance Born: 1894 in New York City. Died: 1966 in New York City. Education: Dropped out of the University of Wisconsin. Achievements: Became one of the most renowned journalists, playwrights and novelists of...

HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING Facing The Unknown.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: Cord Cooper 1 Maritime experts doubted him. His peers labeled him a heretic. Yet Christopher Columbus bucked entrenched conventional thought, and won. He did it with optimism, courage and a grip on a vision that no one -- whether...

Writer Put Issues On "Front Page' Focus On Goals: Determination helped make Ben Hecht one of the greats.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: KATHRYN LINDERMAN There was no question about it: If Ben Hecht couldn't follow his passion for writing, he wasn't going to do anything. "I was born to write," he often said, "and write I will." His focus helped Hecht...

U.S. Firms Find That It's Tough To Do "Budgetless' Business GE's Welch downplayed role of budgets, but most firms sticking with them.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE It's been called "the bane of corporate America" by General Electric's Jack Welch and "a tool of repression" by Chrysler's Bob Lutz. Government regulation? Hard-core environmentalism? Nope. They're talking...

TECHBITS.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: Murray Coleman Java Show Draws Smaller Crowd Software developers descended on San Francisco last week for the JavaOne conference. In past years, the trade convention counted on attracting mor e than 25,000 attendees. This...

Oracle Rebound Hinges On "RAC' Attack New Database Software Company needs to pump up revenue and ward off rivals IBM and Microsoft.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: J. BONASIA Oracle Corp. is moving into high gear to market its latest database technology and overcome a host of problems. Its biggest problems? Sales are falling and rivals IBM Corp. and Microsoft Corp. are gaining database...

Microsoft's Carpoint Service Revs Up For Big International Expansion Firm Leads Autobytel Overseas New plan brings service to U.K., France, Germany, Italy and 10 other countries.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: PETE BARLAS Microsoft Corp. is heading offshore -- on four wheels. MSN Carpoint, a Web company mostly owned by Microsoft, was to announce an international expansion Monday. It's bringing its online auto information and referral...

Intel Set To Introduce New, Speedier Version Of Pentium 4 Processor Chip To Run At 2.4 Gigahertz Intel making the processor with a different technique, which could help cut prices.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: JAMES DETAR Intel Corp. is keeping the pressure on rivals in the hotly contested race to make the chip of choice for personal computers. As early as Tuesday, the company plans to unveil its best-performing chip ever. It will...

IBM Helps American Express Offer Its Customers An Electronic Office.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
April 1, 2002... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA Companies can cut costs and their tax bills by tracking their expenses diligently. Such tracking, however, is easier said than done. IBM Corp. and American Express Co. teamed up this month to deal with the...

NEW AMERICA REVISITED Oil Driller Rigs New Business With Latest Purchase.(THE NEW AMERICA)(NEW AMERICA REVISITED)
April 1, 2002... Byline: GERRY MIRIELLO Oil driller Unit Corp. (New America, May 31) is about to get a whole lot bigger. On March 21, it announced plans to buy 20 drilling rigs and related gear from a closely held firm. Unit wouldn't name the seller,...

JOS. A. BANK CLOTHIERS INC. Hampstead, Md. Guys Can Buy Clothes All By Themselves Now.(THE NEW AMERICA)
April 1, 2002... Byline: ADELIA CELLINI LINECKER It's time for clothes retailers to give men some respect. For years, the stereotype that men hate shopping gave retailers an excuse to ignore them as viable consumers. Instead they targeted women, who...

TORO CO. Bloomington, Minnesota Manufacturer Mows Down Market Hurdles.(THE NEW AMERICA)
April 1, 2002... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE During a recession, lawn equipment maker Toro Co. usually looks for greener grass on the other side of the recovery. That's not the case today. Despite the ailing economy, the company has seen surprising strength...

KEY FUND HOLDINGS.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
April 1, 2002... Key Fund Holdings / DaVita was a top holding and Tricon Global Restaurants a top new buy of Meridian Value Fund as of its latest reporting date. DaVita's earnings rose 83% and 33% the past two quarters. Wall Street sees net up 33% this year....

Gold, Emerging Funds Led In 1st Qtr Bonds Slipped In March Small value funds paced diversified fund categories for latest quarter, month.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: CLAIRE MENCKE With a recovery in the U.S. starting to take hold in the first quarter of this year, more stock mutual funds regained their footing with positive returns. Now bond fund investors are looking at diminishing returns, at...

Unsupported Zeal.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
April 1, 2002... Environment: Had a tune-up lately? The government may require you to. Want to grill a steak or build a campfire? Don't plan on it. These sound far-fetched, don't they? The federal government isn't in the business of such minute regulation...

Union Muscle.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
April 1, 2002... Labor: Unions can indeed collect dues from nonmembers at union shops that will be used to organize workers at nonunion companies. Where's the fairness? The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 11-0 last week that unions...

U.S.' Close Ties With Saudis Questioned After 9-11 Attack.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
April 1, 2002... Byline: PETER BENESH Just before he was beheaded in 1641, Sir Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, quoted Psalm 146:3: "Put not your faith in princes." He had trusted King Charles I to stop his execution. Since Sept. 11, Americans have...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE NYSE Stocks, Trade Barely Move Again.(MAKING MONEY)
April 1, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI NYSE stocks ended Holy Week the way they'd traded since Monday - with little progress, on light trade. The Dow edged down 0.2%. The S&P inched forward 0.2%. NYSE volume closed just below Wednesday's already weak level....

AMN Carving First Base After Nov. IPO.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri When trolling for stocks setting up in well-formed bases, don't forget IPOs. The best new issues feature sound business plans, robust sales and profit from day one. They also offer potential of explosive growth. AMN...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Small-Cap Stocks Shine As Nasdaq Gains Again.(B)
April 1, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq fell for the third straight week, but Thursday it gained 1% on higher volume, cutting its weekly loss to 6 points. Verisity zoomed out of a 10-month cup-with-handle base, rising 2.33 to a new high...

Itron Boosts Efficiency With High-Tech Meters.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: Julie Huynh After notching an intraday high of 34.21 on Dec. 5, Itron has been working on a 16-week base. It's 13% off its peak. The firm makes high-tech meter systems that send data from meters to utilities over radio waves....

No Fools Picking Stocks, But Can Motleys Sell?(THE SMART INVESTOR)(IBD INVESTOR PROFILE)
April 1, 2002... Byline: KEN HOOVER The brothers Tom and David Gardner are no fools. But they are Fools. They use the capital F to separate themselves from what they dismissively call the Wise Men of Wall Street. As the Motley Fools, they've built a...

IBD'S 20 RULES FOR INVESTMENT SUCCESS.(THE SMART INVESTOR)
April 1, 2002... A vital point is these rules are not based on our personal opinion, our beliefs or those of Wall Street's analysts and experts. Investor's Business Daily built models of the most successful stocks and investors of the last half-century. We...

Charts Help You Skirt Scam Slams.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(WINNING WAYS)
April 1, 2002... Byline: KEN HOOVER After Enron, investors are nervous about how their companies keep the books. Are the earnings they announce real? For most investors, it's impossible to tell. Even top money managers and analysts get duped sometimes....

Bringing Order To Your Records Doesn't Have To Be Such A Big Ordeal Sorting Your Books And Bites Software helps you track investments; workbooks guide your heirs to wills.(B)
April 1, 2002... Byline: DAN MOREAU In the thick of finishing your taxes, you scramble to find that missing form that's somewhere in the pile on your desk -- and remind yourself you need to be more organized. There's plenty of advice and help that can...

Don't Expect Bubble-Era Gains.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
April 2, 2002... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE Living in the past is never good. For investors, it can be downright foolish. If you're still expecting your stocks to turn in the same sort of turbo-charged performance they did back in the late 1990s, it's...

Purchasing Index Gain, Rise In Building Activity Bolster Recovery Case Next To Come: More Hiring? Factory comeback could push GDP growth to 5% for 2 or 3 qtrs -- analyst.(A)
April 2, 2002... Byline: DONALD H. GOLD Two reports Monday showed the recovery is still right on track: Housing pushed construction spending to its best gain in 13 months, and a report from an industry group suggests the long, bruising factory recession is...

Medco's "Counterdetailers' Push Free Generics To Battle Brands Merck unit's message to physicians: Prescribe the cheaper alternative.(A)(TRENDS & INNOVATIONS)
April 2, 2002... Byline: GLORIA LAU Dr. Kenneth Goodman is a busy man. The family doctor sees more than 35 patients a day in a private practice in Cleveland. So when drug companies' sales reps visit him with free samples of pricey brand-name medicines...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
April 2, 2002... U.S. Has A Top Al-Qaida Chieftain 1 Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Abu Zubaydah is either Osama bin Laden's No. 2 or "very close" to No. 2. He's believed to know names, faces and locations of operatives worldwide, possibly...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... QWEST said SEC staff will seek action for excluding profit data related to its US West buy in a Jan. '01 release. Also, Qwest may take a $20 bil-$30 bil loss under accounting rule FAS 142. CONTINENTAL AIRLINES said it'll be hard to end...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... FINANCE Goldman falls on SEC charge talk Goldman Sachs slipped 2% on reports that it could be charged with securities fraud relating to information it got about the Treasury's plan to stop selling 30-year bonds before the news was...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... RETAIL Wal-Mart heads Fortune 500 list The discounter is now the biggest firm in the world, topping the annual list with nearly $220 bil in sales. Wal-Mart, No. 2 a year ago, overtook oil giant Exxon Mobil. Collapsed energy trader...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... TECHNOLOGY Walter Hewlett won't rejoin board Hewlett-Packard will not renominate the dissident board member based on his adversarial relationship and the suit he filed against the computer and printer maker regarding the HP-Compaq...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... MEDIA Adelphia falls more amid concern The No. 6 U.S. cable firm will delay its annual report until it completes an accounting review of $2.3 bil in off-balance-sheet debt. It slid 1.79, or 12%, to 13.12 as investors wanted answers...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... Japan economy finally bottoming It's not falling, but it's not gaining strength either. Business confidence stopped falling in March for the first time in five quarters, but remained weak. The Bank of Japan's tankan survey of large...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... Coca-Cola reportedly plans to launch a vanilla-flavored Coke drink. Telecom gear makers rose after Bank of America upgraded several, saying the worst is likely over. They rallied even though Merrill Lynch warned: Shun optical gear firms....

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... Rumsfeld rips Iran, Iraq, Syria Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said they were supporters of terrorism bent on inflaming escalating Mideast violence. He cited reports that Iraq had offered stipends of tens of thousands of dollars to...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
April 2, 2002... French synagogue burned down The arson in Marseille was part of a rash of weekend attacks targeting Jews in France and elsewhere in Europe. They were believed related to violence in the Middle East. In Lyon, hooded attackers crashed two...

DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS The Measure Of Success.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
April 2, 2002... Byline: Robin Grugal 2 Most people define success as achieving some level of excellence -- doing something very well that others can't, and being rewarded for it. "This works for a while," said Jim Warner, author of "Aspirations of...

Hope Powered James Tobin Focus On Goals: Economist's desire to better man's lot earned him a Nobel Prize.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
April 2, 2002... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ As a teen-ager during the Great Depression, James Tobin saw human suffering. All around him, people were out of work and unsure how they were going to survive. He heard horrible stories from his mother, a social...

TECHBITS.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 2, 2002... Byline: Sarah Z. Sleeper and Doug Tsuruoka Hyperactive In Wireless Where do pop icons of the 1980s go when their heydays are past? Into the wireless business. At least that's the case with Thomas Dolby Robertson, founder of...

Cell Phones Need Not Be All Talk Games Getting Mobile Jamdat, other start-ups attracting big investors in an emerging market.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 2, 2002... Byline: SARAH Z. SLEEPER Most people in the U.S. use their cell phone for one task only: phone calls. For Jamdat Mobile Inc. and others, that's a challenge -- and an opportunity. Privately held Jamdat and a host of rivals have emerged...

Latest Chapter Of HP Soap Opera: Walter Hewlett Not Renominated To Board An "Adversarial Relationship' Son of firm's co-founder led bitter battle against acquisition of Compaq.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 2, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN A bitter battle over what would be the computer industry's biggest merger ever has perhaps claimed its first major victim -- Walter Hewlett. Hewlett-Packard Co. said Monday that the son of late co-founder...

Home Depot Shelves, At Least For A While, Big Linux Installation Big Retailer Goes With Unix Firm makes this decision though its supplier IBM is Linux's largest backer.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
April 2, 2002... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA News is sometimes notable for what isn't mentioned. Several weeks ago, rumor had it IBM Corp. would nail a big software contract with Home Depot Inc. involving the Linux operating system. But when the deal...

FreeMarkets Evolving After Old-Style B2B Software Disappears.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
April 2, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Nobody seems to want to fess up to specializing in business-to-business e-commerce anymore. No wonder, with big software makers like SAP AG, PeopleSoft Inc. and Oracle Corp. moving into B2B. So what's...

INDEPENDENCE COMMUNITY BANK CORP. Brooklyn, New York Shift To Commercial Bank Paying Big Dividends Here.(THE NEW AMERICA)
April 2, 2002... Byline: AMY REEVES With the massive hit the New York financial industry took from Sept. 11, you'd think a bank that operates entirely in and around the city would be struggling. Not so for Independence Community Bank Corp. The...

Q&A Office Retailer's CEO: "We'll Deliver' Results.(THE NEW AMERICA)(Q & A)
April 2, 2002... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Ronald Sargent likes to keep his finger on the pulse of every facet of his business. So on Feb. 1, when he took over as chief executive of office supply retailer Staples Inc., Sargent worked the floor at the...

PROSPERITY BANCSHARES INC. Houston, Texas Want High Credit Quality? Look No Further.(THE NEW AMERICA)
April 2, 2002... Byline: STEVE WATKINS If you've taken out a loan from Prosperity Bancshares Inc., make sure you don't fall behind on your payments. Prosperity Chief Executive David Zalman won't have much patience with you. "Our philosophy has...

KEY FUND HOLDINGS.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
April 2, 2002... Key Fund Holdings / Bedford Property Investors was a top new buy of Franklin Real Estate Securities Fund in the latest reporting period. The company's earnings climbed 16% and 20% the past two quarters. The stock started a new base after...

Calamos Bets On Gaming, Tax Prep Has Gtech, H&R Block Growth Fund goes after stocks with pricing power and strong top line growth.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)
April 2, 2002... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF The economy will recover at a moderate pace, not robustly, says Nick Calamos, co-manager of $1.3 billion Calamos Growth Fund. Without a rising economic tide to lift all boats, his fund is looking for stocks that...

Limited Options.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
April 2, 2002... Middle East: As the West Bank war escalates, calls for more U.S. involvement do too. But that's pointless as long as Palestinian terrorists hold power. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., is leading the charge for more U.S. involvement. Since...

Faux Outrage.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
April 2, 2002... Energy: The Bush policy has been reported in dark tones -- officials took counsel from industry lobbyists and ignored environmentalists. In a gasping editorial, The New York Times said the Bush White House treated "environmental groups...

FACT BOX.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
April 2, 2002... ON THIS DAY In 1918, the first days of daylight savings were reported a big success in conserving fuel for U.S. business. In 1939, the American Civil Liberties Union defended Nazis' right to distribute propaganda in the U.S. In...

LETTERS.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
April 2, 2002... Profit Motive Required "They Hate Us" (Letters, March 26) by Mitchell Cooper was interesting and compels a reply, even though IBD does so every week, in advance. I ask him: If a president weakens defense and intelligence to a ho-hum nap...

Greens Infiltrate Boardrooms To Urge Corporate Surrender.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(BRAIN TRUST)
April 2, 2002... Byline: KERRI HOUSTON The corporate perception of the anti-globalization movement is of unkempt, youthful demonstrators taking to the streets to disrupt every gathering of international commerce. They are seen as naughty children with...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Dow, S&P 500 Retake Early Losses.(MAKING MONEY)
April 2, 2002... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE Dogged by war worries, NYSE stocks headed lower Monday morning but managed to recoup a good chunk of their losses as the day wore on. By the close, the Dow Jones industrial average had trimmed its loss to 0.4%. The...

Staten Island Bancorp Closes In On Old High.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
April 2, 2002... Byline: Christina Wise Staten Island Bancorp broke out of a 4 1/2-month base in early January. Over the next three weeks, it climbed as high as 20.20 before falling into its current consolidation. It finished Monday 2% short of its high....

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Posts Comeback, Rises On Light Trade.(B)
April 2, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI Shrugging off early struggles, the Nasdaq surged to positive territory Monday on light trade. The tech-stuffed index added 0.9%. The Nasdaq 100 climbed 1.8%, buoyed by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which rose...

Jakks Vying To Slap Full Nelson On Gains.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
April 2, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri Jakks Pacific tried to break out of its long base in November. The stock ran up for a couple of weeks, then retreated, falling into a shorter, four-month consolidation. It's 9% off its high. The maker and marketer of...

Fast 20% Gain Can Spell Bigger Profits To Come.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
April 3, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI You buy a stock perfectly, jumping in just as it clears its pivot point. You're optimistic. You're hopeful it'll work its way up and over time you'll make money. Suddenly, it takes off. It shoots up 20% in a week or...

Crude Prices Surging On Mideast Flare-Up, Talk Of OPEC Embargo Bonds, Stocks Off On Fears But leading oil producers, fearing economic impact, nix talk of "oil weapon'.(A)
April 3, 2002... Byline: DONALD H. GOLD Soaring oil prices are roiling markets, where players fear that Middle East violence could disrupt supplies. Markets never like high oil prices, but that's what they're getting. West Texas crude surged 90...

Time To Upgrade Rusting Hulks For The Military's Fifth Branch Coast Guard Has Plan.(A)
April 3, 2002... Byline: MARILYN ALVA After terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center towers, the U.S. Coast Guard mobilized to secure one of New York's most vulnerable spots -- its harbor. Among the first on the scene were the 270-foot cutters...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
April 3, 2002... Crude Soars On Mideast Turmoil 1May crude shot up 90 cents to $27.68 a barrel. Iran said Islamic nations should play their oil card to get the U.S. to pressure Israel into retreat from Palestinian territories. Iraq proposed the idea...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... DARDEN RESTAURANTS said that March same-store sales at its Red Lobster chain rose 1%-2%, while Olive Garden's were flat. ECHOSTAR asked the Supreme Court to overturn a Sept. ruling barring consumers from receiving local channels from other...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... PERSONAL FINANCE Financial planning up after 9-11 The recession and Sept. 11 spurred interest in financial planning, especially among the young and blacks, a survey found. Some 55% of Americans say a financial plan is more important...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... ACCOUNTING Andersen, KPMG deal looks dead The embattled accounting firm's planned merger of its non-U.S. ops with those of KPMG took a blow as Andersen's lucrative Spanish unit struck a separate pact with rival Deloitte Touche...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... TECHNOLOGY IBM, Sony, Toshiba ink chip deal The four-year deal gives the Japanese firms access to IBM's chip breakthroughs while making Big Blue more of a player in consumer electronics. Sony and Toshiba -- Sony's manufacturing partner...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... MEDIA Gemstar, Adelphia continue slide Gemstar-TV Guide crashed 5.35, or 37%, to 9.01 after CIBC World Markets cited the interactive TV guide firm's "aggressive accounting." Gemstar said in an SEC filing that $20 mil in last year's...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... ISI weekly index edges higher It rose to 42.4 in the March 28 week from 42.3 the week before, says International Strategy & Investment. Auto dealers boosted the result. So did capital goods firms, suggesting the recovery is luring new...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
April 3, 2002... SRI/Surgical Express fell 2.42, or 15%, to 13.35, a 52-week closing low, after disclosing the SEC is probing its recent financial restatement. Walgreen's March sales rose 18.7% to $2.5 bil, as an early Easter boosted business. Same-store...