Investor's Business Daily articles from August 2002

Investor's Business Daily archives from August 2002

Winners Keep Giving Good Signs.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
August 30, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW Buy a stock on a breakout, ignore it for six months, then cash in your profit. Easy, right? Too bad it doesn't always work that way. To make money in the market, you must watch your stocks regularly -- even when...

Revised GDP Figures Show More Fragility; Sales, Earnings Weak; Less-Than-Exciting Demand; Risk of tepid growth seen as 2nd-quarter economy still mired in "gray area'.(A)
August 30, 2002... Byline: JED GRAHAM On second look, the economy still wasn't very strong in the second quarter. The economy still grew 1.1% from Q1, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its first revision to Q2 gross domestic product. But...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 30, 2002... Growth Masks Overall Weakness 1The economy expanded at a 1.1% annual pace in Q2, unchanged from the month-ago estimate. But it slowed from Q1's 5%. Key parts of the GDP report were mixed, with some weaker than expected data. Business...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... STARBUCKS' sales grew 25% in Aug. to $267 mil. Same-store sales rpse 7% vs. last year. CSK AUTO missed by a penny views of 22 cents a share for Q2, excluding items. For Q3 and Q4, the auto parts seller sees a single-digit rise in...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... MEDICAL Bristol: SEC probe is now formal The ailing drug maker said Aug. 14 it expected the investigation of its wholesale inventory moves to become formal. Bristol-Myers Squibb said in April it used sales incentives to spur...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... TECHNOLOGY GM to build IBM supercomputer Big Blue sold to the top carmaker a series of computers that together will form one of the world's top 10 supercomputers. The computers will be installed in Europe and the U.S. In all, they'll...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... RETAIL Athletic shoe sales running slow Retailers Footstar and Finish Line slashed current quarter estimates, citing weak Aug. sales. Footstar, which operates Meldisco, Footaction and Just for Feet, sees 55-60 cents a share ex-items...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... SCHOOLS Apollo rises 10%, lifting schools The for-profit post-secondary education firm said profit in Q1, which starts in Sept., will rise 35% to 23 cents a share, meeting views. And '03 earnings will gain 28% to $1.06, 4 cents over...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... Banks notch record profits in Q2 U.S. commercial banks weighed in with profits of $23.4 bil, the FDIC said. That was up 7.8% from the prior peak in Q1 and 22.8% from a year earlier. Banks' return on assets climbed to 1.41%, the...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... California has reached six tentative pacts to cut the price of $43 bil in long-term power contracts, a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission judge said. Remaining firms have until early Friday to settle. Kmart expects July losses to mirror...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... IRS targets offshore credit cards The IFS filed petitions in seven federal courts, expanding its probe into tax evasion using credit cards issued by tax-haven countries. It seeks data from over 40 firms, including airlines, hotels, rental...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... Terror funds freeze called sloppy Despite initial success in freezing bank accounts of al-Qaida associates, a new U.N. report criticizes the effort as uncoordinated and says Osama bin Laden still has enough money to operate. The report...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... IPO market drops to 8-year low The rate of canceled initial public offerings has quadrupled in the past three months, research firm Dealogic said. The 82 firms registered to go public expect to raise $13.2 bil, the lowest dollar amount...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 30, 2002... - Incidents of unhealthful smog may double this summer from last year's 4,634, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said. - The typical black American family's net wealth is $15,500 vs. $71,700 for the typical American family, the...

BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE Idealism, Profits Dovetail.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
August 30, 2002... Byline: Robin Grugal 10 Business school teaches that maximizing shareholder value should be the first objective of corporate executives. But some of the best companies in history have tended to pursue a cluster of objectives, of which...

He Roped In Laughs And Cash Do The Right Thing: Will Rogers benefited from his compassion and good humor.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 30, 2002... Byline: MIKE ANGELL A prominent Oklahoma businessman worried about his son. The boy quit school at 17 to go hang out with cowboys. The father wanted him to take over his businesses. Instead, the son went on a tramp steamer voyage...

Executives Looking To Outlook For More Than Just E-Mail.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(COMPUTERS MADE PLAIN)
August 30, 2002... Byline: DAVID MUTCH Second Of Two Parts How can anyone manage information overload in the Internet age? For Kimberly Herman, chief marketing officer for Gentiva Health Services in Melville, N.Y., the management tool of choice is...

Satellite Firm Trying To Make Connection Globalstar Hanging On Satellite phone concept questioned by analysts, but firm won't give up.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 30, 2002... Byline: SARAH Z. SLEEPER Cell phones are so small they can hide in the palm of a hand. They are so cheap that everyone from teen-agers to retirees uses them. But the cell phone's cousin, the satellite phone, has had no such luck. The...

Tech Lobbyists Remain Powerful In D.C.; A Good Year, Despite Slump; Tech-friendly bills passed by Congress, while tax ban on Internet sales continues.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 30, 2002... Byline: MIKE ANGELL Tech may have fallen out of favor with investors, but not with politicians. Even as Washington, D.C., gives corporate America the cold stare following financial scandals at the likes of Enron Corp. and WorldCom...

Known For Hardware, EMC Beefs Up Software; Changes Under Way; Services also a key part of new focus at leader of data storage industry.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
August 30, 2002... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON These are busy times at storage supplier EMC Corp. Among other things, it's beefed up its top management in the last few months. That includes hiring Chris Gahagan, who steered BMC Corp.'s successful entry into...

HP-IBM To Share Proprietary Storage Software; Deal Follows HP-EMC Pact; Largest storage vendors move to open standards to appease customers.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 30, 2002... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON Tougher standards are coming to the data storage industry. Recent pacts among makers of storage products to share proprietary software indicate the industry finally is capitulating on the issue. In a sign of...

SENSIENT TECHNOLOGIES Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Color Of Money? This Firm Has An Idea.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 30, 2002... Byline: M. SUSAN BASAS It has a flashy new name and a fresh lineup of products it bought from other companies. The question now is whether that's enough to push Sensient Technologies Corp. to the next level of financial growth. ...

AMERICAN NATIONAL FINANCIAL INC. Orange, California Insurer Prepares For Life After Housing Boom.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 30, 2002... Byline: MARILYN ALVA The housing boom won't last forever, so companies that make a living off the industry need a backup plan. One is American National Financial Inc. It sells title insurance to homeowners. The company gets a lift...

KEY FUND HOLDINGS.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
August 30, 2002... Key Fund Holdings / Fannie Mae was a top new buy of Fidelity Real Estate Fund in the latest reporting period. The company's earnings rose 23% and 24% in the past two quarters. Analysts see net rising 19% this year and 12% next year. The...

August Funds Showed Mixed Market; Gold Funds Up 12.63%; Bonds outperformed, as stock funds trimmed gains later in the month.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
August 30, 2002... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF Mutual funds reflected the uncertainty plaguing the market in August. Multi-cap value funds were one of the best-performing stock fund categories. But worried investors made gold funds the top group. Gold funds'...

Closing Argument.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
August 30, 2002... Middle East: Sen. John Warner is insisting that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appear before Congress to make the case against Iraq. The administration should quickly accept the invitation. And it is more of an invitation than a...

Act Fast Or React.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
August 30, 2002... Economy: The economy did worse than expected in the second quarter, but at least it didn't drop. Maybe we won't have a double-dip recession just a dip and a half. The government on Thursday released its long-awaited revision of its...

FACT BOX.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
August 30, 2002... ON THIS DAY In 1924, Germany introduced a new currency, the reichsmark, in a continued effort to instill faith in the Berlin regime. A year earlier, the mark had fallen to 4 trillion to the dollar. Before World War I, the dollar was...

LETTERS.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
August 30, 2002... Misplaced Faith . . . Bill Buckley labeled Pat Buchanan an anti-Semite years ago, and Buchanan has never let him down. "An "Authentic' Conservative, Buchanan Parts With Bush" (Q&A, Wednesday) is the latest example of his twisted logic...

Globalism, End Of Socialism Causes Of Jobless Recovery.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(BRAIN TRUST)
August 30, 2002... Byline: PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS The Bush administration would benefit from giving a little more thought to the economy and a little less to Iraq. Concerns already existed over the economy having 116,000 fewer jobs as of July than eight...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Stock Indexes Mixed; Crafts Shares Soar.(MAKING MONEY)
August 30, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The S&P 500 bounced back 0.7% intraday but ended with a 0.07-point shave Thursday. Small-cap indexes rallied. Volume rose. Michaels Stores zoomed up 5.46, or 14%, to 45.21 on nearly five times its usual...

Harrah's On A Roll With New Acquisitions.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 30, 2002... Byline: David Saito-Chung Harrah's Entertainment made a nice run after breaking out of a cup-with-handle base Dec. 12 last year, rising nearly 48% to a high of 51.35 on April 24 this year. The stock is currently working on the right side...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Ends 2-Day Losing Skid, Volume Swells.(B)
August 30, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI The Nasdaq shook off two days of harsh losses Thursday, rallying on higher volume. The composite index climbed 1.6%. The Nasdaq 100, a gauge of the Nasdaq's top non-financial stocks, rose 1.8%, aided largely by nontech...

ICU Medical, Apollo Rise On Higher Trade.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 30, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri ICU Medical has formed a cup-shaped base lasting nearly four months. The stock jumped 5% on above-average volume Thursday as it continued to work on the right side of that base. It's 10% off its high. The maker of...

Cisco: Shadow Of Its Former Self.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
August 29, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI As the market tries to right itself, investors have begun looking for buy candidates. Bottom-fishing investors often start their search by considering Cisco Systems. What makes Cisco so popular with the "buy low"...

Loss Of Stock Leaders As Breakouts Stall Out Casts Doubts On Rally; Many Undercut Buy Point; Concern for outlook also grows as market indexes suffer distribution days.(A)
August 29, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The rally that seemed promising a week ago suddenly looks dour. The market is littered with stocks that broke out of their prior price patterns into higher ground only to quickly turn lower again. Meantime, the...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 29, 2002... Volume Dries As Stocks Still Drop 1The Nasdaq took the hardest hit for the second straight day, shedding 2.5%. The S&P 500 ate into more of the gains it had racked up since late July, falling 1.8%. The Dow lost 1.5%, the small-cap S&P...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... MICHAELS STORES in Q2 earned 30 cents, up 329% vs. a year ago and blasting views of 18 cents. The arts and crafts retailer upped Aug. same-store sales goals to 5%-6% growth. Down 5% in regular trade, Michaels jumped after hours. ...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... MEDICAL InterMune drug slows lung illness A late-stage trial found Actimmune, first used to treat genetic conditions in children, prolonged life for those with moderate cases of a fatal lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... RETAIL Office Depot expects slow sales The office supply retailer says same-store sales will fall slightly in Q3 due to slow back-to-school buying. Total sales will grow slightly. But cost controls should let it meet views of 27...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... SCHOOLS Corinthian Q4 profit surged 59% The post-secondary education firm earned 27 cents a share, beating views by 4 cents. Sales rose 42% to $94.6 mil. Corinthian Colleges expects to beat Q1 and fiscal '03 estimates. Analysts see...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... TECHNOLOGY Microsoft, Sony in new price war Xbox maker Microsoft and PlayStation 2's Sony will slash the European prices for their video game machines by 17% to $244. Last spring both cut U.S. prices for the consoles to $199 from...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... Red-hot mortgage pace cools The Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage applications slipped 4.2% to 1079.7 last week from the prior week's record high. Applications to buy a home fell 7%, while refinancing applications dropped 3%. Refis...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... - Cendant cut CEO Henry Silverman's pay in half, but extended his contract through '12. The travel and leisure giant will expense options. - The SEC rejected a settlement offer from beleaguered telecom Global Crossing because it doesn't...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... Key Nev. gay abuse case settled A Nevada school district will pay almost $500,000 to an openly gay student who was repeatedly bashed and brutalized in Reno public schools in a settlement deal that lawyers said could set policy precedents...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... Pakistan Raids Al-Qaida Offices Pakistani and U.S. law enforcement officers raided an office used by a group linked to al-Qaida, arresting two Afghans and 10 Pakistanis and seizing explosives and weapons. Police said they believed the...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... - U.S. mobile Net users near 10 mil Five mil of 19.1 mil handheld computer users and 5.8 mil of 67.2 mil mobile users have wireless Web access, ComScore Media Metrix said. The total is 9.9 mil, since some people have both. Men make up...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 29, 2002... - Taking prenatal vitamins may protect children from a cancer of the nervous system called neuroblastoma, say researchers at the Children's Oncology Group in Arcadia, Calif. - Insulin resistance, a condition that can lead to diabetes and...

COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY Job Hunting Made Easier.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
August 29, 2002... Byline: Cord Cooper 9 Job hunting can be a challenge during the best of times. Finding work in a jobless recovery can be a nightmare. Try the job search tips below and you could improve your odds for success, experts say. ...

Bowden At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 29, 2002... Bowden At A Glance Born: 1929 in Birmingham, Ala. Education: B.A. in physical education, Howard College (now Samford College), Birmingham, Ala.; master of arts in education, Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University),...

Bobby Bowden Keeps Winning; Fielding Excellence: His college football teams have piled up a bowl full of titles.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 29, 2002... Byline: PETE BARLAS Bobby Bowden scours books on military generals such as Grant and Rommel for motivation and ideas on strategy. Bowden, head coach of Florida State University's football Seminoles, says those lessons are one reason...

When Taking A Firm Public, Study What's Worked For Others; Investment bankers are advisers, but buck stops with a firm's managers.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY)
August 29, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Employee stock option expenses and offshore tax shelters aren't the only concerns of government regulators. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt now is asking for a review of initial public...

Newspapers Slowly Adopt Digital Replicas; Advertisers Not Yet Supportive; Digital replicas help papers reach far-flung readership quickly and with lower cost.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 29, 2002... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON As an international daily with writers in 11 countries, the Christian Science Monitor had a hard time getting its newspaper into the hands of far-flung subscribers. Some issues would arrive days, even weeks, late....

Neoware Tops Expectations Amid New Customer Growth; Thin Clients Start To Catch On; IBM alliance gives a boost, but company is still small; future sales hard to predict.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 29, 2002... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ Neoware Systems Inc. is showing the fruits of its growth strategy. The provider of thin-client computers Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales of $14.1 million, up 165% from the year-ago period. Profit...

TECHBITS.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 29, 2002... Byline: James DeTar Someone's Bullish About Tech Market Profile Theorems is bullish about the stock market. It says its insider trading indicators are positive for the first time since October 2001. That's a strong sign the equities...

BEA Systems Fending Off Big Blue's Challenge; Application server firm BEA is market's leader, but IBM is muscling in.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
August 29, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN those of IBM Corp. BEA is the top provider of application servers -- software platforms that allow various programs to work together. The application server field is hot. Building and maintaining such...

One View Of Microsoft Outlook Program: Very Versatile.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(COMPUTERS MADE PLAIN)
August 29, 2002... Byline: DAVID MUTCH First Of Two Parts You don't have to be a high-ranking executive to use Microsoft Corp.'s Outlook 2002 e-mail program. Outlook offers features that can save time and make your life easier. The program is...

HERLEY INDUSTRIES INC. Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Defense Supplier's Sales Are Heating Up.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 29, 2002... Byline: AMY REEVES If you think microwaves exist only to reheat your coffee, think again. They're also helping fight the war. Microwave technology is in some of the military's most important warplanes, including radar and command and...

KEY FUND HOLDINGS.(MUTUAL FUNDS)
August 29, 2002... Key Fund Holdings / Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton was a top holding of Wells Fargo Small Cap Opportunity Fund in the latest reporting period. The stock entered a base June 28 after hitting 46.15. It is 10% below that mark. Earnings rose 45% and 43%...

Talk Turkey Before Tying The Knot; It Might Save Marriage; Experts advise couples to plan and build their financial lives together.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)
August 29, 2002... Byline: JULIE HUYNH Most people spend months planning for the big wedding day. But what's often amiss in planning for a new life together is talking about money. Money talk between an engaged couple is a sticky subject. It risks...

It's A Shame.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
August 29, 2002... Baseball: It's that time of year again. Pennant races are tightening, interest in the sport is perking up and the players and owners want to shut it down. Yes, baseball's in bad shape. Whether players and owners dodge another bullet and...

Junk Science Kills.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
August 29, 2002... Africa: What's the eco-lobby doing for the poor? "Protecting" them from the food they need. The campaign against bio-engineered crops risks mass starvation. At first glance, the story not only shocks the conscience, but also boggles the...

LETTERS.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
August 29, 2002... Teachers Union Fantasy On the TV series "Dallas," the Ewing family patriarch once told his youngest son: "Nobody gives you power. Real power is something you take." History teaches that once taken, power is generally used to...

Europe's Spies Also Faulted For Not Stopping 9-11 Attack.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
August 29, 2002... Byline: PETER BENESH Almost a full year after al-Qaida's attack on America, Klaus Ulrich Kersten, head of Germany's anti-crime bureau, the Bundeskriminalamt, confirmed the obvious. The key hijackers, who hatched their plot in Hamburg...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Stocks Fumble Lower In Quieter Volume.(MAKING MONEY)
August 29, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The S&P 500 posted its third decline in four days, down 1.8% Wednesday. The Dow fell 1.5%. Volume shrank. Stocks that tried to break out of bases to new highs continued to struggle. H&R Block slipped 89...

Defense Supplier ATK Enjoys Faster Growth.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 29, 2002... Byline: David Saito-Chung A large number of stocks that tried to break out in the past few weeks have U-turned back into their bases and dropped below their pivot points. Many of the bases were mediocre in quality, driving home the point...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Slips Again; More Breakouts Crumble.(B)
August 29, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI The Nasdaq took the hardest hit of the major indexes for the second straight session Wednesday. The composite index dropped 2.5% as lower volume offered cold comfort to tech bargain hunters. The Nasdaq 100 fell an even...

CTI Trying To Buck Dying Breakout Trend.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 29, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri CTI Molecular Imaging surged past resistance around 20.50 on Aug. 21, buoyed by the fourth heaviest volume day in its 10-week trading history. The stock has held near 22 since then, below the highs it etched earlier in...

New Charts Offer Expanded Research.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(INVESTORS.COM CORNER)
August 29, 2002... Byline: KEN SHREVE Every stock's chart has a story to tell. Sometimes it's a bullish one. Other times it's bearish. How good are you at recognizing strengths and weaknesses in a stock's chart? One way to hone your skills further is...

NO TIME, NO PROBLEM.(THE SMART INVESTOR)
August 29, 2002... In just 15 minutes a day, IBD keeps you on top of the market. Scan Internet & Technology and The New America for promising companies. Then turn to the NYSE and Nasdaq Where The Big Money's Flowing. Focus on the boldfaced market-leading...

Polish Up Market Reading, Sell Skills.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(IBD INVESTOR PROFILE)
August 29, 2002... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF J.R. Hobbs is a relative newcomer to chart-based investing, but he's already adopted many sound investment habits. His daily research starts with a visit to investors.com each evening. He checks up on the forces...

Some Breakouts Need Several Days.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
August 28, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG Among most of the biggest stock winners, a lot happens on the breakout day. The stock zooms past the pivot. Volume soars. Keep in mind, however, that once in a while exceptions do occur. Why? Each stock is...

Sharp Rise In Durables Shows Firms Spending, But Consumers Worry July's Orders Leap By 8.7% Business spending called linchpin for the recovery; sentiment is still positive.(A)
August 28, 2002... Byline: JED GRAHAM A sharp rebound in July durable goods orders, reported Tuesday, eased fears of a retrenching business sector even as another report showed consumer confidence sinking to its lowest point since November. Durable...

Market's Correction Raises Fears A New Round Of Lows May Lurk Investors Too Upbeat?(A)
August 28, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG Goodbye July market lows, hello new lows? Judging by the market's recent action, that possibility grew after Tuesday's sharp sell-off. Why? In the eyes of some analysts, hope and optimism still dominate...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 28, 2002... Durables Up 8.7%, Shatter Views 1July orders rose 8.7% to $179.7 bil from June, the best rise in nine months, thanks to record gains for machinery and nondefense capital goods and the biggest rise in transportation orders since October....

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... H&R BLOCK earned a cent in Q1 vs. last year's 17-cent deficit and views for a 10-cent loss. The tax preparer's revenue rose 31% to $431.4 mil. H&R Block, which also sees a narrower-than-expected Q2 loss, rose after hours. MANDALAY...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... FINANCE Salomon gave WorldCom IPO gifts Citigroup's investment bank admitted it gave thousands of shares of hot IPOs to former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers and ex-CFO Scott Sullivan in the go-go '90s. Salomon Smith Barney, which...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... TRANSPORTATION US Air to slash costs, flight perks The No. 6 U.S. airline asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to cancel pricey labor pacts. Pilots and attendants have agreed to concessions, but bankrupt US Air has no deals with...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... RETAIL Merrill downgrades hurt retailers It cut 16 retailers, from booksellers to warehouse chains, luxury and discount stores. Merrill Lynch cited the slowing economy, likely poor weather and fewer Christmas shopping days, as well...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... AEROSPACE/DEFENSE Machinist strike likely at Boeing The world's No. 1 aircraft maker sweetened its offer to an 8% signing bonus, pension pay that rises to $60 a month per year of service, and 2% and 2.5% pay raises in the 2nd and 3rd...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... Sharp dollar decline downplayed The dollar is likely to fall gradually against other currencies because of worries over America's economic health and its growing current-account deficit, the Congressional Budget office said. But a steep...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... Qwest's long-term credit ratings were cut by S&P by two notches to a lower junk status, citing falling cash flow, elevated costs, rising competition and a still-weak U.S. economy. Biotech Geron won a U.S. patent on use of the enzyme...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... Added Guantanamo cells likely The prison camp holding 598 Taliban and al-Qaida captives at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, already slated for 204 more cells, will probably be expanded to take more, said Army Gen. James Hill, new commander of the...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 28, 2002... Earth summit pledges tempered The U.S., Saudi Arabia and other industrial and oil states at the U.N. earth summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, worked to eliminate a provision calling for the use of wind, power and solar energy to be...