Investor's Business Daily articles from August 2004, page 7

Investor's Business Daily archives from August 2004

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
August 12, 2004... Analyzing the price and volume changes in the major market averages each day is essential to successful investing. They reveal major tops and bottoms in the stock market. Most stocks follow the general market's trend. They tend to rise...

Pulte And Toll Bros. Still Post Fast Growth.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 12, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Despite Tuesday's hike in interest rates, a few home builders continue to work on new bases. Many continue to enjoy robust housing demand and have boosted their margins. Pulte Homes is working on an...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Slides 1.5% On Cisco Revenue Warning.(B)
August 12, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO Nasdaq stocks fell early Wednesday to a new low for 2004 on the heels of revenue warnings from Cisco Systems and Kulicke & Soffa, but a late-session rally helped pare some losses. The Nasdaq ended with a 1.5% loss...

Accredited Works On Right Side Of Its Base.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 12, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Accredited Home Lenders ran up more than fivefold from its February 2003 debut through its Jan. 22 high. It attempted to break out of a nine-week base in late March, but pulled back roughly in step with the market. A...

IBD'S 20 RULES FOR INVESTMENT SUCCESS.(THE SMART INVESTOR)
August 12, 2004... 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...

Archives Complete The Fundamental Story.(THE SMART INVESTOR)(INVESTORS.COM CORNER)
August 12, 2004... Byline: KEN SHREVE IBD ratings and charts tell a bullish or bearish tale about a stock's prospects. But there's always more to the story. The subscriber-only IBD Archives at investors.com can fill in the blanks. It's one thing to...

Fed Boosts Key Rate, Sees Pickup In Growth, Signaling More Hikes; 1/4-Point Increase To 1.5%; Oil spike hurts economy, but Greenspan bets U.S. is "poised' to accelerate.(A)
August 11, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM The Federal Reserve didn't let an oil-induced slowdown stand in the way of raising interest rates. Saying that growth is poised to reaccelerate, the Fed hiked its overnight lending rate a quarter-point to 1.5% on...

Economic Optimism Hits 7-Month High In Aug. Despite "Soft Patch,' IBD Finds; Poll Taken Before Jobs Data.(A)(IBD/TIPP POLL)
August 11, 2004... Byline: BRIAN MITCHELL Job growth may have cooled in July, but consumer optimism hit a seven-month high in August. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index edged up 0.4 points to 57.7 in the first week of August, before Friday's...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 11, 2004... Fed Hikes Rates, Will Await Data 1As expected, the FOMC raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point to 1.5%. In its post-meeting statement, policy-makers said higher oil prices are slowing growth and hiring, and boosting inflation. But...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... COMPUTER SCIENCES made 58 cents a share in Q1, up 14% vs. a year ago and a cent over views. Revenue rose 5% to $3.74 bil, just a touch light. Shares fell. ABERCROMBIE & FITCH earned 44 cents in Q2, up 26% vs. a year ago and a penny over...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... POLLUTION CONTROL Esco tops views, raises outlook The maker of filtration systems and communications products earned 84 cents a share in Q3, up 65% vs. a year ago and 17 cents over views. Sales jumped 19% to $107.9 mil, and it...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... INTERNET Google sets bid registration date The search engine will close the registration for bidders in its $3.3 bil Dutch auction IPO Thurs. evening. Google could begin accepting bids for shares as early as Fri. Google has said it...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... MEDICAL FDA targets Utah Med products The agency asked a court to stop the medical device maker from making and distributing its obstetrics, gynecology, neonatal intensive care, urology and blood-pressure monitoring devices. The FDA...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... Disney profit rises on parks, TV The theme park, movie and TV giant earned 29 cents a share ex-items in Q2, up 53% vs. a year ago ex items and 2 cents over views. Revenue rose 17% to $7.5 bil. Theme park attendance and profit at cable...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... Chain-store sales higher in week Same-store sales at big department and discount chains last week rose 0.1% vs. the prior week and 3.1% vs. a year ago, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS said. Separately, Redbook...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... China's No. 1 online gaming operator, Shanda Interactive, earned 24 cents a share in Q2, up 71% and 9 cents over views. Shares climbed 13% to 21.22. Sherwin-Williams will buy privately held Paint Sundry Brands for $295 mil. The deal will...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... Bush crows over Kerry claim President Bush mocked Democrat John Kerry for saying Monday he would have voted for using force vs. Iraq even if he had known no weapons of mass destruction would be found. "He now agrees it was the right...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... Amnesty criticizes Sudan arrests Civilians in Sudan's Darfur region say they are being imprisoned or harassed by Sudanese authorities for talking to foreigners about the conflict. Rights group Amnesty Int'l said in a report that about 50...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... Report predicts Olympic medals A PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis of Olympics since '88 found the number of medals won is directly related to population and/or income gains. Ex-Soviet countries have done better due to a historical focus on...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 11, 2004... ** U.S. traffic deaths fell in '03 for the 1st time since '98, said federal regulators. Fatalities decreased 1% to 42,643, as more people used seat belts, states became less lenient about drunk driving and automakers built safer vehicles....

Harness Your Wild Ideas.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
August 11, 2004... Byline: Amy Alexander 8 Even the best ideas can fizzle without the kindling of solid research and no-nonsense numbers. To get from inspiration to invention, you must be able to move between seeking proof and celebrating creativity,...

Sandy Koufax Left 'Em All Out; Persevere: The Dodger great pitched his way out of baseball's wilderness.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 11, 2004... Byline: CURT SCHLEIER Sandy Koufax couldn't stand being average. Yet his career was progressing in a thoroughly inauspicious manner. He was as wild as he was fast, and lost more games than he won. Over his first six seasons with the...

U.S. Supercomputer Field Playing Catch-Up; Industry's Own Sputnik; After Japan vaults to top spot in supercomputers, comeback plan in works.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 11, 2004... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN First Of Two Parts You could call March 11, 2002, the U.S. computer industry's "Sputnik moment." That's the day engineers at Japanese tech giant NEC booted up their Earth Simulator supercomput-er. The...

AMD Looks To One-Up Intel With Chip Anti-Virus Feature; Windows Brings Opportunity; Microsoft's latest security feature will work only with AMD's chips -- for now.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 11, 2004... Byline: JAMES DETAR Advanced Micro Devices has a chance to win customers from rival Intel. AMD needs to move fast, though. The opportunity may not last long. On Friday, Microsoft rolled out its long-awaited Windows XP service pack...

Cisco Systems Edges Fiscal Q4 Views, But Hedges Outlook; Sales Up Fifth Straight Quarter; Record profit beats analyst expectations by a penny, but inventory turnover slows.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 11, 2004... Byline: MIKE ANGELL Network gear maker Cisco Systems delivered a strong quarter to investors late Tuesday, but its outlook wasn't strong enough to ease fears that the tech turnaround has slowed or even stalled. The No. 1 networking...

CORE LABORATORIES Amsterdam, Netherlands; "Reservoir Doctors' Don't Give Up Easily.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 11, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH If David Demshur had his way, he'd appropriate Maxwell House's motto, "Good to the very last drop." His company, Core Laboratories, helps squeeze drops out of old oil fields. But not the very last drops. Today's...

WEATHERFORD INTERNATIONAL LTD. Houston, Texas; Drilling Services Firm Pumps Out Black Ink.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 11, 2004... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE Bernard Duroc-Danner, chief executive of oil and gas drilling service firm Weatherford International, touts his industry as one at the onset of a multiyear expansion. Thanks to international exploration and...

MainStay Fund Goes By The Numbers; Quantitative Approach; Ten-year track record tops the fund's Russell small-cap benchmark.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(MUTUAL FUND PROFILE)
August 11, 2004... Byline: KEN HOOVER Kathy O'Connor doesn't want to hear a chief executive officer's insights into his industry. Nor does she want his perspective on the economy or his hot new product. She only wants to know the numbers. "We...

Company Man.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
August 11, 2004... Spying: In Porter Goss, President Bush found the best qualified candidate for central intelligence director. But we still have a few questions about the ongoing reforms. At the Rose Garden announcement Tuesday, both men gave brief and...

The Second Step.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
August 11, 2004... Economy: The Federal Reserve surprised no one when it lifted interest rates by a quarter-point on Tuesday. It cited a "temporary" slowdown. We hope it's right. "Even after this action, the stance of monetary policy remains...

New Issues Can Fall Quickly In A Deteriorating Market.(MAKING MONEY)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
August 11, 2004... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The timing of Google's stock debut is the talk of the market. The Web search engine plans to end registration for its auction Thursday, setting the stage for its public offering. If history's any guide, market...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE S&P 500, Dow Rally After Fed Boosts Rates.(MAKING MONEY)
August 11, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The S&P 500 and the Dow both gained 1.3% Tuesday as the Fed boosted the Fed funds interest rate target by a quarter-point to 1.5%, its second rate hike since June 30. The small-cap S&P 600 gained 1.8%. NYSE...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
August 11, 2004... Analyzing the price and volume changes in the major market averages each day is essential to successful investing. They reveal major tops and bottoms in the stock market. Most stocks follow the general market's trend. They tend to rise...

Higher Energy Demand Lifts Brascan's Profit.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 11, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Brascan built a narrow 10-week cup-shaped pattern from April to June this year, then broke out June 16 in above-average turnover. It's recently settled back to its 50-day moving average. The Toronto-based...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Surges 1.9% On Below-Average Volume.(B)
August 11, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO Nasdaq stocks opened higher and closed at their intraday highs Tuesday after the Fed hiked interest rates by an expected quarter point to 1.5%. The Nasdaq leapt 1.9% on heavier, but below-average, trade. The Nasdaq...

American Cap TryingTo Round Out Base.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 11, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo American Capital Strategies traded in a fairly tight trading range between its mid-February high and early April. On April 5 it took a steep plunge through its 50-day moving average on heavy volume but closed in the...

Fed Seen Hiking Rates, But Then Might Pause Amid So-So Economy; 1/4-Pt. Hike Likely Tuesday; With hiring, other reports signaling slower growth, Fed may not act in Sept.(A)
August 10, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM Surprisingly cool job growth and record hot oil prices have clouded the forecast for Federal Reserve rate hikes beyond Tuesday. But July's meager payroll gains won't keep the Fed from raising rates a quarter-point...

Investors Still Bullish On Russia Despite Bear's Claws On Yukos; Money managers hope crackdown vs. oil giant will be an isolated case.(A)
August 10, 2004... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN The saga in Russia continues. The country's richest man, billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is still in jail. The government could soon seize his embattled oil company Yukos, which pumps 1.7 million barrels a...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 10, 2004... Oil Hits New High On Iraq, Yukos 1Sept. crude rose 89 cents to $44.84 a barrel, hitting a peak of $44.98. Iraq shut southern oil output amid a Shiite uprising. Limited exports continued from stored crude. Russian bailiffs said they would...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... PACIFIC SUNWEAR made 25 cents a share in Q2, 47% over a year ago, beating views. It affirmed its outlook. Shares rose. SYMANTEC revised Q1 sales down 3.5% to $557 mil, lowering its earnings by 4 cents to 33 cents. It also raised its Q2...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... TECHNOLOGY Microchip July sales set records Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and UMC both reported high sales for the month, offsetting investor fears of a tech slump by saying the PC sector showed signs of picking up. TSMC's sales...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... MEDIA Charter loss widens, probe ends The broadband communications provider lost $1.39 cents a share in Q2 vs. 13 cents a share a year ago and 50 cents expected. A drop in video revenue, the firm's move to a new high-speed data...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... FINANCE Citigroup buys Knight business The financial firm will buy Knight Trading's derivative markets business for $225 mil. Knight boosted its stock-repurchase program from $110 mil to $250 mil and repurchased 15.6 mil shares at...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... TRANSPORTATION British Air to double fees for fuel The airline is raising surcharges to $21.87 on long round-trip flights to compensate for increasing fuel prices. The increase overshadowed better-than-expected Q1 earnings. Shares...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... Rubin, others urge deficit debate As Alan Greenspan and other economic elites watched, ex-Treasury Sec'y Robert Rubin, ex-Commerce Sec'y Peter Peterson and economist Fred Bergsten urged whoever the next president is to educate Americans...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... Wheeling-Pittsburgh rose 11.5% to 26.65 on news the steel firm made $2.79 a share in Q2, reversing a year-ago loss of 70 cents a share. Sales rose 30% to $356.1 mil, lifted by escalating demand. Terra Industries will buy bankrupt...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... Trial begins on school equality Hundreds of school districts in Texas are suing the state over its system for redistributing wealth between districts to meet a state constitution requirement that all students get equal educational...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 10, 2004... Japanese nuclear mishap kills 4 A pipe burst at a nuclear power plant, spewing nonradioactive steam that killed 4 workers and injured 7 others in Miham. The incident follows reported safety lapses at several of Japan's 52 reactors. In...

Drop Costs Like Baggage.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
August 10, 2004... Byline: Adelia Cellini Linecker 7 Traveling in business class is a luxury few businesses can afford these days. Even economy fares can sometimes put a dent in your budget. But there are ways to minimize travel costs. Here are a...

Captain Navigated Rough Seas; Mapping The Unknown: George Vancouver's courage was off the charts.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 10, 2004... Byline: PETER BENESH George Vancouver had high standards. None of them were higher than the ones he held himself to. His rigorous self-discipline and dedication helped him become one of the youngest warship captains in the royal navy...

Small-Form-Factor Computer Kits Squeeze Power Into Tiny Devices; Three Systems Tested; Taiwanese companies sell the machines, which require some assembly.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(COMPUTERS MADE PLAIN)
August 10, 2004... Byline: TED NEEDLEMAN If personal computers were cars, buyers would be ditching their SUVs in favor of sleek compact models. Many PC shoppers are moving away from big and bulky systems. Instead they want unobtrusive devices --...

Business Customers Seen As Hard Target For Yahoo's Services; Company Refocuses Its Efforts; After failing to connect with corporate tech customers, Yahoo farms out offerings.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 10, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS Even as it expands its offerings for consumers, Yahoo is backing away from services for another group: businesses. In recent months, the Web portal stopped selling a version of its instant message service for...

Tough Call: Predicting Phone Sales; Gauging Upgrade Cycle; For now, new features are giving boost to sales, but how long will it last?(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 10, 2004... Byline: MIKE ANGELL Since he's a mobile phone analyst who sees tons of new products, Neil Strothers admits he has a "jaded" view of new handsets. His daughters are less blase. Out of their own pockets, they each paid $125 to upgrade...

Indian Firm Calls Its Job Right-Sourcing, Not Outsourcing.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
August 10, 2004... Byline: J. BONASIA Don't call it offshore outsourcing. Think of it as right-sourcing. So says B. Ramalinga Raju, chairman of India's Satyam Computer Services. He's at the heart of the tech outsourcing movement -- the farming out of...

NEIMAN MARCUS GROUP Dallas, Texas; Attention To Service Keys Retailer's Growth.(THE NEW AMERICA)
August 10, 2004... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Spring Asher considers herself a loyal Neiman Marcus customer. Asher has been shopping at the luxury retailer's Atlanta store for at least 10 years. For her, the biggest draw is Anta Romm, a sales associate in...

401(k)s Rally After Three Down Years; Stock-Fund Assets Up; Average account size in 2003 grew, rewarding members for patience.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)
August 10, 2004... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF Thanks to last year's strong market rally, the average long-term account in a 401(k) plan grew again, according to a study released Monday. The increase came after three straight years of declining balances from...

Bubbling Crude.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
August 10, 2004... Oil: Fear is pumping up prices, and traders see no reason to stop the trend. The Bush administration could give them a reason -- by tapping the petroleum reserve. With crude surging close to $45 per barrel, the economy hitting an...

Unwanted Observers.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)(Editorial)
August 10, 2004... Election '04: Maybe the administration is just trying to take the high road. But inviting an international group to monitor this fall's presidential election is a mistake. When Americans vote on Nov. 2, they will do so under the intrusive...

Market Corrections Sweep Path Clear For New Winners.(MAKING MONEY)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
August 10, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq closed at 1776.89 Friday, down 17.5% from its January peak. Given its 94% rally from the October 2002 low, the Nasdaq's correction has been normal. Greed and hope alone don't create the market's...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Dow, S&P 500 Flat Ahead Of FOMC Meeting.(MAKING MONEY)
August 10, 2004... Byline: NANCY GONDO Amid rising oil prices, NYSE stocks gave up an early gain to close nearly flat Monday, one day ahead of the Fed meeting. The Dow inched 0.01% lower; the S&P 500 edged up 0.1%. The small-cap S&P 600 advanced 0.09%....

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
August 10, 2004... Analyzing the price and volume changes in the major market averages each day is essential to successful investing. They reveal major tops and bottoms in the stock market. Most stocks follow the general market's trend. They tend to rise...

Hawaiian Bank Works On Five-Month Base.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 10, 2004... Byline: Nancy Gondo Bank of Hawaii began carving its current base off a March 8 intraday high. It pulled back close to its 200-day moving average, a 14% correction from the base's peak to its trough, before trending mostly higher. The...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Fails To Rebound, Hampered By Medicals.(B)
August 10, 2004... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq rebounded mildly but lost its gains, edging down 0.1% Monday. The Nasdaq 100 crawled up 0.3%. Volume fell sharply ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates Tuesday. Medical stocks...

Healthcare Services Posts Steady Growth.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
August 10, 2004... Byline: David Saito-Chung Healthcare Services Group has been trading between 14 and 18 since early March. The stock's Relative Strength line, which tracks a stock's price performance against the S&P 500, is already in new high ground....

Job Growth Shrivels To 32,000 In A Blow To Bush's Prospects; Estimates Were For 243,000; But household jobs and jobless rate both improve despite sluggish payrolls.(A)
August 9, 2004... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE A disappointing jobs report Friday sent stocks sliding and Treasury prices soaring, and raised questions about the recovery's strength. Nonfarm payrolls rose a tepid 32,000 in July, the Labor Department said....

MARKET TOOL BAR.(A)
August 9, 2004... S&P 500 INDEX 1063.97 -16.73 (-1.5%) Wipes out support near 1080 threshold DOW JONES IND. 9815.33 -147.70 (-1.5%) No safe havens here: 7 off 1 point or more NYSE VOL (MIL) 1,513 +121...

Job Growth Shrivels To 32,000 In A Blow To Bush's Prospects; Swing States Among Softest; Voting battlegrounds of Ohio, Mich., W.Va. saw payrolls fall over past year.(A)
August 9, 2004... Byline: JED GRAHAM The clock has virtually run out on any hope of President Bush reversing the 1.1 million lost jobs on his watch by Election Day. With only the August and September employment numbers due to be announced before...

Kerry Is Left With 3-Point Lead After Puny Convention Bounce.(A)(IBD/TIPP POLL)
August 9, 2004... Byline: IBD STAFF A week after the close of the Democratic National Convention, the party's nominee got a bounce that wasn't much to write home about. In the post-convention IBD/TIPP poll taken Aug. 2 to 5 among 841 registered...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
August 9, 2004... Weak Jobs Report Stuns Market 1U.S. job growth nearly ground to a halt in July, with only 32,000 jobs added, dramatically below forecasts, sparking a sell-off on Wall Street. The Labor Dept. also trimmed its job growth figures for May and...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... MAXIM INTEGRATED matched Q4 views of 36 cents a share, up 50% from a year ago. Demand for its analog and mixed-signal circuits drove revenue up 43% to $421 mil. Shares rose. CKE RESTAURANTS reached an initial deal to settle three...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... MEDIA Another paper revises numbers Fears increased that circulation inflation may be more widespread across the newspaper industry than previously suspected after the Dallas Morning News acknowledged it overstated its daily...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... SERVICES Employment firms fall on job data Internet jobs search firm Monster Worldwide fell 11% to $17.93, leading a drop among employment services stocks in the wake of July U.S. jobs data. A day before, Monster reported job...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... FINANCE Legg Mason revises results lower The regional securities firm said the market performance of its asset management division in Q1 ended June 30 performed worse than reported because it understated the amount of new funds....

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... IPOs Navteq's market debut strong Philips Electronics' map-making affiliate rose 15% to 25.30 as it moved more shares than expected in its first day of trading. Navteq had priced 40 mil shares at $22 apiece; it filed an IPO for 39.2...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... Consumer credit climbs in June Consumer credit outstanding rose $6.6 bil in June, or 3.9% at an annual rate, to $2.038 tril after a downwardly revised $8.1 bil gain in May. Nonrevolving credit, such as car loans, rose $5.1 bil, or 4.7%....

BUSINESS BRIEFS/IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... MACHINERY Caterpillar union holds off strike The heavy machinery maker gave the UAW its "final" contract offer and the union shelved a planned strike by more than 9,000 union workers at plants in 4 states. Caterpillar wants workers...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... Pentagon assures troops on vote A top official said he expected greater voter turnout than in 2000 despite the widespread deployments. Nearly 30% of military voters who requested ballots in 2000 didn't get them in time. Others had...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... Russian capital flight increases Concerned about the government's campaign against Yukos, investors are seen pulling $8.25 bil from the country, up from $2.9 bil in 2003 and above a $6.5 bil forecast, the economy minister told the Financial...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
August 9, 2004... Olympics to be broadcast online Europeans will be able to see Olympic events via their computers and mobile phones, but because of broadcast contracts sold by territory -- like NBC's $793 mil deal -- U.S. Web surfers won't be able to...

LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS Take One Step At A Time.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
August 9, 2004... Byline: Cord Cooper 6 When problems arise at work, do you point the finger or point to solutions? If you blame management or co-workers for problems in the workplace, you're playing the victim, says leadership coach B.J. Gallagher....

Quincy Jones' Beautiful Noise; Sound Of Success: When music's biggest stars need a producer, Q is the answer.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
August 9, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS As a child, Quincy Jones grew up in such poverty that he often went hungry. At age 11, Jones and his friends broke into an armory in Bremerton, Wash., to find something to eat. Jones entered the armory with a...

Financial Sector Looks To Spend To Better Secure Its "Resiliency'; '04 Tab May Hit $4 Bil; Companies that shored up after 9-11 get a new jolt from latest threat.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
August 9, 2004... Byline: DONNA HOWELL The government's latest big terror warning will prompt the targeted financial sector to boost technology spending, says Virginia Garcia, a financial and information technology analyst at research firm TowerGroup. ...

Downside Surprise Spotlights Problems For Chip Firm Nvidia; Analysts Didn't Get Warning; Company under pressure amid Intel's moves to add more graphics to chip sets.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 9, 2004... Byline: JAMES DETAR Nvidia's surprisingly weak earnings report couldn't have come at a worse time for the company. There's already a major shift under way in the graphics chip market -- one that's expected to put the squeeze on...

Google's Glitch Likely To Delay Launch Of IPO; Investors now less excited about online search king's much-ballyhooed offering.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
August 9, 2004... Byline: PETE BARLAS The king of recent initial public offerings seems to be losing some of its panache with investors. Google's much-anticipated, multibillion-dollar IPO, expected to go out about Aug. 12, could be delayed at least a...