Investor's Business Daily articles from December 2002, page 4

Investor's Business Daily archives from December 2002

McDonald's Expects Its First-Ever Loss As Chain Retrenches Amid Weak Sales Changing Food Landscape.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: AMY REEVES Another giant has fallen on Wall Street. McDonald's Corp., after 34 years of delivering stone-ax-reliable profit, announced Tuesday that in the fourth quarter it will lose money -- the first quarterly loss in its...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(A)(AFTER THE CLOSE)
December 18, 2002... MEDIMMUNE'S FluMist nasal spray flu vaccine got an FDA panel OK for healthy people ages 5-49, but not 50-64. Wyeth will co-market FluMist. DARDEN RESTAURANTS earned 21 cents in Q2, up 2 cents from last year but a penny off views. Sales...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 18, 2002... INTERNET High-speed Web users rise 27% The 1st-half '02 rise cooled from the 33% rise in 2nd-half '01, the FCC said. Cable and phone companies served 14.3 mil of the 16.2 mil U.S. high-speed users in '02. Satellite and fixed-wireless...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 18, 2002... DIVERSIFIED Former Tyco director pleads guilty Frank Walsh pleaded guilty to securities fraud and wrote checks for more than $22 mil in fines related to Tyco's June '01 buy of CIT Group for $9.5 bil. Tyco sold CIT for half that...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 18, 2002... FOOD Interstate Bakeries net falls 20% The No. 1 U.S. distributor of bread and pastries made 33 cents a share, missing views by a huge 15 cents. Sales fell to $823.2 mil from last year's $826.1 mil. Interstate Bakeries blamed...

THE ECONOMY.(A)
December 18, 2002... Record dollar amount of defaults Global corporate defaults surged to $157.3 bil in '02, according to Standard & Poor's. That topped last year's record $117.4 bil. In all, 3.49% of all rated firms defaulted in '02, just above last year's...

NATION.(A)
December 18, 2002... Bush aide Calio is leaving post President Bush's chief liaison to Congress, Nicholas Calio, will join the private sector. He's the latest aide to leave at the administration's midpoint, a traditional time for turnover. Some will staff...

WORLD.(A)
December 18, 2002... Iraqi opposition can't get along The groups' London conference ended with the groups failing to overcome rivalries. Some delegates walked out, warning of possible civil war if they're sidelined in the event of Saddam Hussein being...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 18, 2002... 10-cent pill best for hypertension Old-fashioned diuretics, or water pills, are better than newer, pricier drugs for high blood pressure, says a study by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The pills, once used in over half of...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 18, 2002... ** Overdoses of acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, have passed hepatitis B as the No. 1 cause of sudden liver failure in the U.S., said a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ** 2,800-year-old bacteria and algae frozen...

Learning To Branch Out.(A)(IBD 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
December 18, 2002... Byline: Robin Grugal 8Innovation, like artistry, requires much imagination. Bennett Abrams, an artist and naturalist, had the imagination to tie innovation and artistry together to create something wondrous. Abrams makes...

He Stays Cognizant Of Clients Success Strategy: Mahadeva's multiculturalism keeps tech firm growing.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: J. BONASIA For Wijeyarij "Kumar" Mahadeva, knowing about different cultures is more than a good thing. It's essential to keep his business running smoothly. Born in Sri Lanka, Mahadeva left to study at Cambridge and Harvard...

A Bazaar World Continues Online, With Business Exchanges Thriving Despite Talk Of B2B's Demise Aerospace, chemicals, medical products, mining have Web marketplaces.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Online business-to-business marketplaces aren't finished. Not by a long shot. At least that's what market researchers predict. And they're also saying most of the major shakeout in the market seems to have...

Gear Makers Ring Up Some Sales But Revenue Still Lags Ciena's brighter outlook and Lucent's contracts offer hint of better days.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: MIKE ANGELL Could dawn finally be breaking in the long, dark, stormy night of the telecom gear business? Well, at least a few rays of sunshine have supplanted the almost daily announcements of layoffs, plant closures and...

Discounters Present Puzzle For Best Buy, Circuit City Wal-Mart Competes On Price.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ Consumer electronics retailers Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc. are having a blue Christmas, due to frugal shoppers and heightened competition from big discount retailers. On Tuesday, both chains...

HP, Compaq Merging Finance Units Writing Off Bad Debt.(A)(Q AND A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Hewlett-Packard Co. is getting plenty of attention as it merges operations with those of Compaq Computer. But with little fanfare, HP's been consolidating the financing arms of the two companies as well. A...

Boost In Memory Gets Results.(A)(COMPUTERS MADE PLAIN)
December 18, 2002... Byline: DAVID MUTCH I almost bought a new computer a month ago. Almost. My Compaq is three years old, and I was tempted by ads touting 1.8- and 2.4-gigahertz chips. My 500-megahertz model felt slow and obsolete. But I thought...

IDX SYSTEMS CORP. Burlington, Vermont Short-Term Buzz Dies Down, But Long-Term Picture Remains Bright.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: GLORIA LAU Shareholders of IDX Systems Corp. enjoyed a little excitement last week when the firm raised earnings estimates for 2003. The announcement helped push IDX's stock up more than 12% on Dec. 11. The exuberance didn't...

Bear Dulled 401(k)s' Taste For Stocks But Appetite Returning Investors began putting more into stock funds once the market rallied.(A)
December 18, 2002... Byline: PAUL KATZEFF With their set contributions, 401(k)s help keep the overall market stable. They exert a steadying force, much as a gyroscope holds a ship in rough seas on an even keel. But that steadying influence eroded...

Pre-Emptive Strike.(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 18, 2002... Missile Defense: President Bush has approved deployment of a limited system in 2004, which is sure to draw opponents' usual knee-jerk response. But recent events show it's time to stop arguing and start acting. Revelations about North...

Gangs Of Los Angeles.(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 18, 2002... Crime: With violence rising, local leaders seem to be getting the message that public safety comes first. But a few still press for PC policing. Six hundred homicides -- in one city in less than one year -- tend to really concentrate the...

Regime Change In Baghdad Could Bring Global Backlash.(A)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
December 18, 2002... Byline: BRIAN MITCHELL Joe Wilson was the last U.S. official to meet with Iraq's Saddam Hussein. As acting ambassador to Baghdad at the start of the Gulf War, Wilson negotiated Saddam's release of several hundred American hostages. ...

Gold Stocks Correct As Market Sits Tight.(B)
December 18, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI Another quiet session Tuesday saw NYSE stocks tick downward on light trade. The Dow eased 1.1%, the S&P 500 0.8%. The small-cap S&P 600 also fell 0.8%. Despite the mild point losses all around, NYSE losers bested...

Media-Related Firms Preen For Attention.(B)
December 18, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri Fox Entertainment gapped up to a new high on Nov. 6. But the stock stalled immediately after breaking out, easing into another consolidation at the top of its prior base. Though such high-handle formations often bear...

Nasdaq Slips 0.6%, But Breakouts Gain Ground.(B)
December 18, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The Nasdaq gave back 0.6% on lighter volume Tuesday as war concerns and dour holiday shopping forecasts hurt stocks. A late surge left the Nasdaq 100 down just 0.2%. Eon Labs slipped another 1.74 to 19.26 on more...

Drug Research Firm Earns 99 EPS Rating.(B)
December 18, 2002... Byline: Craig Shaw PPD Inc. has added a two-month handle to its long base. It saw a high-volume shakeout week in mid-July but closed at the top of its weekly range, a sign of institutional support. The provider of contract research...

Good Sell Rules: The Best Hedge.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
December 17, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG No doubt, many investors still feel stock-market revulsion. Despite one of the market's biggest washouts ever, the past two months have produced only a modest hodgepodge of stocks breaking out of bases with...

Holiday Sales Growth Is Looking More Paltry With Just 8 Days Left Low End Of Views So Far A final surge could save lackluster season and top 2001's weak 2.2% gain.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE If the nation's retailers have just one thing on their wish list, it's that consumers come to their rescue in the next eight days. Without a pickup in what's left of the season, this year is shaping up to be...

Can Home Improvement Keep Its Hot Pace If Housing Cools? Decor buying often lags a home purchase, plus refis reliquefy owners.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE The housing market has been booming for the last two years. As owners start to nest in their new abodes, they'll be spending on the things that make a house a home: furnishings, appliances and other creature...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(A)(AFTER THE CLOSE)
December 17, 2002... KMART will be delisted by the NYSE Thursday and will trade on the OTC Bulletin Board. The retailer also delayed its Q3 filing. It sank 27% after hours. MCDONALD'S will form a joint venture with Fazoli's, an Italian-style restaurant...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 17, 2002... FINANCE Agricole, Lyonnais new bank titan Credit Agricole will buy Credit Lyonnais for $20 bil, offering five of its shares and $151.30 for every four Lyonnais shares, or about $57 a share. The merger would form one of Europe's top...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 17, 2002... TRANSPORTATION United Air lenders want labor cuts The carrier's creditors are demanding a $2.4 bil reduction in annual labor costs by mid-Feb., United Air's flight attendants said. That's more than double the $1 bil in annual cuts...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 17, 2002... TELECOM GEAR Garmin up on Q4 sales forecast The GPS devices maker sees sales of $132 mil-$135 mil, up from an earlier forecast of $106 mil-$110 mil. Analysts expected $108.2 mil vs. $93 mil a year ago. Garmin cited strong consumer...

THE ECONOMY.(A)
December 17, 2002... Housing index hits 2-year high The National Association of Home Builders' housing market index rose to 65 in Dec. from 64 in Nov. A reading above 50 indicates more builders are optimistic than pessimistic. The current sales gauge rose a...

NATION.(A)
December 17, 2002... FEMA's Allbaugh stepping down Joe Allbaugh, a key orchestrator of President Bush's presidential run, will leave in March as Federal Emergency Management Agency director. He's part of a growing cadre of administration officials leaving...

WORLD.(A)
December 17, 2002... Blair invites Palestinians to talks British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to discuss reforming Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and ways to further the Mideast peace process. Arafat consented to send a delegation. There was no...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 17, 2002... Monkeys choose toys by sex, too Boys' and girls' toy preferences may be influenced by innate difference, not just societal molds, researchers said in "Evolution and Human Behavior." Male vervet monkeys spent more time with "boy" toys...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 17, 2002... ** Echinacea, a popular herbal cure, is useless in fighting the common cold, University of Wisconsin researchers said in the Annals of Internal Medicine. ** People with good memory are no smarter than others, says a University College...

FOCUS YOUR TIME AND MONEY Make Travel Time Count.(A)(IBD 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
December 17, 2002... Byline: Robin Grugal 7Business travel offers many opportunities to be productive. The change in scenery can be stimulating, and it frees you from the constant interruptions of the office. Yet those benefits are easily lost without proper...

For Kasparov, Persistence Wins All The Right Moves: Chess champ is relentless in his quest to be world's best.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG After a long, exhausting battle, Garry Kasparov met the media and chess fans at New York's Equitable Building on a Sunday in May 1997. He bathed in the usual wild cheers and loud applause. But the crowd...

TECHBITS.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: James DeTar Agere Pushing Wireless Tech Toward Speed Of Wired Web Agere Systems Inc. is working on a new wireless chip. The company says it will be 15 times faster than today's devices. It uses the popular 802.11...

Users Don't Discount Cheap Net Service No-Frills Access Gains EarthLink follows lead of rival United Online in offering a $9.95 plan.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: PETE BARLAS Free Internet access may be hard to find these days. But Internet service providers are still willing to offer steep discounts. Last month, EarthLink Inc. started quietly offering a new Internet service plan for...

Small Firm Garmin Gets On The Map In Busy GPS Market Global Positioning Systems The company's products homing in on consumers who are active outdoors.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: MIKE ANGELL The growing popularity of outdoor sports and recreation is making the holidays very happy for electronic device maker Garmin Ltd. The company makes global positioning system devices. Using 24 satellites circling...

Hyperion's Accounting Software Often Adds Up For The Scandal-Wary.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: FROM REUTERS Accounting software makers are trying to capitalize on a string of high-profile scandals by developing computer programs that flag unusual bookkeeping and launch investigations with little human intervention. For...

Avaya Looking For Ways To Grow Again.(A)(Q AND A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: MIKE ANGELL It may be another down year for communications gear spending in 2003. But business phone company Avaya Inc. pledges to grow nevertheless. The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based company saw sales slip 27% to $4.9 billion...

AIRGAS INC. Radnor, Pennsylvania As Market Struggles, Gas Supplier Focuses On Improved Operations.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE After buying up hundreds of smaller rivals over the last decade, Airgas Inc. is starting to retrench. The Radnor, Pa.-based firm is slogging its way through a weak industrial economy that has its customers...

School Tries To Teach Franklin Lesson Harvard Faces Dragon Argues closed-end fund should go open-end to end discount to NAV.(A)
December 17, 2002... Byline: KEN HOOVER Harvard University's $17.6 billion endowment fund is trying to oust Franklin Templeton as manager of the closed-end Templeton Dragon Fund, claiming poor performance. But Franklin Templeton, firing back, accuses...

A TIPP For Bush.(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 17, 2002... Economy: President Bush has reason enough to include new-business incentives in any "growth and jobs" strategy: They'll work. Here's another: They'll sell. How do we know? We asked Americans in this month's IBD/TIPP Poll: "Do you think...

USPS: Dead Letters?(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 17, 2002... Mail Call: Will the U.S. Postal Service go postal over going private? That remains to be seen, but a presidential commission is looking into doing just that. The USPS already contracts out transport of its first-class, priority and...

Big Court Wins By Microsoft Haven't Ended States' Suits.(A)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
December 17, 2002... Byline: ROBERT A. LEVY ** Robert A. Levy There they go again. Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly and West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw will be taking another bite at the Microsoft apple. They're going to appeal...

Dow, S&P Rally, But Volume Still Lagging.(B)
December 17, 2002... Byline: JONAH KERI NYSE stocks brought good will to investors Monday, staging a broad-based advance, albeit on lower volume. The Dow ramped up 2.3%, the S&P 500 2.4%. Russian mobile phone service providers Mobile TeleSystems and...

Rockwell Flirting With Breakout From Base.(B)
December 17, 2002... Byline: Jonah Keri Rockwell Automation tried to break out of a seven-month base on brisk trade Monday, but closed just below its pivot point of 21.90, or 0.10 above the Dec. 2 high that formed the top of its handle. Though volume swelled...

Nasdaq Halts Downtrend With 2.8% Rebound.(B)
December 17, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The Nasdaq posted its biggest single-day gain in more than two weeks Monday, surging 2.8% on slightly higher volume. The big-cap Nasdaq 100 launched ahead 3.6%. Garmin cleared a seven-month base, zooming 4.20, or...

Alcohol Distributor Keeps Profit Flowing.(B)
December 17, 2002... Byline: Craig Shaw Central European Distribution Corp. has spent much of 2002 building a 30-week cup-with-handle base. It sits 13% off its high, with a Relative Price Strength Rating of 95. The firm imports and distributes 820 brands...

AIRGAS INC. Radnor, Pennsylvania; As Market Struggles, Gas Supplier Focuses On Improved Operations.(THE NEW AMERICA)
December 17, 2002... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE After buying up hundreds of smaller rivals over the last decade, Airgas Inc. is starting to retrench. The Radnor, Pa.-based firm is slogging its way through a weak industrial economy that has its customers...

How To Add Shares Intelligently.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
December 16, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW Quick quiz: When's the best time to add shares of a stock to an existing position? A) When it takes a dive. B) When it moves up. Though it defies conventional wisdom, the correct answer is B. Building a position as...

Lott Vows To Stay On, Learn From Mistakes In Newest Mea Culpa His Position Seems Secure No GOP colleagues call for him to step down as Senate's majority leader.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: SEAN HIGGINS Embattled Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said Friday he would not step down as Senate majority leader despite growing criticism from both parties. "I am not about to resign for an accusation that I am something I am...

Optimism Up, Prices Not, Yet Good News Fails To Help Sagging Stocks And Dollar Markets Focusing Elsewhere.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: JED GRAHAM A rise in consumer sentiment and a jump in crude materials prices in reports out Friday gave evidence of a strengthening economy. But the news failed to cheer investors, who sold off stocks, bonds and the dollar...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(A)(AFTER THE CLOSE)
December 16, 2002... NORTHWEST'S pilot union cut a deal with the airline that paves the way for a marketing pact with Delta and Continental. EDS will pay MCI $187 mil to settle an old contract dispute and outstanding telephone bills. AMERISOURCE will buy...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 16, 2002... FINANCE Wall St. fines now seen smaller Citigroup and other investment banks have shaved $250 mil or so from the $1 bil discussed to settle conflict-of-interest charges, the Financial Times reported. Citigroup and Credit Suisse would...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 16, 2002... TECHNOLOGY S. Korea may hit U.S. chipmakers The chip industry could be "materially injured" by subsidized imports from South Korea, the U.S. International Trade Commission said. The agency's decision is part of a U.S. probe into...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
December 16, 2002... CONSUMER Diageo sells Burger King for less The British spirits maker struck a deal to sell the burger chain to a group led by Texas Pacific for $1.5 bil. Diageo will get $1.2 bil cash to cut debt and buy back shares. Diageo in July...

THE ECONOMY.(A)
December 16, 2002... Business inventories rose in Oct. U.S. inventories rose 0.2% vs. Sept., their sixth straight monthly gain. That suggests firms are slowly stockpiling goods. Still, Oct. inventories fell 0.6% from a year ago. Sales at all business levels...

NATION.(A)
December 16, 2002... Bush orders smallpox vaccinations The president ordered members of the military serving in high-risk areas to take the smallpox vaccine and said he will be inoculated as well. He said the vaccines will be made available to civilian...

WORLD.(A)
December 16, 2002... Iran buries nuke plants, U.S. says Iran is trying to hide parts of the nuclear facility it is building near the central town of Natanz by burying buildings underground, the State Department said. The U.S. says the complex and another are...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 16, 2002... Global drug sales up 8% to Oct. That year-to-date growth is well below historic rates due to weak demand in Europe, IMS Health said. Sales growth was 12% at the start of the year, but has slowed due to health care budget cuts and generic...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
December 16, 2002... ** Government health inspections have led to fewer gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The 21 outbreaks in '02 may be due to more passengers. ** An agent called hemoglobin...

Connect Unrelated Dots.(A)(IBD 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
December 16, 2002... Byline: Robin Grugal 6Some of the best ideas come from solving seemingly unrelated problems. It just takes someone inquisitive enough to patch together the details and notice a link. Such was the case when Willis Carrier invented...

Consumer Research Is His Bag Know Your Market: Coach's Frankfort understands his business, clientele.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Lew Frankfort likes to have his fingers on the pulse of his business. The way he sees it, the more you know about what makes your business and customers tick, the more you're likely to gain an edge over your...

New Tactics Could Stave Off Digital Pirates But Consumers Gripe Copy protection limits what they're able to do with purchased material.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: DONNA HOWELL In the new world of copy-protected software, movies and music, things have changed for the end user. Windows, for instance, won't open for just anyone. At least not Windows XP. Software and entertainment media...

Lycos Shedding Ads From Its HotBot Page Move Could Be Risky Gamble Advertising on start page is big source of revenue, but Lycos wants less clutter.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: PETE BARLAS Terra Lycos is trying a new strategy for making money on the Web -- a start page with no ads. On Monday, Terra Lycos, one of the most visited portals on the Web, will relaunch its HotBot search engine with...

New Tiny Technology From IBM And Xilinx Could Yield Big Gains 90-Nanometer Chip Process Companies to unveil plans to make circuitry on chips far smaller than it is today.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: JAMES DETAR Xilinx Inc. and IBM Corp. plan to unveil a milestone Monday that could lead to cheaper, better electronics products: a chip made using a 90-nanometer process. Most chipmakers today use lines -- etched circuitry --...

Hey! Get Off That Web Site! ID The Cyberslackers 8e6 CEO says filtering system helps clients save money, avoid lawsuits.(A)(Q AND A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN Most employees hate getting a "Web site blocked" message from their company's filtering system, but 8e6 Technologies Chief Executive George Shih figures he's doing them a favor. The privately held Orange,...

Cost Planning Can Result In Sales Boost.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY Some of Wall Street's best performers say it's more difficult these days to plan a lean and mean budget. But despite the up-and-down economy, they're hardly throwing in the...

PACTIV CORP. Lake Forest, Illinois Manufacturer Bags A Big Deal In Mexico.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: AMY REEVES As Mexico has opened its trade to the U.S. over the years, Mexicans have been consuming more and more American stuff. As long as that's happening, officials at Pactiv Corp. figure, Mexico will need more packaging...

Gold Funds Continue Strong Rebound Soar 15.31% In 2 Weeks Small-cap value funds return 0.36%, beating large and growth funds.(A)
December 16, 2002... Byline: DAN MOREAU Investors lit a fire under gold stocks last week, sending gold funds up 8.24% in the five days ended Thursday, Lipper Inc. said. They'd risen 7.07% the week before. The precious metal took up the slack as the broad...

Earnings Reports.(A)
December 16, 2002... Earnings Reports The Washington Savings Bank, F.S.B. Reports 91% Increase in First Quarter Results and Announces Increased Quarterly Cash Dividend BOWIE, MD - The Washington Savings Bank, F.S.B. (Amex: WSB), a...

The Nuclear Family.(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 16, 2002... Axis Of Evil: President Bush was harshly criticized when he used that phrase last year. But events have proved his claim was wholly justified. Saddam Hussein's regime has grabbed much of the attention directed at the troika of Iraq, Iran...

Saudis' Oil Gambit.(A)(EDITORIALS)
December 16, 2002... OPEC: Saudi Arabia should think twice about pushing the world's oil cartel to boost prices. It's playing a dangerous game, with the world economy as hostage. OPEC frets about its members "cheating" on their oil quotas. So it takes the...

Social Security Reform Ripe, GOP's Retiring Armey Says.(A)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
December 16, 2002... Byline: BRIAN MITCHELL House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, was overloaded with luggage when an airport skycap appeared to offer his services. Armey put him off with a quick no-thank-you, then heard a second skycap tell the first,...

Light Volume Marks Second Down Week.(B)
December 16, 2002... Byline: CRAIG SHAW NYSE stocks wrapped up their second straight week of losses Friday, but tame volume cushioned the damage. The Dow slipped 1.2% from Thursday, the S&P 500 1.3%. For the week, the benchmark S&P fell 2.5%. Cooper...

Houseware Retailer Sees Sponsors Grow.(B)
December 16, 2002... Byline: Craig Shaw Williams-Sonoma wrapped up its fifth straight up week Friday to close within 15% of its 52-week high. Its Relative Strength line hit new high ground during the week, a bullish sign. The houseware retailer, which...

Nasdaq Wipes Out Gains; Techs, Medicals Lose.(B)
December 16, 2002... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The Nasdaq dropped 2.7% Friday to finish lower for the second straight week. Volume was below average for the seventh straight session. Gilead Sciences gapped down 1.70 to 35.68 on nearly five times average...

Trendy Footwear Firm Survives CEO Scandal.(B)
December 16, 2002... Byline: David Saito-Chung Steven Madden tried to break out of a very deep base in April, but the rally lasted only three weeks. The stock is now fashioning the right side of a new price structure. The trendy shoe maker's founder and...