Investor's Business Daily articles from January 2003

Investor's Business Daily archives from January 2003

A Good Breakout Can Take Time.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
January 31, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW You've picked a leading stock that breaks out on heavy volume. Then it quickly stalls, maybe even retreating to your buy point. Days or weeks pass. You're itching to try a new highflier. That may be the wrong move....

Growth Slowed To Idle In 2002's Last Quarter As Spending Sputtered 0.7% GDP Vs. 4.0% In Q3 Among few bright spots, business spending rose and housing held ground.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE The economy stumbled in the fourth quarter as GDP grew a scant 0.7%, bringing the average annual growth rate for 2002 to 2.4%, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The quarter fell just short of the 0.8% rise...

Tariffs Help Ailing Steel Makers Bring New Life To Dying Industry Restructuring gets push from influx of investors, flexible new labor deals.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: JED GRAHAM Ten months after President Bush imposed three-year tariffs on steel imports, throwing a lifeline to U.S. steel makers, the industry has embarked on a wave of consolidation aimed at rescuing its fortunes. In the...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(A)(AFTER THE CLOSE)
January 31, 2003... STARBUCKS' Jan. same-store sales rose 9%. The coffee chain's revenue grew 25% to $286 mil for the 4 weeks ended Jan. 26. DISNEY'S Q1 net rose 13% to 17 cents, 2 cents over views. Sales rose 6% to $7.47 bil. It sees 25%-35% profit growth...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 31, 2003... TRANSPORTATION GM ups the ante in car price war The world's No. 1 carmaker will raise cash rebates on many SUVs by $500 to a total of $2,500. GM also raised cash incentives on two of its vans by $500. Ford joined the battle by...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 31, 2003... MEDICAL King Pharma off on soft Q4 sales King Pharmaceuticals late Wednesday said it made 39-41 cents a share, up 26%-29%. Analysts saw 39 cents. But sales were slightly below its forecast of $327 mil-$357 mil. King fell 14%. Also,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 31, 2003... ENERGY Oil prices fuel Exxon Q4 earnings The world's No. 1 oil firm's profit rose 33% to 56 cents a share, topping views by 6 cents. ExxonMobil said benchmark oil prices rose more than 40% amid Iraqi war fears and a Venezuelan labor...

THE ECONOMY.(A)
January 31, 2003... Mortgage rates lower this week The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 1 basis point to 5.90% this week, Freddie Mac said. That's six straight weeks below 6%, the longest streak on record dating back to '71. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage...

NATION.(A)
January 31, 2003... Age bias suit settled for $100 mil The EEOC reached a record-breaking settlement in an age discrimination case affecting 1,700 police, firefighters and other public safety workers. Though the plaintiffs are primarily from California,...

WORLD.(A)
January 31, 2003... Venezuela strikers shift tactics With many foes of leftist President Hugo Chavez returning to work, leaders in the 60-day-old strike tried to induce other nations to help them get early elections. The government said it was studying the...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
January 31, 2003... Fatty fast food may be addictive New Scientist magazine reviewed ongoing studies. One found overweight people develop resistance to leptin and galanin, two key substances in regulating appetite and weight. Other studies are probing how...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
January 31, 2003... ** Magnetic waves directed at areas of the brain cut down on schizophrenics' imaginary voices in a Yale University study. The treatment may dampen excitable neurons that cause the hallucinations. ** Mad cow disease is still a risk for...

BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE Good Deeds Get Noticed.(A)(IBD 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
January 31, 2003... Byline: Robin Grugal 10Think you don't need to bother with civic causes? If you're in business for yourself, you'd better think again. While you shouldn't volunteer thinking you'll be rewarded for your actions, higher sales and...

A Man Of Strong Constitution Act With Integrity: Supreme Court Justice Frankfurter pushed for civil liberties.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Felix Frankfurter had his principles. And he stuck to them -- even if that meant giving up what could be a successful career and a comfortable living. Fresh out of Harvard Law School, Frankfurter applied for...

Employee Stock Ownership Still A Good Deal -- For Some Firms.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: NICK TURNER Insider ownership is practically an obscene phrase these days. After scandals at Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc. and Tyco International Ltd., many investors don't trust inside owners to act in the best interests of...

Audio DVDs Making Little Noise.(A)(COMPUTERS MADE PLAIN)
January 31, 2003... Byline: NICK TURNER DVD players are rapidly replacing VCRs in America's living rooms. Digital video discs offer better picture quality, extra features and the ability to jump from scene to scene. So it's easy to see the advantages...

TV Viewing Drops Among Net Users: UCLA Other Media Use Also Down.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON Experienced Internet users are spending less time reading newspapers and magazines. They're also watching less TV than before. That's despite their rising doubts about the accuracy or reliability of Web content, says...

Four Linux Companies Present United Front Aiming For Simplicity Companies' objective is to sell one basic version of the operating system.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Could Linux be a victim of its own popularity? The "open source" operating system is available for free to anyone via the Internet. That makes it easy for developers to tweak the software and offer customized...

IBM Tries Its Hand At Servicing Jet Engines Testing To Begin Soon IBM aims to tap market for airline maintenance, a $37.8 billion industry.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA Jet engine overhauls are a chore. Work records must be checked before replacement parts are ordered. The job gets tougher when engines are repaired in one location while old files are stored in databases...

DirecTV Broadband's Departure Leaves Consumers With Fewer Options.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS With DirecTV Broadband poised to dismantle its high-speed Internet service, consumers are losing one of the last alternatives to the increasingly dominant telephone and cable giants. Cupertino,...

HARMAN INT'L INDUSTRIES Washington, D.C. Audio Systems Maker Tunes Into Car Market.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: MARILYN ALVA TV ads comparing the audio sound in a Lexus to a concert hall are music to the ears of officials at Harman International Industries Inc. Harman, which makes the audio system cited in the commercials, built its...

SELECT COMFORT CORP. Minneapolis, Minnesota A Firm Mattress Is Important To Mattress Firm.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE Executives at bed maker Select Comfort Corp. must be sleeping better these days. In the last year, the company has stepped back from the brink. It's logged five straight quarters of profit after losing money...

Funds Fight Month's Undertow But Down Year Flagged With S&P 500's decline, Jan. Barometer points to negative '03 returns.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: KEN HOOVER An old Wall Street saw says that as January goes, so goes the rest of the year. If history is a guide, that's bad news for investors. With one day to go in the month, the so-called January Barometer is signaling...

Stock Fund Outflow For '02 Is Record First Since '88 Exodus But as percent of assets, it's smallest since 1971; record inflow for bonds.(A)
January 31, 2003... Byline: DAN MOREAU Apparently heartened by a stock market rally early in the month, mutual fund investors put cash into stock funds in January, several major fund families reported. The shift came after a December when investors pulled...

The Other Speech.(A)(EDITORIALS)
January 31, 2003... State Of The Union: President Bush made two speeches Tuesday night, both deft in delivery, rich in content and persuasive in argument. Too bad he even had to deliver the more important one. The speech he had to make, of course, was about...

Fuelish Dream.(A)(EDITORIALS)
January 31, 2003... Energy: Whenever we write about drilling for oil, we inevitably receive letters berating us for our brutish disregard for alternative energy. One of the latest was in response to our argument that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife...

GOP Looks To Latino Votes To Hold On To Its Majority.(A)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
January 31, 2003... Byline: BRIAN MITCHELL Latinos are now the largest minority in the U.S. And more and more are voting Republican. Maybe. Both claims raise questions that analysts and activists answer differently. Just how much of a group are Latinos?...

Losses Mounting For Ailing NYSE Stocks.(B)
January 31, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI NYSE stocks deepened their losses Thursday as the market continued its descent. The Dow fell 2%, the S&P 500 2.3%, though volume did dry up late in the day to close below Wednesday's total. The small-cap S&P 600 lost...

Stocks Fall Sharply As GDP Data Show Slower Spending.(B)
January 31, 2003... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG Stocks tanked across the board Thursday after the latest GDP report showed the American consumer hasn't been so resilient lately. The nation's economic output rose 0.7% in the fourth quarter, the slowest...

NovaStar Laps Views, Gaps Out Of Its Base.(B)
January 31, 2003... Byline: Jonah Keri NovaStar Financial gapped up 11% Thursday, breaking out of a seven-month base. The stock closed 4.7% above its pivot point of 32.90. You typically don't want to chase a stock beyond 5% of its pivot. Though breakaway...

Techs' Poor Results Slam Nasdaq To 2.6% Loss.(B)
January 31, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW Tech stocks skidded Thursday after a huge loss from AOL Time Warner and disappointing results from Gateway added to war and economy worries. The Nasdaq tumbled 2.6%, the Nasdaq 100 3.1% on lighter trade. Panera...

Generic Drug Maker Reclaims Support Line.(B)
January 31, 2003... Byline: Craig Shaw Eon Labs is back on the upswing. The stock cleared its first base in September, less than four months after going public. It dipped below the pivot point of that breakout last month, but has rebounded above its 50-day...

Don't Let Gains Fall Into Losses.(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
January 30, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI Keeping track of all the key sell rules can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. That's doubly true in a choppy market like today's. Occasionally a sell rule will seem to contradict another trading rule. For example,...

Post-Speech Polls Find More Support For War, Split On Bush Tax Plan Most Stock Markets Higher Harsh talk on Iraq makes conflict seem inevitable; one last chance for U.N.?(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: JOSEPH GUINTO President Bush's State of the Union address continued to echo Wednesday, rattling stock exchanges from Wall Street to Tokyo and prompting war rhetoric from Britain to Baghdad. Major stock indexes in New York...

Good News Is Earnings Are Up; Bad News Is It Might Not Last Q4 is coming in strong, but many companies trim first half '03 views.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW With the earnings season half over, S&P 500 companies appear to have scored a quarter of double-digit profit growth. But that's diluted by limp predictions for the first half of 2003, putting in doubt a profit...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(A)(AFTER THE CLOSE)
January 30, 2003... ELECTRONIC ARTS' Q3 pro forma net rose 74% to $1.79, 22 cents above views for the video game maker. But shares fell after hours. Its Q4 views may be a bit soft, and it's filing a $2 bil shelf. PANERA BREAD said CFO William Moreton will...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 30, 2003... TRANSPORTATION AMR hits record low, rebounds Bankruptcy fears continued to plague the world's No. 1 carrier one week after it reported a record $3.5 bil loss for '02. Salomon Smith Barney raised the odds of an American Air bankruptcy...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 30, 2003... TECHNOLOGY Rambus up 57% on court ruling The memory technology firm rocketed 4.25 to a 52-week high of 11.69 after a U.S. appeals court threw out a fraud verdict against it. A jury had found Rambus guilty of fraud while it pursued...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(A)
January 30, 2003... TELECOM FCC should meet policy deadline Chairman Michael Powell believes the FCC will meet his Feb. 13 deadline to vote on key changes to phone competition policy. He said that's critical to avoid "chaos in the market" if the FCC...

THE ECONOMY.(A)
January 30, 2003... Mortgage applications increase The Mortgage Bankers Association of America's application index rose 6.4% to 1171.2 in the week ended Friday. Refinancings accounted for 74.5% of the week's mortgages. The group's refinance index rose 7.8%...

NATION.(A)
January 30, 2003... Pataki calls for big budget cuts N.Y. Gov. George Pataki outlined major cuts in education and health care spending, trimming the government work force and urging $1.3 bil in new taxes and fees. He said his zero-growth, $90.8 billion...

WORLD.(A)
January 30, 2003... Venezuela's banks give up strike The drive to oust leftist President Hugo Chavez may be unraveling. Shopping malls, schools and other businesses also planned to resume functioning Monday. Many fear a popular backlash because of...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
January 30, 2003... Health insurance affects ER care Auto accident victims without coverage got 20% less billable care and were 37% more likely to die in the ER, says an MIT researcher. It's been assumed health coverage had little impact on ER care. Are...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(A)
January 30, 2003... ** Positive messages about aging can change lives for the better, says an Eastern Illinois University study. Of those touched by "memorable messages," 11% resolved to enjoy life more, and 7% ate better and exercised. ** Winter skiers...

DEAL WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY Align Dreams With Goals.(A)(IBD 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
January 30, 2003... Byline: Cord Cooper 9To motivate workers, forget trying to hand them their dream job. Identify their interests and align them to your company's. "This starts with managers asking the right questions," said performance coach Eric...

He Put Everything In Its Place Focus On Details: Dewey's drive to classify still stacks up in libraries everywhere.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: GLORIA LAU Learning was everything to Melvil Dewey. He loved to read and discover new ideas. He spent his free time trying to learn whatever he could. But he had no money for books. He was born to a poor family and lived...

On The Web, Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Can Become "Viral' Firms reaching out to people who influence others' buying decisions.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: MARILYN ALVA BigSoccer, PSXNation and XboxHardcore aren't your everyday Web sites. They're niche portals where hyped-up soccer and video game fans share information. But a growing number of marketers see dollar signs there....

Accounting Issues Vex Cable Firms Adopting New Rules Industry still talks up EBITDA, but is eyeing free cash flow in 2003.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE When cable TV companies report first-quarter results this spring, there'll be something new and something old for investors to pore over. New financial reporting guidelines are set to kick in this quarter. A...

RVs Roll Out Comforts Of Home Adding Safety, Luxury Cameras, sound systems and other tech gear is drawing younger buyers.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN Forget everything you know about recreational vehicles. RV makers are giving the oft-maligned transports a high-tech makeover with a host of conveniences that redefine the notion of home away from home. ...

Verizon Gains Share As More Customers Use Its DSL Service Fewer Adds Than A Year Ago Cable firms are ahead in race to sign up consumers for speedy Internet access.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Verizon Communications Inc. says it's winning the wireless war and catching up in the broadband battle vs. cable TV companies. One of the nation's two biggest local phone companies, Verizon Wednesday reported...

Amid Legal Wrangling, Sun Waits For Microsoft To Join Java Camp.(A)(Q AND A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Microsoft Corp. is appealing a preliminary injunction in federal court requiring it to include Java programming language tools in its Windows operating system. How long the world's biggest software maker can...

My Night With A Worm: Engineer Suddenly, Net Slowed Web hosting firm veep says firm slammed door on the "Slammer' virus.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Friday night, Paul Froutan lounged at home enjoying a favored pastime of many a network engineer. He was busy surfing online. That is, until his Road Runner broadband connection slowed to a crawl. What he didn't...

DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE Tulsa, Oklahoma Car-Rental Company Is Driven To Rebound Operation Gets Face Lift By combining two units into one, this firm looks to cut costs, boost sales.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Joseph Cappy wants to get his company back to double-digit revenue growth, and he's willing to do some serious tweaking to make it happen. Cappy is chief executive of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Inc., which runs a...

Strong Quarter Stirs Optimism At Benefits Firm.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: FROM IBD NEWS SERVICES AdvancePCS (New America, April 9) posted a 44% year-over-year earnings gain for its latest quarter amid growth in claims volume, particularly in its mail-service pharmacy operations. The Irving,...

ST. JUDE MEDICAL INC. St. Paul, Minnesota Medical Gear Maker Sees Lifeblood In Hearts.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: RICHARD M. ROGERS "Never worry about your heart until it stops beating" was Mark Twain's advice. Don't tell that to the people at St. Jude Medical Inc. They get paid to treat cardiovascular disease -- the world's leading...

Growth Manager Waits For Recovery Carefully Sifts Market Strong's Ognar pinning hopes on health care and some tech themes.(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: DAN MOREAU The last three years have not been friendly to big-cap, aggressive growth investors. For the likes of Ron Ognar, co-manager with his son, Tom, of Strong Growth Investors Fund, any rally since October has been equally...

Feb. 5, Then Roll.(A)(EDITORIALS)
January 30, 2003... State Of The Union: President Bush has made a powerful case once again for taking action against Saddam Hussein. Yet some still refuse to recognize the threat. The president waited until he was nearly finished with his address to talk...

Sitting This One Out.(A)(EDITORIALS)
January 30, 2003... Democrats: The opposition is taking its position off the field, ready to watch President Bush fail so they can clean up in 2004. But what if Bush succeeds? There was a telling line in Washington Gov. Gary Locke's response to Bush's State...

Former Speechwriter Frum On Why Bush Is "Right Man'.(A)(NATIONAL ISSUE)
January 30, 2003... Byline: SEAN HIGGINS David Frum was an odd choice for a White House speechwriter. For one thing, the Canadian-born writer wasn't even a U.S. citizen when he was hired in 2001. (He is now.) In his 1994 book, "Dead Right," he...

Fed's Bullish Report Lifts Laboring Stocks.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI An optimistic report by the Federal Reserve pushed the market to its second straight gain Wednesday, a day after President Bush's State of the Union speech. The Dow rose 0.3%, the S&P 500 0.7% on higher NYSE volume....

Sabers Rattle, But Fed's Statement Warms Investors.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG Baghdad's pledge to "break the neck" of the U.S. if it attacked Iraq failed to break the back of the market Wednesday. In Tuesday evening's State of the Union address, President Bush gave his reasons for...

St. Jude Rides Profit News To A Breakout.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: Jonah Keri St. Jude Medical broke out of an eight-month base Wednesday, closing just above its pivot point of 42.70. The stock flashed a shakeout day in its handle on Jan. 16, but rebounded and powered up to a new high. It...

Nasdaq Rises 1.2% For Rare 2-Day Win Streak.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The Nasdaq climbed 1.2% on heavier volume Wednesday after the Fed's economic views soothed investors rattled by war worries. That's the index's first string of two straight up days since Jan. 10. Curative Health...

Heart Device Maker Sees Strong Growth.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: Craig Shaw Zoll Medical Corp. is 5% off the left peak of its nine-month base. While volume has dried up the last two months, the stock's uptrend has continued. Look for it to form a downward-sloping handle on thin trade before...

Money Fund Yields Decline To Record Lows Amid Outflow.(B)
January 30, 2003... Byline: Reuters U.S. taxable money market mutual fund yields fell to fresh record lows this week as investors pulled nearly $19 billion from money funds overall. The average seven-day simple and compound yields on taxable money...

Don't Let Gains Fall Into Losses.(SERIES: Sell Rules In A Trading Market)(A)(INVESTOR'S CORNER)
January 30, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI Sell Rules In A Trading Market: Sixteenth In A Series Keeping track of all the key sell rules can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. That's doubly true in a choppy market like today's. Occasionally a sell rule will...

Post-Speech Polls Find More Support For War, Split On Bush Tax Plan; Most Stock Markets Higher; Harsh talk on Iraq makes conflict seem inevitable; one last chance for U.N.?(A)
January 30, 2003... Byline: JOSEPH GUINTO President Bush's State of the Union address continued to echo Wednesday, rattling stock exchanges from Wall Street to Tokyo and prompting war rhetoric from Britain to Baghdad. Major stock indexes in New York...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
January 30, 2003... "Show Me,' Dems Say To Bush 1Democrats voiced doubts after President Bush's State of the Union vow to use force to disarm Saddam Hussein if he fails to do it himself. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded "more positive proof" Iraq...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... ELECTRONIC ARTS' Q3 pro forma net rose 74% to $1.79, 22 cents above views for the video game maker. But shares fell after hours. Its Q4 views may be a bit soft, and it's filing a $2 bil shelf. PANERA BREAD said CFO William Moreton will quit...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... FINANCE Bank group: limit Fannie, Freddie The Financial Services Roundtable, whose members compete with the government-sponsored mortgage finance giants, said in a report that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's rapid growth is a risk to...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... TRANSPORTATION AMR hits record low, rebounds Bankruptcy fears continued to plague the world's No. 1 carrier one week after it reported a record $3.5 bil loss for '02. Salomon Smith Barney raised the odds of an American Air bankruptcy to...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... TECHNOLOGY Rambus up 57% on court ruling The memory technology firm rocketed 4.25 to a 52-week high of 11.69 after a U.S. appeals court threw out a fraud verdict against it. A jury had found Rambus guilty of fraud while it pursued...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... TELECOM FCC should meet policy deadline Chairman Michael Powell believes the FCC will meet his Feb. 13 deadline to vote on key changes to phone competition policy. He said that's critical to avoid "chaos in the market" if the FCC fails...

Dewey At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
January 30, 2003... Dewey At A Glance Born: 1851 in Adams Center, N.Y. Died: 1931 in Lake Placid, N.Y. Education: Bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1874. Master's from Amherst in 1877. Achievements: ** Invented the Dewey decimal...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... The EU delayed releasing privacy guidelines for Web ID systems like Microsoft's .NET Passport. Sources said it may be waiting until a French translation is available. Sam Donaldson may bolt ABC to do a show on last-place cable news...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
January 30, 2003... ** Positive messages about aging can change lives for the better, says an Eastern Illinois University study. Of those touched by "memorable messages," 11% resolved to enjoy life more, and 7% ate better and exercised. ** Winter skiers...

He Put Everything In Its Place; Focus On Details: Dewey's drive to classify still stacks up in libraries everywhere.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
January 30, 2003... Byline: GLORIA LAU Learning was everything to Melvil Dewey. He loved to read and discover new ideas. He spent his free time trying to learn whatever he could. But he had no money for books. He was born to a poor family and lived...

On The Web, Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Can Become "Viral'; Firms reaching out to people who influence others' buying decisions.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(MANAGING A SUCCESSFUL COMPANY)
January 30, 2003... Byline: MARILYN ALVA BigSoccer, PSXNation and XboxHardcore aren't your everyday Web sites. They're niche portals where hyped-up soccer and video game fans share information. But a growing number of marketers see dollar signs there....

Accounting Issues Vex Cable Firms; Adopting New Rules; Industry still talks up EBITDA, but is eyeing free cash flow in 2003.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 30, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE When cable TV companies report first-quarter results this spring, there'll be something new and something old for investors to pore over. New financial reporting guidelines are set to kick in this quarter. A...

RVs Roll Out Comforts Of Home; Adding Safety, Luxury; Cameras, sound systems and other tech gear is drawing younger buyers.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 30, 2003... Byline: KEN SPENCER BROWN Forget everything you know about recreational vehicles. RV makers are giving the oft-maligned transports a high-tech makeover with a host of conveniences that redefine the notion of home away from home. ...

Verizon Gains Share As More Customers Use Its DSL Service; Fewer Adds Than A Year Ago; Cable firms are ahead in race to sign up consumers for speedy Internet access.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 30, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Verizon Communications Inc. says it's winning the wireless war and catching up in the broadband battle vs. cable TV companies. One of the nation's two biggest local phone companies, Verizon Wednesday reported...

My Night With A Worm: Engineer; Suddenly, Net Slowed; Web hosting firm veep says firm slammed door on the "Slammer' virus.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
January 30, 2003... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Friday night, Paul Froutan lounged at home enjoying a favored pastime of many a network engineer. He was busy surfing online. That is, until his Road Runner broadband connection slowed to a crawl. What he didn't...

DOLLAR THRIFTY AUTOMOTIVE Tulsa, Oklahoma; Car-Rental Company Is Driven To Rebound; Operation Gets Face Lift; By combining two units into one, this firm looks to cut costs, boost sales.(THE NEW AMERICA)
January 30, 2003... Byline: MARILYN MUCH Joseph Cappy wants to get his company back to double-digit revenue growth, and he's willing to do some serious tweaking to make it happen. Cappy is chief executive of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Inc., which runs...

Strong Quarter Stirs Optimism At Benefits Firm.(THE NEW AMERICA)(NEW AMERICA REVISITED)
January 30, 2003... Byline: FROM IBD NEWS SERVICES AdvancePCS (New America, April 9) posted a 44% year-over-year earnings gain for its latest quarter amid growth in claims volume, particularly in its mail-service pharmacy operations. The Irving,...