Investor's Business Daily articles from July 2003

Investor's Business Daily archives from July 2003

U.S. Facing Challenge Amid Big Shift Of Jobs To Low-Wage Nations; China's Deflationary Impact; U.S. propping up world as factory, service jobs move to China, elsewhere.(A)
July 1, 2003... Byline: JED GRAHAM With interest rates at their lowest level since the 1950s and another big tax cut going into effect, the U.S. economy should be surging. Most economists do think the U.S. will take off in the second half. But right...

No Flash In Pan: Flash Memory Goes Into More Electronics Gear; Sales Set For 27% Rise.(A)
July 1, 2003... Byline: JAMES DETAR Imagine if your cell phone worked like your PC. When you shut down a PC, all the data on a standard memory chip go away. It's wiped clean. That's why PC users store data on hard disk drives before they turn off the...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
July 1, 2003... Strong Quarter Ends For Market 1 The Nasdaq ran up 21%, the S&P 500 15% and the Dow 12% for the quarter after the market bottomed on March 12. A variety of techs, biotechs, medical stocks and other sectors led the charge. Monday's action...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... CALLAWAY will buy the assets of golf ball maker Top-Flite for $125 mil as part of a Chapter 11 filing by Top-Flite. ORACLE got a Justice Dept. request for more info on its $6.3 bil hostile bid for PeopleSoft, a sign the DOJ is looking more...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... FINANCE Goldman tops global M&A market In the first half of '03, the value of global mergers and acquisitions fell 7.6% to $541.2 bil from last year, preliminary data from Thomson Financial showed. Goldman Sachs, which advised on...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... MEDIA MGM sells minority cable stakes The motion picture and TV program firm will sell its 20% stake in three cable channels for $500 mil to Cablevision's Rainbow Media unit, which already owns the remaining 80%. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... MARKETS Bond sales jumped 9% in 1st half Corporate bond issuance rose to $475 bil, lead by a 66% surge in junk bonds to $64.8 bil and a 33% rise in convertible bonds to $58.97 bil. Investment-grade issuance was flat at $351.3 bil. GM...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... TRANSPORTATION DaimlerChrysler revamps to save The automaker will herd development for its varied truck lines into a single unit and standardize parts across many models, saving several hundred million dollars a year by '06 or '07....

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... U.S. net debtor gap grew in '02 Foreign investors owned $2.387 tril more in U.S. assets than U.S. investors held in foreign assets at the end of '02, Commerce said. That's up $407.31 bil since '01. The U.S. has been a net debtor since '85....

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... Texas Instruments will build a $3 bil chip plant with 300-millimeter wafer technology in Richardson, Texas. It expects to break ground for the facility by Dec. '05. Maytag will sell 75.5% of its RSD-Maytag China joint venture to a French...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... Authorities issue Amber alert Two children are missing from Miramar, Fla., after their mother drove her car through a sliding glass door at her mother's house and took them. Missing are Lorena Montano, 3, and Moises Montano, 2. The...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... Africa seeks 2,000 U.S. troops West African leaders pledged to send 3,000 peacekeepers to Liberia if 2,000 U.S. troops join them. Both sides in Liberia's civil war have asked the U.S. to intervene. France, Britain and U.N....

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... New words make it in dictionary Merriam-Webster, which updates its Collegiate Dictionary once a decade, starts selling its 11th edition Tuesday. The edition has 10,000 new words and 100,000 new meanings and revisions. New words include...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 1, 2003... ** The blood pressure of a spouse who asks for changes in a marriage often spikes during heated talks, which could eventually lead to heart disease if it's a recurring event, U.S. researchers found. ** Most U.S. men showed an...

It's Quicker Than E-Mail.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
July 1, 2003... Byline: Nick Turner 7 As instant messaging spreads, it's prompting the same question that e-mail did 10 years ago: Is this technology making us more or less productive? To be sure, instant messaging can be a handy way to send quick...

Ben Franklin, Communicator; Build Bridges: His ability to network helped put our nation on its feet.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
July 1, 2003... Byline: DAN MOREAU It was 1776, and Ben Franklin had a lot riding on his journey to France that year. Helping represent his country during a three-man mission to Paris, Franklin knew their success would mean the difference between the...

Intel Raises The Server Chip Ante With New Itanium.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 1, 2003... Byline: JAMES DETAR Intel Corp. has long ruled the PC processor universe, standing far above all of its challengers combined. But that's not been the case in the server field. Yes, Intel sells more server chips than anyone. But it...

NEC Unveils Methanol-Powered Notebook.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 1, 2003... Byline: AP Japanese computer giant NEC Corp. Monday revealed a prototype of a laptop computer that runs on a methanol fuel cell instead of a rechargeable battery, and said it will start selling it next year. A number of other firms are...

HP Sees Business Users Taking To The Grid; Grid Is "Middleware'; HP says its software can respond to more services requests than rival gear.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
July 1, 2003... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA Grid computing ties thousands of computers together in powerful, self-managing networks. Plenty of big tech firms are harnessing that power for clients. Greg Astfalk, Hewlett-Packard Co.'s top technology...

Gear Prevents Network Break-Ins; More Than Detecting; Computer security firms eager to show expertise in these new products.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 1, 2003... Byline: DONNA HOWELL Software that detects or prevents network intrusion sounds like a good thing -- until false alarms swamp your IT staff, or legitimate network traffic gets blocked. Intrusion detection systems have earned a bad...

Competition Heats Up For New Cancer Drugs.(THE NEW AMERICA)(Q & A)
July 1, 2003... Byline: GLORIA LAU The fight against cancer has taken plenty of turns through the years. One thing has remained constant, however: there's still no cure. Targeted drugs don't cure cancer, either. But they do have at least one...

WILSON GREATBATCH TECHNOLOGIES INC. Clarence, New York; Medical Battery Maker Seeks A Jump-Start.(THE NEW AMERICA)
July 1, 2003... Byline: KIRK SHINKLE When you're the dominant player in your industry, it's a challenge not to grow complacent. That doesn't seem to be a problem for the folks at Wilson Greatbatch Technologies Inc., however. The Clarence,...

Which Index Fund Is Right For You? Two Types Look Alike S&P 500 and Total Stock Market nose each other out in various periods.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(THE BASICS)
July 1, 2003... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN Finding a stock fund that has outperformed the market is easy, but finding one that will outperform is a tougher -- many say, an impossible -- task. Some funds outperform in one period, but then lag in another....

"Cowboy' Economics.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
July 1, 2003... Europe: Germany's Gerhard Schroeder wants to accelerate tax cuts to get his nation's economy going again. Sounds eerily familiar, doesn't it? The German economy has had a rough three years. It's basically not growing, as the chart shows,...

Pirate Ethics.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
July 1, 2003... Music: Call it heavy-handed, but the record industry is properly defending property rights. The Internet's a wonderful thing, but it does not grant a license to steal. We hate to sound unhip, but we're starting to feel sorry for the suits....

LETTERS.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)
July 1, 2003... An FDA Alternative? While it may be true that the Canadian government's price controls are partly to blame for the prescription drug price differentials between the U.S. and Canada, your call for deregulation in "Drugs And Trade"...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Quarter's End Spikes Volume, Not Dow, S&P.(MAKING MONEY)
July 1, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI Some end-of-quarter window-dressing near the end of Monday's session spiked volume in an otherwise quiet day for NYSE stocks. The S&P 500 fell 0.2%, the Dow less than 0.1%. Volume stayed light throughout the day,...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
July 1, 2003... 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...

Terror Woes Can't Halt Airline's Solid Growth.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
July 1, 2003... Byline: David Saito-Chung ExpressJet Holdings has galloped nearly 140% since diving to an all-time low of 6.26 in mid-March. The stock is now approaching its all-time high of 17.40, when the stock debuted on April 18 of last year. The...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Slips 0.2%; Chinese Net Portals Surge.(B)
July 1, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW The Nasdaq edged down Monday as fund managers reshuffled their portfolios to mark the quarter's end and the Russell index rebalancing. The composite index fell 0.2% on stronger trade, the Nasdaq 100 0.3%. Aceto...

Upside Trade Mounts For Internet Banker.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
July 1, 2003... Byline: Craig Shaw NetBank is rounding out a more than yearlong base. The stock's up/down volume ratio climbed from 0.8 to 2.1 the past two months as it logged a seven-week string of up weeks on above-average turnover. It's 9% off its...

Factory Activity Stalled In ISM's June Report; Details Signal Growth; Index Still Below Breakeven; Headline figure a bit shy, but economists point to new orders, output data.(A)
July 2, 2003... Byline: CHRISTINA WISE Manufacturing activity failed to turn positive in June, according to Tuesday's report from the Institute of Supply Management. But upticks in orders and production offered hope for the future. The ISM Purchasing...

Bigger Sales Now In Smaller Packages As Notebook PCs Surpassing Desktops; Changing Of The PC Guard.(A)
July 2, 2003... Byline: PATRICK SEITZ Personal computer owners are going mobile, moving to notebook PCs from desktop PCs in increasing numbers. In May, revenue from notebook PC sales passed that of desktop PCs at U.S. retail stores for the first time...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
July 2, 2003... Manufacturing Activity Stagnant 1 The ISM purchasers index edged up to 49.8 from 49.4 in May. Economists expected the index to rise above the boom-bust 50 line. But they were encouraged by gains in new orders and output. Meanwhile,...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... STARBUCKS' same-store June sales rose 10%, the best in seven months. Total sales for the cafe chain rose 27% to $410 mil. WESTWOOD ONE sees Q2 sales down in the midsingle digits due to soft ad sales. Profit will fall in the midteens, says...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... MEDICAL Guidant agrees to report defects The deal with the Dept. of Health and Human Services is a last step in the medical device maker's June 12 Justice Dept. settlement over the now-discontinued Ancure Endograft. The cardiovascular...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... FINANCE Tainted research suits dismissed Two federal judges threw out class action lawsuits brought by investors who blamed stock losses on research from analysts at four of Wall Street's biggest firms -- Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... MEDIA Vivendi draws up bidder short list The French media giant has cut oil billionaire and former media baron Marvin Davis from the running for its U.S. media assets, leaving five suitors. Sources say he wanted Universal Music, which...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... AEROSPACE AirTran buys up to 110 Boeing jets The low-fare airline ordered 10 Boeing 717s, at least 50 737-700 and -800 series planes and has options for 50 more. It's a $4 bil deal, an AirTran source said. It's a big win for Boeing,...

Gehrig At A Glance.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
July 2, 2003... Gehrig At A Glance Born: 1903 in New York City. Died: 1941 in New York City. Education: Attended Columbia University. Achievements: ** Played for the New York Yankees from 1923 to 1939. Considered one of the most talented...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... Chain-store sales off last week Same-store sales at big discount and department chains fell 0.5% from the prior week, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS said. Sales rose 1.1% vs. a year ago. Separately, Instinet Research said month-to-date...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... Axis Capital rose 16% to 25.55 on its first day of trading on the NYSE. The 2-year-old Bermuda-based insurer raised $473 mil in its IPO. GlaxoSmithKline pulled three patents related to its Paxil anti-depressant from the Orange Book, which...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... New rules issued for ports, ships People waiting to board passenger ships and ferries could face screening as at airports when the terror alert rises to orange, Homeland Security officials said. New rules would make owners of 4,121 domestic...

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... Massive protest hits Hong Kong Half a million people hit the streets to protest a planned anti-subversion law. It was Hong Kong's biggest demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. Protesters fear the law will undermine...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... Womb transplants 3 years away? Human womb transplants may be possible in 2 or 3 years, Swedish scientists said. They've produced two generations of mice from a transplanted womb. The first human candidates will be women born without a womb...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 2, 2003... ** At least 60,000 cancer deaths a year could be avoided if more Americans quit smoking, lose a little weight and start eating healthier, the Institute of Medicine said. ** People with gene CYP2A6del allele may find it hard to stop...

DON'T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT Put The Naysayers On Ice.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
July 2, 2003... Byline: Doug Tsuruoka 8 Even wild ideas can work if they're executed well. Everyone thought Frederic Tudor was nuts in 1805 when he tried to get rich by shipping ice from New England to the tropics. Tudor loved offbeat ideas. He...

Lou Gehrig's Iron Will To Win; Strive Every Day: The baseball great helped power the Yankees to their dynasty.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
July 2, 2003... Byline: MICHAEL MINK Whether baseball legend or a new kid on the job, there's one thing everyone has to guard against: complacency. And we'd all do well to remember it, said Lou Gehrig. "My success came from one word -- hustle,"...

Cox Dialing Into Internet Telephony Field; Its Phone Service Is Gaining; Cable firm might become bigger threat to the Bells by pushing Voice over IP.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 2, 2003... Byline: REINHARDT KRAUSE Cox Communications Inc.'s drive to sell phone services is moving into stage two: Internet calling. Cox leads other U.S. cable firms in making phone services available to its customers. More than 40% of Cox's...

Firms Build Interest In Internet Banking; Hitting "Critical Mass'; A Salt Lake credit union finds the online service registers on Main Street.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 2, 2003... Byline: J. BONASIA Wondering if Internet banking has gone mainstream? Look no further than the Mountain America Credit Union in Salt Lake City. One-third of Mountain America's members have banked online at least once in the past six...

Systems Are In Place, So Nontech Officials Have More Influence.(THE NEW AMERICA)(Q & A)
July 2, 2003... Byline: AMY REEVES Ever since the tech meltdown started in 2000, information technology companies have wondered when demand was going to come back. Or if it ever would. Tom Willmott, president and chief executive of research firm...

AEROPOSTALE INC. New York, New York; Youth Will Be Served At Teen-Oriented Chain.(THE NEW AMERICA)
July 2, 2003... Byline: MARILYN ALVA Teens might make some merchants cringe, but if you consider the demographics of this finicky and fickle group, retailers such as Aeropostale Inc. have to love them. Take their sheer numbers. In 2000, when the last...

Top Brass Slow To Embrace Instant Message Technology; Explaining IM Benefits.(A)
July 2, 2003... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON Instant messaging is a rare technology. Executives and teen-agers have declared it a "killer application." More than 200 million Internet users subscribe to an instant messaging service, mostly for free. AOL Time...

Growth Managers: Pickings Are Slim; Guardedly Optimistic; Janus' Blaine Rollins tells Morningstar audience fast-sales growth is rare.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)
July 2, 2003... Byline: KEN HOOVER Fund managers who focus on growth stocks say that even though they're beating value funds this year, they're struggling to find good picks. It's a result of a three-year bear market and a recession that has damaged...

It's Starting To Rain.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
July 2, 2003... Budgets: As a new financial year begins, states have another chance to put their fiscal houses in order. But to do so, they'll first have to understand their mistakes. States ended fiscal 2003 in their worst shape in decades, swamped with...

Summertime Blues.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
July 2, 2003... Natural Gas: With supplies at roughly their lowest point since the energy-starved 1970s, expect lawmakers to hatch a surplus of solutions over the summer. Just don't expect many sensible answers. History is littered with problems caused by...

South Africa President Takes (Wrong) Cues From The EU.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(VIEWPOINT)
July 2, 2003... Byline: MARIAN L. TUPY Just when it seemed that everyone recognized the growing economic problems of the European Union, an unlikely admirer surfaced to say otherwise. South African President Thabo Mbeki used the International Labor...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE NYSE Stocks Reverse From Early Declines.(MAKING MONEY)
July 2, 2003... Byline: DAVID SAITO-CHUNG The S&P 500 went from a 1.3% intraday drop to finish up 0.8% Tuesday. The Dow, also down 1.3%, rebounded 0.6%. NYSE volume ran higher throughout the session compared with Monday, but ended lower due to Monday's...

Analyze, Profit From IBD's Market Charts.(GENERAL MARKET & SECTORS)
July 2, 2003... 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...

Assets Keep Growing At Money Manager.(B)(NYSE STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
July 2, 2003... Byline: David Saito-Chung Legg Mason bounded out of a long base on May 6 in heavy volume and rose 18% over the next four weeks. Since June 3, the stock has consolidated its gains the past five weeks. The Baltimore-based asset manager,...

THE REAL MOST ACTIVE Nasdaq Reverses Course To Close Ahead 1.1%.(B)
July 2, 2003... Byline: CRAIG SHAW An afternoon surge lifted the Nasdaq to a 1.1% gain Tuesday after the index spent most of the day in negative territory. The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.3%. Volume was below average. Marvell Technology Group logged a 52-week...

Electronic Trading Firm Bolsters Profit Margin.(B)(NASDAQ STOCKS IN THE NEWS)
July 2, 2003... Byline: Craig Shaw ESpeed closed Tuesday within 3% of its 52-week high. The stock has marked up weeks on above-average trade four of the past five weeks. It's held above its 50-day moving average the past three months. The electronic...

Despite Q2 Warnings, Analysts Say Growth May Be Around Corner; Watch For Effects Of Tax Cut; Tech warnings are down, perhaps a sign spending in the sector is improving.(A)
July 3, 2003... Byline: JONAH KERI PeopleSoft, Westwood One and Baxter International have joined the swelling ranks of firms preannouncing or telegraphing earnings as the second quarter winds to a close. Investors, meanwhile, try to gauge the market's...

GOP Dominating Fund-Raising Due To Campaign Finance Law; New soft money ban hurting "fat cat' Dems, helps "little guy' GOP.(A)
July 3, 2003... Byline: SEAN HIGGINS Last year's McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform was expected to help Democrats and hurt Republicans. But the big winners so far are Republicans. At every level, the GOP is outpacing, sometimes crushing, the...

IBD'S TOP 10.(A)
July 3, 2003... Stocks Surge On Heavy Volume 1 The Nasdaq led the charge, leaping 2.4% to close just below its 52-week high on volume above Tuesday's level and its 50-day average. The S&P 500 climbed 1.2%, the Dow 1.1% in higher NYSE trade. Contract...

AFTER THE CLOSE.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... THE FCC released its final media ownership rules. They loosen caps on cross-ownership of TV, radio and newspaper outlets, drawing the ire of lawmakers. DOCUMENTUM will miss Q2 views by a penny with 7 cents a share ex-items, with early results...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... BUSINESS PRACTICES "Do not call' fallout: more spam? Reports say telemarketers are looking to new outlets for their sales pitches in the wake of the national opt-out registry for calls. Though some of the biggest direct marketers --...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... MEDICAL Baxter cuts guidance, 2,500 jobs In its third warning in four months, the medical device maker sees $1.95 to $2.05 a share for '03 ex-items, 7% below its April target. Analysts saw $1.99. Baxter will cut 26 blood plasma...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... FINANCE Judge drops case against Merrill A judge dismissed a case by investors in Merrill Lynch's Global Technology Fund that alleged the fund's prospectus didn't disclose material facts and analysts issued misleading research on...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... MEDIA Vivendi suitors told to raise offers The French media giant wants $11 bil or more for its U.S. entertainment assets, minus its music unit, in the second round of bidding. Front-runners include Liberty Media, MGM and Viacom, with...

THE ECONOMY.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... Mortgage demand rises in week The Mortgage Bankers Association of America's gauge of applications rose 5.2% last week to 1,635.5. It could be a last hurrah of home buyers and owners looking to lock in low rates as they start to move...

IN BRIEF.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... HSBC will cut 1,400 jobs in its U.K. head office due to a weak economy and higher costs. The bank expects half of them to occur via natural turnover, with the rest a mix of voluntary and forced layoffs. USB analyst Howard Capek quit after...

NATION.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... Travel firms target security rules The Travel Industry Association of America urged airlines, hotels and cruise lines to write letters to the White House and members of Congress against new rules to keep terrorists from entering the U.S....

WORLD.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... Saudis arrest bombing suspect The man, Zafer Abdul Rahman al-Shihri, was wanted for helping 19 men carry out the May 12 attack on foreign housing compounds in Riyadh, the Saudi capital. Nine attackers and 25 bystanders died in the attack....

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... Biofood needed to fight hunger Efforts to cut global hunger in half by 2015 will be thwarted by war, drought and runaway population growth without major investment in agricultural development such as biotech, the Consultative Group on...

TRENDS & INNOVATIONS.(TO THE POINT)
July 3, 2003... ** Men who have a good relationship with their mothers tend to make good husbands or boyfriends, researchers said at an American Psychological Society meeting. ** Chilean scientists are seeking int'l help to identify a 40-foot-long,...

DEAL WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY The Power Of Persuasion.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(IBD'S 10 SECRETS TO SUCCESS)
July 3, 2003... Byline: Cord Cooper 9 As commander in chief, he led the effort that toppled Saddam Hussein. He prosecuted a war that removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan. And he has galvanized Americans. Though the strength of the...

He'd Not Yet Begun To Fight; Aim High: John Paul Jones' focus helped the new American nation sail to victory.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)
July 3, 2003... Byline: CURT SCHLEIER The way John Paul Jones saw it, you should do something 100% right or you shouldn't do it at all. More than anything, he wanted to be a naval officer. As a child, he'd pretended to be admiral of a fleet of...

Tech Vendors Taking Aim At The Middle; May Be The Strongest Sector; Midsize corporate market emerging as prized target for sellers of tech wares.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 3, 2003... Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA Big companies long drove tech spending. Then small gained beauty during the dot-com boom, as tech providers sold to mom and pops, and start-ups racing to get up on the Web. And today? With big companies cutting...

Corporate Data Costs Could See A Decrease; Key Is Format "Merge'; Two incompatible ways to store digital content might work in harmony.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)
July 3, 2003... Byline: BRIAN DEAGON The data storage industry next year will shift into a new phase that could help companies lower costs without sacrificing performance. The idea is to get two now-incompatible disk drive technologies to work...

Wireless Services Require A Bridging Of Networks.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)
July 3, 2003... Byline: MIKE ANGELL Bill Plummer watched his 10-year-old daughter in gym class as she executed a new backward handspring. His wife wasn't there to enjoy the moment. So Plummer used the built-in camera on his Nokia phone to record the...

FLAGSTAR BANCORP INC. Troy, Michigan; Expansion Gives Bank A Chance To Grab Customers From Big Boys.(THE NEW AMERICA)
July 3, 2003... Byline: AMY REEVES We've all been there. You have to get to the bank after work, but something keeps you late and it's closed. Flagstar Bancorp Inc. sees opportunity in your frustration. It keeps an edge on larger rivals by operating...

Can Junk Bonds Maintain Heady Pace?; A Slowdown Is Expected; But some managers see decent returns ahead as economy improves.(MUTUAL FUNDS)(INVESTMENT TRENDS)
July 3, 2003... Byline: MURRAY COLEMAN High-yield bond funds are on a tear. But is it too late for investors to jump on the bandwagon? "The Federal Reserve's move to drop interest rates on Treasuries to 45-year lows is a definite plus for high-yield...

California Explained.(ISSUES & INSIGHTS)(EDITORIALS)
July 3, 2003... Politics: It may look like chaos from afar, but what's really going on in the Golden State is the rebirth of the two-party system. Republicans are finally taking a stand. Contrary to what you may have heard on the other coast, the state of...