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Show BUSINESS EDITOR: NANCY BLISS C9 2 THE DAILY HERALD POSITIVE STRUGGLES' 11 have been purchased by a Nashville-basefledgling hospital company. IASIS bought Salt Lake Regional Medical Center, Pioneer Valley Hospital, Jordan Valley Hospital and the Davis Hospital and Medical Center from Paracelsus Healthcare Corp., based in Houston. It also bought and plans to reopen Paracelsus Regional d Harvey Mackay Teamwork is no more than internal networking S ytelfi) tospBtaBs (SwpsiDny buoys SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Five Wasatch Front hospitals Hospital in Salt Lake City. "We're pleased to be coming out of the chute with a group of hospitals of such stature," said Wayne Cower, CEO of IASIS, who expects the $280 million deal to close before the end of November, barring complications. Equity funding for the deal was put together by Joseph Littlejohn and Levy, a New York investment firm. Purchase of the five hospitals with a total of 640 beds is The women's World Cup provided an incredible show this summer, with the soccer championship game against China determined by a shootout. In the end, we'll remember the American women: triumphant despite their underdog status, crediting each other and their team effort for their unexpected victory. Sports are a natural example of the importance of teamwork. the first transaction for the IASIS, which has a senior management group that has worked with other year-ol- d hospital-ownershi- compa- p nies. Cower said. "We would not perceive a substantial change initially, said Gower. He said the company's executives will spend 30 to 60 days getting acquainted with each facility, its staff and the community and establish a strategic business plan accordingly. us with heart-stoppin- g ALL. im one-fift- Alp, Pi V tii ram, urn h . Car dealers have this down to a science. The fellow who sold me my last few cars makes a point of introducing me to the service manager, ,who assures me that he's there for any follow-uproblems. ; Then the two of them explain the warranty, the service schedule, and "avail themselves to answer any questions I might still have. Within a few days I have an exuberant, note of thanks from the owner of the dealership, who is hoping I'll want to be a customer for life. p unloading gear and setting up a tent. Two kids then rushed off with their dad to gather firewood, and two others helped their mother set up the camp stove and cooking utensils. A nearby camper marveled to the father, That is some impressive display of teamwork." "Actually," the father replied, "I have a system. No one goes to the bathroom until camp is set up." Mackay's Moral: Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Harvey Mackay is the chairman and CEO of Mackay Envelope Corp. and can be con- tacted at harveymackay.com. thing we do not do is go in and make changes just for change's sake," he said. "We are committed to the market for the long term." Deborah Frankovich, senior vice president and treasurer for Paracelsus, said the sale allows the company to reduce its debt without forcing shareholders to take a hit, and also benefits IASIS. "The buyer has an opportunity to purchase a large and profitable market in a transaction," single Frankovich said. Paracelsus still owns H hospitals in eight states, although five that the company has deemed are not its "core operations" are still up for sale. Paracelsus acquired tho five Utah hospitals in August 1996 when it merged with Champion Healthcare Corp. Used booksellers thrive online booksellers independent books lose new marketing The Seattle Times and ground to chains of secsellers Amazon.com, Fox Wash. TACOMA, books ondhand to he appear Books, in downtown Tacoma, Twenty thriving. ago, years Wash., was a typical used bookstore: Perhaps 30,000 the Seattle yellow pages volumes, a few of them rare offered 31 listings under "Books, used and rare." This but most common and forgettable, all jammed onto pine year, there were 108. dealers enjoy shelves in a dusty storefront. low startmany advantages: And there wasn't a comand costs, up operating in they puter sight. in A few weeks ago, a team of can thrive movers showed up, packed all neighborhoods, and they can those books and carted them cater to narrow markets. In off to Powell's City of Books Seattle, shops specialize in r manuin Portland, Oregon. poetry or Now those volumes are for als or comic books. The Internet makes the sale on the Internet, ready for shipping to a reader in task of getting a rare book Indiana or South Carolina into the hands of a says desperate for that obscure buyer more Mark Wessel of the Wessel volume on Carl Jung. and Lieberman bookshop in Used and rare bookstores have been swept up in the Seattle's Pioneer Square. "We've always cataloged Internet revolution. And leadour books," he says. "When is the a Powell's, ing way Pacific Northwest institution computers came along, we that keeps breaking all the cataloged them on computrules and getting away with it. ers. And when the Internet At first glance, no business was launched, it was easy to seems more antithetical to add those files to a database computers and the Internet and start selling online." In June, for example, he than secondhand books. sell a after grossed $5,000 in Internet Bookstores, all, sales far more than his inrentechnology ostensibly dered obsolete by computers. shop sales. The Web has They are Gutenberg's idea worked so well that some trying to eke out a living in shops have closed down to sell exclusively on the the Age of Gates. But look again. While Internet. ' k n auto-repai- far-flun- g do-abl- - GREG GILBERTSeattle Times Cyber sales: Bill Kiesel sorts inventory at the Wessel & Lieberman bookshop in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Small bookstores, like this one, can reach buyers across the country by making their entire inventory available for sale online. Stocks slide as interest rate concerns prevail By EILEEN GLANTON AP Business Writer YORK While Internet stocks soared on the of a strong promise marbroader the Christmas, ket slumped Wednesday due to a more immediate event, a NEW rate interest possible increase next week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 125.70 to close at 10,991.38. YOUR FRIENDLY neighborhood ;bank is another example of the team model, even if it is part of a multidollar financial national, multi-billio- n organization. All those friendly folks will set you up with a credit card that's accepted all over the world. They'll manage your portfolio. They'll record all your transactions on one tidy statement. This story says it all: The loaded minivan pulled into the only remaining campsite. Four youngsters leaped from the vehicle and began feverishly make changes run-dow- pionships." ing. will Used-boo- . MICHAEL'S BUDDY Magic Johnson, retired Los Angeles Lakers star, put it this way: "Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask U h ' t Tftj nan Ac fnv irruit" foam. mates." (Does that sound a little familiar?) Their advice extends far beyond 'the sports arena. Your company either functions as a team or it's headed for the showers. Teamwork is a favorite slogan, but is unwittingly shunned by many people in business because they are deathly afraid of it. They think it will render them anonymous, invisible. My networking research absolutely disproves this attitude. Teamwork is nothing more than internal network- "We that are appropriate. The By ROSS ANDERSON . Probably the greatest individual player in basketball history, Michael Jordan, never forgot that he was only of the effort at any time. In "I Can't Accept Not Trying," Jordan wrote, "There are i i rx i pieniy oi teams in every sport mat have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team.... One thing 1 believe to the fullest is that if you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win cham- - I") HU'RSDAY. Al (.1 M Broader stock indicators ended lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 11.32 to 1,332.84. The Nasdaq composite index contained its losses, dropping 13.49 to also technolo- gy-dominated 2,657.73, as Dell and many Internet issues rose sharply. Concerns that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to prevent inflation from accelerating have hurt stocks and bonds over the past month, dragging market indicators well below the records reached July 16. Now, analysts believe the market may not be able to sustain any new rallies until after Aug. 24, when the Fed will announce its decision on a rate hike. Higher rates can make stocks less appealing by cutting into corporate profits. They also can turn investors toward bonds, which offer a guaranteed, stable rate .of return. "In the current climate, it will be difficult for the market to go much higher," said Robert Robbins, senior vice president and market strate- gist at The Robinson-Humphre- y Atlanta. "It will crawl and claw its way up if it goes up at all." Earlier this week, stocks did edge higher, helped along Tuesday by a moderate report on consumer prices that suggested the Fed may restrict its action to a one point rates. increase in short-terBut Wednesday, with no new data to affect trading, buyers backed off. Co. Inc. in quarter-percentag- e AT&T files complaints against U S West By ROBERT WELLER Associated Press Writer AT&T Corp. DENVER filed complaints against U S West Inc. with regulators in five states Wednesday, alleging the Baby Bell is ignoring telephone customers to steal a bigger share of the high-stake- s multimedia market. AT&T has built a nationwide communications network by acquiring or partnering with four of the country's biggest cable TV companies, including the MediaOne Group' Inc. Several consumer groups have urged federal regulators to require AT&T to open its cable lines to other companies to offer Internet and other services or reject the deal. Meanwhile, U S West is merging with Denver neigh- bor Qwest Communications International Inc. The new company would be a major rival to AT&T in providing telephone, Internet and cable services. Against this backdrop, AT&T and U S West spent Wednesday lobbing barbs at one another after AT&T filed complaints with regulators in Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, New Mexico and Washington. AT&T accused U S West deliberately failing to adequately invest in its facilities; refusing to build needed facilities; and favoring itself and its affiliates when it does invest in the network. U S West "has made it impossible for AT&T to provide timely, quality services to many Ianna said. customers Kevin Smith, U S West vice president for Colorado, said U S West completes requested work for AT&T on time 80 to 94 percent of the time while its competitor meets deadlines only 72 percent of the time. The complaints were simply a case of AT&T simply running scared, he added. Escalating crude demand raising prices at gas pumps By SALLIE L. GAINES Chicago Tribune The corner gas station is a tool for teaching Economics 101. What's happening to pump prices is a simple example of supply and demand. The national average for regular unleaded was $1,174 a gallon in July, the highest since December 1997, the terrific national AAA said. Rising gasoline prices also were a major factor in the 0.3 bers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have cut back proj duction to support higheij prices, he added. Today, crude prices at highs iri ncaring world trading. . In the short term, price's will also get a boost caused by Monday's earthquake in Turkey. That quake, which killed almost 1,200 people, disrupted oil supply chains that run out of that country. Another short-terprob lem is a Chevron Corp. pipeline from the Gulf Coast' percent increase in the Consumer Price Index, the of Texas to Ohio that went! Commerce Department said out of operation this weekj," Tuesday. Nationally, gasoline said Ben Brockwell, editor of! prices rose 4.3 percent in the Oil Price Information July, the government said. Service in Brick, N.J. That "It's the crude oil price," pipeline generally delivers explained John Lichtblau, about 210,000 barrels of day chairman of the Petroleum to the Midwest, he said. Research Industry While an accurate picture Foundation in New York. "If of current prices hasn't been r you put it on a painted yet, the Oil Price basis, the crude oil price has Information Service has gone up as much as $7 a barsome early figures based on rel; that's about 17 cents a its survey of individual comgallon. That has been passed panies. through" to customers at the "It looks like, over the past pump. couple of months, prices have Demand for crude has gone up 12 to 15 cents," increased in recent months Brockwell said. "Most of that as the U.S. economy continincrease has come in the last ues to boom and Asian 10 days to two weeks." nations recover from recesBut Lichtblau cautions need to sion, Lichtblau said. The that motorists United States is the world's remember prices were just as a year ago at top user of petroleum. At the same time, mem the low end. year-to-yea- g |
