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Show I., i. - ,rt, B Financial Markets Mutual Funds B10-B1-1 0 Local Business B11 l O B9-B1- 1 I,,., .. r Q Tk I 1 rl LLJ LJICi j X I 1 1 I rl" H1 1 I i.h.i, m ii jlC OD C5J Uj lj NYSE Performance of key 1 Percent change Amsterdam i! 583 57 j ! S&P500 AMEX i NASDAQ Previous dose Milan 04 9890 rjfj Frankfurt i 2699 53 Hong Kong A. f Unchanged: Total issues: 3,254 7', MARKETS 508,106,160 422,90940 Bnssets i ?ff 2108215 Zurich London 0 j 2S46 7 fff Tokyo 0.4 12492 37 02 900 2148 86 Sydney j .1.3 1,236 I hrO.1 0.8 NYSE Diary j Paris 161015 01 SiPMidCap stock markets 0-- Brussels 1995 avg. comp. vol.: - Jury awards Digit ran sharehold ers $13 millioii i 19 DOW(Indusma)s) Composite volume: PS4- Friday, October 25, tS86 . r.larfcet in brief Declioes: - IHC The Daily Herald October 24. iiiiir.i 1F i """h O 1 in,,, 40284 jj 3742.9 j 0.3 Anwetdam CBSie snares perietal Hang Bel 20 Fnnkiwt DAX Hong Kong London FT 100 Pans CAC-4- 0 Seng 1yo Nxe, Syoney Al Oxtnanes Zuncti Oedt Suisse na hoboay Mian M:8 na not avaaDle Shareholders of SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Digitran Systems have won a roughly $13 million victory over the Logan-base- d truck and crane simulator manufacturer and its former president but it is not yet known how much they actually will be able to collect. A U.S. District Court jury on Thursday sided w ith shareholders Gregory McEwen and Larry lawsuit Parker, who in 1993 led a class-actio- n against the company and its president at the time, Donald Gallant. The company plans to ask the verdict against the company be set aside. McEwen had accused company executives of securities fraud and misstating revenues. The suit alleged the company's 1992 sales of $66 million included $1.4 million in sales of simulators not yet manufactured, delivered or paid for. Rick Knuth, one of the attorneys who represented shareholders, said it was unclear bow much shareholders will be able to collect from the company. "We'll be talking with management about that," he said. "The company remains in business and is selling simulators. We hope to be able to reach an accommodation with them." , The jury found Digitran Systems Inc., the company's operating arm Digitran Inc. and Gallant to be liable for the damages. Diettran's current too executive. Loretta Tre" vers, formerly Loretta Gallant, was cleared of any wrongdoing, as were other executives and the company's accounting finn at the time. the with has who company ; stayed Everyone and worked to keep it afloat these past three years was exonerated, Trevers said. She said the jury's verdict reconfirms the company's action in 1994 when it discharged Donald Gallant for acting beyond the scope of ; his duties. "We intend to file a motion to set aside the ' verdict against the company in light of the jury " findings that Donald Gallant was pimariiy responsible," Trevers said. ' Jobless benefit claims decline The WASHINGTON (AP) number of American workers filclaims for jobless ing first-tim- e benefits unexpectedly fell by 22,000 last week to the lowest level in nearly two months. The Labor Department said today that new applications for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 320,000, the smallest since 317,000 during the w eek ended Aug. 3 . The decline was the largest since claims dropped by 27,000 during the week ended July 27. Despite the Columbus Day holiday, which left fewer days for laid-of- f w orkers to apply for benefits, many analysts had expected little change in the number of new claims last week. Some predicted the total would continue to reflect the ripple effect in the United States of a Canadian autoworkers strike against General Motors Corp. that has been settled Others contended slower job' growth would keep the number! from moderating appreciably. The 342,000 new claims during the week ended Oct 12 also was 1 OREM k Trading Company and Bead Emporium Spar-haw- will celebrate its Grand Opening Saturday at 44 N. 1200 West in Orem, beginning at 10 a.m. The Grand Opening will feature Native American dancing, flute r, playing and story-tellin- g by refreshments and drawings for special door prizes. The public is welcome to attend the Grand Opening. Sparhawk Trading Company is a new company formed from the former Sparhawk leather Company and The Bead Peddler. The company will deal in beads, leather products, period clothing, black powder supplies. Native American jewelry, hand-mad- e crafts, ceramics and pottery. For more information about the Grand Opening call Sparkhawk Trading Company at Morn-ingsta- 229-790- 0. SALT LAKE CITY Mason Oil Co. Inc. (Nasdaq BB: MSNO) completed a purchase agreement with Paul B. Ingram and John L. Naylor, the controlling shareholders, in which the company exchanged six million shares of common stock for 100 percent of the common stock owned by Ingram and Naylor in corporations which own 100 percent of the exploration rights in large South Australian potential oil and gas reserves. Ingram and Naylor have additionally invited several major drilling contractors and operators to bid on "turnkey" exploration drilling, and estimated costs and time factors for conducting these operations directly. off-sho- re Utah Synfuel No. 1. LEHI Covol Technologies' first full scale coal fines processing facility in Price, initiated the start-u- p phase Oct. 19. Start-u- p began at 7 p.m. MDT Sunday evening, with the processing of 50 tons of coal fines. The heart of the plant is a 360,000 ton per year extruder manufactured by & Sons J.C. Steele Inc.. StatesviHe. N.C. Covol Technologies Inc. (OTC BB: CVOL) is a technology development company focused on recycling yesterday's waste into tomorrow's resources. SALT LAKE CITY Stephen M. Studdert, chairman and chief executive officer of fonix corp. announced FONX), (Nasdaq: Thursday that the company has received the public apology from Series 7 licensed stockbroker, Trent Ridd, who uses the pseudonym "WilleyTRa" for his Internet postings. In his apology, Mr. Ridd admitted that his statements made on the Internet concerning the company were wrong and totally inappropriate, and cast officers and directors of fonix in a misleading light. As part of his apology, Mr. Ridd is purchasing shares of the company's stock in open market transactions, which stock will be held in a voting trust. The company has settled its claims against Mr. Ridd and has accepted his apology. Ther-aTec- h SALT LAKE CITY Inc. (Nasdaq: THRT) Thursday announced initiation of a multi-cente- r, phase II clinical a new approach for assess to study WASHINGTON CITY Golf treating surgically menopausal Ventures Inc. (OTC BB: GVIM), women who experience sexual developer of golf courses, golf dysfunction. communities and related real estate, The treatment uses an experiannounced Thursday that Granite mental skin patch, developed by Construction Inc. has completed TheraTech, to administer low, approximately 85 percent of the physiological doses of the natural mass dirt movement, under its conhormone testosterone to women. tract to perform, cuts and fills and TheraTech Inc., headquartered lake excavation at Golf Ventures' in Salt Lake City, is a leader in Red Hawk International the development of innovative golf course in Washington City. based on controlled Granite should complete onsite products release drug delivery technolosewer installation by Oct. 30. When it is completed, Red gies, which it develops indepenHawk International will have 945 dently as well as with corporate building sites surrounding the golf partners. course. See Highlights, Page Bit 27-ho- le Briefly Dow down 43, dips below 6,000 for the first time in two weeks U.S. stocks NEW YORK ended the day lower in a session swayed by program trading that put the Dow Jones Industrial Averride. age on a roller-coastThe market was hit by a sell program around 1500 ET, according to Birinyi Associates, a Greenwich, Conn., firm that tracks market activity. But stocks had bounced off its lows earlier in the session thanks to buy programs at other times during the day, with the last one at 1407 ET, the firm ' said. The Dow finished down 43 points at 5992, its first close below 6000 in nearly two weeivS, after fluctuating within a range. index slipped in The blue-chi- p er 49-poi- nt the last hour of trading and was less than three points away at one stage from the New York Stock Exchange imposing curbs on computer-driven program trading. Broader market indices closed lower, with the NASDAQ composite down 0.88 at 1227.00, the NYSE composite down 2.13 at 373.78, and the S&P 500 down 4.98 at 702.29. , Analysts characterized Thursday's activity as a healthy consolidation following the market's sharp climb from September and into early October. The market had not corrected on its advancement by no more than 3 percent at one stretch, they said, and it is simply with this playing catch-u- p 2,000 more than originally estimated. The four-wee-k moving average of new weekly jobless claims fell by 5,000 to 331,250, lowest since 328,750 during the period ended Sept. 21. ' n A 6 I ft j 1 ' - N - AP Photo Going Solo rushes to mount a soft top to Daihat- - can speed up to 28 mph end is capable of 22 mpft y as rain starts to driving after a futi battery ctwraing. Seen at right su's electric vehicle pour during a trial run at Automotive Advanced in the background is Ethos 3 EV, another electric Technology Expo in Tokyo today. The tiny single- - vehicle (ehray designed by Kafy's Plnirsffirina and; seater, available at 1.4 million yen (U.S. $12,400), Unique Mobility Inc. of Cotorado. An official Mini-Swa- - 5,000 more GM workers idled, waiting for parts' By BRIAN S. AKRE AP Auto Writer DETROIT Thousands of General Motors workers in the United States and Mexico can't return to their jobs even though the GM strike in Canada has ended. They must first wait for Canadian parts to arrive. GM on Thursday temporarily closed its 5,000-workplant in Lordstown, Ohio, because the Chevrolet Cavaliers and Pontiac Sunfires assembled there are made with parts from Canada. It could take three weeks before the returning Canadian workers make enough parts to put er U.S. workers back on the job. At the sprawling Buick City complex in ' Flint, northwest of Detroit, assembly operations may cease as soon as Monday because of the parts shortage. The Canadian Auto Workers union's strike against GM ended Wednesday when workers conoverwhelmingly ratified a new three-yetract. Most of the CAW's 26.300 members at GM were heading back to work at all but two of GM's Canadian plants; a total of 33 U.S. plants remained at least partially shut. The total number of GM workers on layoff in the United States and Mexico is roughly 23,800. ar GM spokesman Tom Klipstine said theH Lordstown plant is expected to be idle for a'' couple of weeks. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers is try-- "' ing to bring its contract negotiations with the' GM, Ford Motor Co. and Big Three to an end. The parties faced Chrysler Corp. the same issue that led to the strike in Canada:outsourcing, or the practice of contracting outl suppliers. parts work to outside, lower-cos- t ;s j - The UAW has made no strike threats and has ; settled the Ford and Chrysler contracts, leaving GM. The CAW settled with Chrysler and plans ' '4 to begin talks with Ford on Monday. ' Durable goods orders post steepest increase in years;; WASHINGTON (AP) Orders to U.S. factories for durable goods shot up 4.6 percent in September, the steepest jump in nearly four years, raising new questions about the extent to which the economy is slowing. The Commerce Department said today that much of the advance was due to a rebound in volatile aircraft orders. But excluding the transportation component, orders were up 0.9 percent, the fifth increase in the last six months. Orders totaled a seasonally adjusted $174.1 billion, a record, compared with $166.4 billion in August. It was the largest increase since a 7.8 percent jump in December 1992. Durable goods include items such as appliances and aircraft big-tick- et expected to last more than three years. Many analysts had expected only a 1.7 percent increase in orders, a key gauge of the nation's manufacturing sector. Gains could mean increased production and more jobs. Federal Reserve officials have warned they may have to raise interest rates if the economy does not slow from its robust pace during the April-Jun- e quarter. They fear a strong economy could ignite a new round of inflation. The increase was just the fourth this year. The reports are volatile and have bounced back and forth each month since March. Still, orders for the year were 5.9 percent above those of the same period in 1995. Transportation orders jumped 17.5 percent, the first increase since May and just the third this year. More than half of the increase was due to aircraft orders, but demand for automobiles also rose. Demand for communications gear helped boost orders for electronic and other electrical equipment 1.9 percent after falling 5.2 percent in August. But orders for industrial machinery and equipment declined 0.9 percent on top of an 0.8 percent dip a month earlier. Tickets for primary metals were down 1.7 percent after slipping 4 percent in August Orders for nonmilitary capital goods excluding aircraft rose 3.1 percent following a 4.9 percent ' drop in August and a 3.7 percent advance in July. ; These orders often are , a j barometer of business plans and modernize and have been a major source of economic j strength during the current expan- -' sion. nd J4 Military orders jumped 7.9; percent. Excluding this volatile, category, orders were up 4.5 per. cent. ,i Unfilled orders rose 0.7 percent ' the fourth increase in the last fiv6 months. A rising backlog could mean businesses will have to increase production and manpowet to meet demand. Shipments, a measure of current j activity, grew 1 .4 percent, the third ; : u consecutive increase. ! Report: High premiums for Medigap strap seniors By Chuck Hutchcraft Chicago Tribune CHICAGO Soaring premiums are threatening to squeeze senior citizens out of the market for supplemental Medicare or insurance, according to a report Medigap released Thursday. But the insurance industry said the premiums are going up only as fast as Medicare claims costs, suggesting that the federal pro'". gram is really to blame. In Illinois, premiums charged by one insurance company increased as much as 65 percent from 1995 to 1996, according to the report by Families USA, a national health advocacy group, released in conjunction with the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care and the Illinois State Council of Senior Citizens. Premiums charged by Prudential Insurance Co. of America, the largest single seller of Medigap coverage in the United States, increased an average of 32 percent in Illinois in the last year, the report found. Nationwide, Prudential's Medigap premiums rose 23 percent, according to the report. The report is paVt of a national study on premiums charged by Prudential and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in 35 states. Blue Cross and Blue Shield premiums rose by 10 percent or more in 151 of the 308 plans studied, according to the report. Seventy percent of senior citizens in the U.S. have supplemental Medicare insurance, which they purchase themselves or are provided by employers through retirement programs; 40 percent pay for supplemental insurance themselves. For many elderly people, these premium increases are straining their budgets. Those with savings and pensions may continue to make ends meet. But the insurance payments could pinch those who rely only on Social Security benefits, which have risen 2.6 percent annually in 1995 and 1996 and are set to go up 2.9 percent ' ; ; next year Further Medigap premium hikes are in store. Prudential on Thursday said it had pro1 j posed a 13 percent increase in Medicare sup- plement insurance for 1997, according to . Bloomberg Business News. j Prudential raised its Medigap rates an averU' 1 age of 30 percent last year. t Over the last five years, it has raised rates? for the supplemental coverage by an average " of 9 percent a year, the same rate claims costs have risen during tbajT period, Jerry Carey, a Prudential spokesman said. Prudential's 3.1 million Medigap policies; are sold through the American Association of i ! Retired Persons. ' . In September, AARP said it was canceling its $3.6 billion contract with Prudential after T' expires next year.A Blue Cross spokeswoman.? said the group was processing the figures IcJ ; the report to determine their accuracy. thai.-Medicar- - f 7 |