European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday March 25, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 17 one of the Best favored biotechnology stocks on the Market in recent years has been new Jersey based Merck amp co. The firm has built its reputation on High Quality research and by bringing new drugs to Market. It has brought 19 new drugs to Market in the last decade and is Active in research in the areas of cancer Bone disease and infectious diseases. The firm said last week that it will spend $1 billion on research and development in 1991, 17 percent More than last rates London up fridays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are expressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars Gold was quoted at $362.75 an ounce Silver at $3 98. March 21 March 22 British Pound. 1.7910 1.7895 German Mark 1.6415 1.6433 French franc. .5,5630 5.6045 dutch Guilder. 1.8335 1.8470 belgian franc. 33.66 33.92 italian lira 1,218 80 1,223 60 Swiss franc .1.4065 1.4055 greek drachma.175.85 17650 turkish lira 3,779.90 3,979 70 saudi arabian Riyal. 3.7502 3,7502 Spanish peseta .101.15 101.66 portuguese escudo 142.20 a 143.15 Canadian Dollar. .1,1563 1.1582 austrian Schilling. �?z�?z11.448 11 480 norwegian Krone. .6.3550 6.3840 danish Krone. 6.251 6.280 these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations. The Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this will be 1.60 through monday based on fridays noontime Price fixing. Fund manager finds Success making unorthodox moves by Carole Gould the new York times when Elizabeth r. Bramwell wrote the prospectus for her fund in Early 1987, the Gabelli growth fund she decided to give herself free rein so she could navigate easily among markets. Most of her colleagues Are bound by More restrictive bylaws that might keep them in one sector of the Market or prevent them from moving too much of their assets into Cash. She did no to want to be bound by such restrictions. Bramwell whose fund now has assets of $203 million was never one to follow a straight and narrow path. A chemist by training she edited textbooks before graduating from Columbia University a mba program with Mario Gabelli a Money manager in 1967. She went to work for him in 1985 after stints As a research analyst and a full time Mother. Her performance at Gabelli growth might attract the Eye of an investor wanting to tap into today a rising Stock Market for the year ended feb. 28, the fund returned 13.4 percent Well above the average Stock funds 9 percent return. Over three years the fund did even better it Rose 23.3 percent compared with an 11.6 percent Rise for All growth funds and a 15.1 percent Rise in the Standard amp poor a 500-Stock Index according to Morningstar inc., the Chicago based Mutual fund consultants. Recent results have lagged somewhat however. From the beginning of the year until the end of february her fund has gained 9,2 percent while the average Stock fund Rose-12.3 percent. It underperformed because 24 percent of its assets were in Cash at the end of 1990, she said adding that at the time a i did no to think that was such a bad now she docs. But Don Phillips vice president of Morningstar had a Kinder assessment. He said the fund dragged a a because she a cautious not because she a making mistakes. She does no to take a formalistic approach to managing Money and she has lots of room to for instance she does not have to buy stocks of certain size companies As do some funds. Large capitalization stocks make up about two thirds of her portfolio now. A a a a. A a a a. A a a whenever she wants she can flee to Cash a and did that with great profit when she moved 41 percent of the fund into Cash just before the Stock Market crash on oct. 19, 1987. And her Industry concentrations often change too right now the biggest sector is the household products group a with stocks like Procter amp Gamble and. Tam brands which makes up roughly 11 percent of the funds portfolio. A year ago her biggest sector was telecommunications. There arc a few constants in Bram Wal la a strategy. She dilutes risk by dividing the portfolio among 125 stocks or so. The largest holding pc International comprises Only 2 percent of the fund. Pc a diversified consumer products company with a worldwide business mainly in food has four big products Skippy Peanut butter Heilman a Mayonnaise mazola Corn Oil and the Knorr line of soup mixes. Bramwell takes a global approach to picking stocks. To tap into foreign markets she primarily buys american based companies with a global reach that produce Basic household goods. She owns Only two foreign stocks a Nestle the Swiss food company and Bombardier the Canadian transportation company a and a handful of closed end funds that invest in single countries or regions. As for the american Stock Market Bramwell believes a the general trend is up a but she expects a a it a going to Bob in a recent spending spree she whittled Down the Cash position in the portfolio to 6 percent from 24 percent. One favorite is the new York based Woolworth a corp. Its specially chains like the Footlocker which Sells athletic footwear make up a big part of its business and the company has a Large base of stores in Canada Australia and Germany. She expects earnings to grow at a rate of 15 percent a year Over the next five years. Another favorite is Pepsico inc., which she describes As a three part company snack foods soda and restaurant chains including Kentucky Fried Chicken Taco Bell and pizza hut. It has begun to take its three main businesses worldwide and All three have Good International growth prospects she said. She says that earnings should grow at an annual rate of 18 percent to 20 percent Over the next three years or so. Bramwell who says that she has been inundated with new Stock offerings recently has bought a few stocks from the stack of prospectuses piled High on her desk. One recent one cent Cor inc., a biotechnology company based in Malvern a. Among Small stocks she likes the id communications group of Culver City calif., a provider of transmission services for broadcasting and about future even Cloud ism Stock by John Cunniff a business analyst new York a ism is probably the most widely studied Stock in the world. Its past present and future Are scrutinized by hundreds of highly paid analysts who produce thousands of pages of intricately detailed reports. So refined can such Stock studies be that corporate executives sometimes say they learn More about their companies from these reports than they do from internal documents. In spite of this practically every ism analyst was far off the Mark in assessing the level of income for the computer giant in the first Quarter of the year. Worse ism management also was surprised. Management a revelation that earnings would be about half what they had been in the year earlier Quarter shocked the investment Community. Stock prices plunged led by a 10 percent one Day loss in ism shares the unexpectedly Tough going encountered by ism now has investors puzzled is the damage limited to the computer Industry is it More widespread is the recession worse than realized there is another question even More puzzling what is it that supports the Broad Stock Market surge that has pushed the Dow Jones averages to near record highs several conservative forecasters have been asking that question and finding no satisfactory answers. While the Stock Market is supposed to anticipate the future these forecasters see Little encouragement in the immediate future. They observe that consumer prices Are rising consumer income is Static or falling layoffs Are up Job insecurity is higher than in Many years. Just about All the arrows Are headed the wrong Way. In the Industrial sector High debts and falling profits Are preventing investments in Plant and equipment. Be sides if Consumers Are already in Hock what a the use of building new houses appliances and cars in spite of this evidence the consensus forecast is for a Short shallow recession it is one of the most widely shared forecasts of recent years with relatively few Dis. Sen . A 7. \. A 7 a. A a. A. A. You can to easily discount the Stock Market As a forecaster because experience shows that investors some a times have spotted Prosperity where others saw gloom smart investors have an instinct for doing that. A still you can easily detect a Rise in the number of investors and forecasters who Are having second thoughts now. More realistic than before they know peace Isnit always synonymous with Prosperity. They Are wondering if corporate profits will resume rising As abruptly As they had hoped. And now the surprising earnings weakness in one of the most watched of All companies reinforces that tendency to rethink the future. Or by the new York times Detroit a Chrysler corp. Agreed with a consortium of 38 Banks Friday on a new $1.75 billion revolving credit a through the end of 1993. The agreement is smaller than the $2.64 billion credit agreement it replaces but it constitutes an important financial safety net for the no. 3 automaker nevertheless. Thomas Capo Chrysler a assistant treasurer said there was no current plan to borrow under the new credit line. A depending on future business we May or May not draw on the line a he added. A Chrysler said the new credits covenants Are less restrictive than the older ones which Means Chrysler May draw Money from it in harder financial circumstances. The Banks a and holders of other senior Chrysler obligations that were not specified however will be entitled to claim 11 Chrysler manufacturing plants and other assets As Security if the company borrows More than $500 million. Under the previous agreement the Banks could not have claimed Chrysler s assets As collateral. The credit agreement should re assure suppliers lenders and others that the banking Community is confident of Chrysler a ability to weather current hard times in the Industry. Chrysler has been cutting $3 billion from its Cost Structure and trying to sell an equity stake in its Chrysler financial corp. Subsidiary. Capo said the Banks and the Auto maker wanted to change their previous credit line because of a a much tougher environment for the Auto Industry and the banking Banks have been under regulatory pressure to reduce the size of Loans that could be judged As risky. 7
