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The article focuses on the shipping industry. The once-glamorous world of international shipping has fallen victim to inflation; high interest rates and the slowdown in international trade. In becoming recklessly overextended, the ship-owners had lots of help from the banks. Some of the biggest banks in the world pumped money into shipping with an enthusiasm that ignored all the lessons of economic history. A ship that has no buyer is for all practical purposes an essentially worthless investment, and the banks are thus stuck with billions of dollars in theoretically valuable but by and large worthless collateral.

The article presents information related to Japan's Hattori group of companies. Ichiro Hattori makes it clear that he intends to survive the continuing shokku in personal computers. Hattoris' Seiko line is the U.S. market leader in watches priced over $50 and Pulsar, another Hattori brand, is number two. This year the Hattori empire should ship around 46 million watches for about $1 billion in revenue--15% of the Western World's watch supply. Through its Epson brand, the Hattoris already dominate the market for low-cost personal computer printers. Using technologies developed for electronic watches, the Hattoris have moved into robotics, precision instruments, eyeglass lenses, wrist TVs.

The article focuses on John L. Weinberg, the senior partner who runs Goldman, Sachs & Co. Until quite recently Goldman was Wall Street's most profitable investment house, had been unaccustomed to setbacks. In the previous year, the firm earned $600 million before taxes, for a return on capital of better than 30 per cent. Weinberg in August 1989 accepted the resignation of Robert Freeman, the senior Goldman stock trader who pled guilty to a charge of insider trading. Goldman's traditional stronghold is the commercial paper business. INSET: Gus and Mike (discusses the career of Gustave Levy of Goldman....

The article presents information about Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Brown Brothers partners were men who learned to think globally decades before it was fashionable. In the early decades of this century, partners made steamer journeys to war-ravaged Europe, cementing relationships with hundreds of elite private banks. These ties enabled Brown Brothers to pioneer bankers' acceptances, which are used to finance international trade, as well as traveler's letters of credit, precursors to traveler's checks. INSET: Atrophy..

The article explores the application of strategies developed by Kathryn Harrigan, a business professor at the Columbia University for declining businesses in the U.S. It presents the strategies applied by companies to survive in the business. The companies provides an understanding according to the needs of customers and meeting their demands.

The article profiles Robert Morris, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The American Revolution transformed Morris into the colonial equivalent of a multibillionaire. He made his fortune by converting state secrets and international connections into personal profit, helping himself and his partners to government contracts from secret committees. Six years of war made him very rich but he lost everything only 14 years after he left public office in 1784.

The article focuses on investments in bonds. A risk, for investors in convertible bonds, is a sudden loss when a takeover destroys the conversion feature. A surprise call make bondholders so irate because it turns the bond into a very lopsided bet. If rates go up, the holder is stuck with a low-yielding investment that he can't unload except at a capital loss. But if rates go down, the issuer calls the deal off. Salomon Brothers has a nifty computer program that tells issuers how to cut their interest costs by selective bond calls.

The article reports on the status of the U.S. construction industry in 1987. Topics discussed include factors that put pressure on profit margins during the year, domestic construction companies acquired by foreign enterprises and U.S. cities where construction thrived in 1987. Also discussed are the profitability and growth performance of individual companies, such as cement company Texas Industries, lumber firm Willamette Industries and building materials company Tyco Laboratories. INSET: Homebuilding's niche player.

The article presents information about nine occasions in the U.S. when the stock market crashed by 25 per cent or more as measured by Dow Jones industrials average. Four these crashes were followed by strong economic advances. Three were followed by short economic advances. Three were followed by short economic downturns. From September 3, 1929 to July 8, 1932, a market collapse that altogether wiped out 89 per cent of the Dow industrials' value, the greatest peacetime economic loss in modern history. In two months the Dow industrials lost 48 per cent of their value, but the economy kept on growing and ended the year with gross national product substantially.

The article focuses on the growth of Citicorp Inc., the largest supplier of credit cards in the U.S. With the direction of the executive vice president John Reed in the 1970's, Citicorp has transformed into the nation's largest consumer bank. In 1986, Citicorp's investment bank spent $77 million acquiring new operations, such as foreign brokerages in Dublin and London. The company issues more mortgages and has more credit card loans outstanding than any other institutions.

The article reports on the development surrounding the construction industry in the U.S. The nonresidential construction in the country performed consistently throughout 1986. The residential market of the industry was string in 1986 with lower mortgage rates. Furthermore, suppliers did also well during the year. INSET: Most improved (p. 112).

The article focuses on the shift of cigarette companies from national magazine advertising toward discount coupons, sponsorship of sports events, point of sale (POS) displays and promotional devices as part of their marketing strategy. Figures are presented that show the projected print advertising revenue from tobacco by the end of 1986 compared to the 1985. Also discussed are the decline in sales of cigarettes, as well as the diversification of tobacco companies including Philip Morris.

This article focuses on Americana Hotels & Realty Corp. which is controlled by the Bass brothers. It was the Bass name on the prospectus for a $103 million real estate investment trust, Americana Hotels & Realty Corp., in 1982 that made the offering a smash hit-virtually a sell-out before the shares were even put to the public by Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., Dean Witter and Paine Webber Corp. The Bass family's privately held hotel investment firm, Americana Hotel, held interests in a number of hotel properties around the country and wanted to borrow money against the collateral.

This article informs that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) struck like lightning in June, turning over New York's Golden Pacific National Bank to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Shortly thereafter, a grand jury picked up the investigation, and it looked as if the nine-year banking career of Kuang Joseph Chuang, a 45-year-old Taiwanese-born lawyer, had come to an end. Golden Pacific was declared insolvent when the OCC uncovered a special account with about $15 million in off-balance-sheet investments in everything from condo loans in Taipei to the financing on the bank's own Chinatown headquarters in New York City.

The article explains how Bowery Savings Bank fell into the hands of Buffet investor group representative Richard Ravitch. Bowery Savings Bank almost lost half a billion dollars during the last years and getting the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to reduce most of the risk in the deal. The FDIC used the time-honored technique of guarantees to brush the Bowery problem off its books.

The article reports developments in the global financial market as of October 1985, particularly the operation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It claims that the IMF is in need of additional funds in order to provide short-term loans to developing countries. It features the World Bank, Institute for International Economics fellow John Williamson, and the financial situations in such countries as Panama and Chile.

The article focuses on real estate investments in the United States. In the last year or so, more than 800 million dollars in hotel condominium offerings either have been put before investors or are now in the works. And with tax reform now threatening to wipe out many of the tax-sheltering attractions of limited partnerships, direct ownership of property such as the kind one acquires through condominium investment is becoming lucrative. In a hotel condominium, the investor takes title to an actual room in an actual hotel.

This article reports that a group of luminary retirees have agreed to help Philip Stein finance and promote his two-year-old barter company, Universal Trading Exchange Inc. of New York. Stein is the latest in a line of promoters to be attracted to the barter business, which seeks to help large corporations swap goods and services through a middleman clearinghouse. Stein also has visions of venturing into international barter, known as countertrade. The executives which have agreed are: Walter Wriston, William Spencer, Jack Parker, and Richard Shinn.

The article presents information about Owens-Illinois Inc., a manufacturer of glass bottles. Owens-Illinois hasn't phased out of glass container manufacturing, hasn't milked its eight-decade-old business as a cash cow. On the contrary, the company has done a heroic job of modernizing its glass business, investing $600 million over the last five years to completely realign production and increase output. Today it stands head and shoulders above its competitors, with productivity 33% above the industry average.

The article presents information on the sales strategy adopted by Vincent Bell, chairman of Safeguard Business Systems Inc., in the company's first foray into selling computers. Bell helped found Safeguard 29 years ago and built it into the leading U.S. seller of "one-write" manual accounting ledgers for small businesses. Sales have increased 15% over the past five years and return on equity has consistently exceeded 20%. In 1984 the company earned $12.8 million on sales of $198 million. But the higher-volume end of Safeguard's customer list is opting for small office computers.

The article focuses on mortgage-backed securities. Pooling mortgages on office buildings and other properties into a single tradable security is easier said than done. For one thing, quality is harder to judge, because it ultimately tests on the value of tenant leases, not the character and credit record of home-owners. For another, commercial mortgages can be huge and therefore difficult to present as mortgage pools with enough diversification to minimize risk. Most glaring of all problems is that commercial mortgages lack the government guarantees that make home mortgage securities so appealing.

Discusses various issues related to the over-the-counter (OTC) securities trading. Stance taken by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding disclosure of the charges that stockbrokers demand from retail customers; Objection of the brokerage community against such disclosures; View that OTC is largely made up of thinly traded stocks; Suggestions for investors to reduce transaction costs.

The article presents information on the plans and activities of Mesa Inc.'s chairman Boone Pickens. Pickens, self-acclaimed defender of the American stockholder, loves to roast oil company managements other than his own. The evidence is all there for those who care to read the latest proxy statement from Mesa. Pickens' units together earned him $5.5 million--or 6.9% off the top--of Mesa's $80 million pretax profit from the raid on Phillips Petroleum Co. Pickens, a geologist himself, sees it as a kind of "geologist's override," typical in the oil business where a driller gets a percentage of what he finds for his investors.

The article presents information on the business plans of Edgar Fosburgh Kaiser, chairman of Kaiser Steel Corp. (KS). Kaiser first arrived in Canada when his father dispatched him there to salvage a failing subsidiary of Oakland, California-based KS. Under Kaiser's leadership, Kaiser Resources Ltd. became one of Canada's largest coal companies. In 1979 his father retired and Kaiser became chairman of KS. In 1980, strapped for cash, KS sold control of Kaiser Resources Ltd. for 672 million Canadian dollars.

The article focuses on the financial performance of Kellogg Co. The repurchased shares were earning about $50 million after-tax a year. But the $563 million purchase price costs only $29 million or so in after-tax interest paid on the portion borrowed plus some additional interest forgone on the portion financed out of cash on hand. It borrowed $500 million in November 1984, bought the block and beat potential raiders to the punch. Growth in the $3.8 billion cereal market slowed to 6% a year by 1983. Kellogg's own sales growth declined steadily from 16% in 1980 to 2% in 1982 and 1% in 1983.

The article reports on the growing relationship between Ing. C. Olivetti & C. SpA of Italy, the largest European maker of automated office products, and AT&T Corp. in the U.S. Olivetti will market AT&T's telecommunications and computer systems in Europe and will get a chance to sell its own line of office products to AT&T customers in the U.S. AT&T was so impressed with Olivetti a year ago that it agreed to pay some $260 million for a 25% interest in the Italian company and took an option to increase its stake to 40%.

This article presents information on an announcement made by Gulf Canada Ltd. about introducing an oil well in the Canadian Arctic's Beaufort Sea. If Gulf Canada's discovery, called Amauligak, leads to commercial development of the Beaufort, it will help justify $1.8 billion in exploration grants and incentives that the Canadian government has paid out. And it will vindicate the judgment of Gulf Canada President John Stoik, who in 1981 convinced his company's then 60% owner, Gulf Oil Corp. to allow him to spend more than $500 million on drilling equipment especially designed for the Beaufort's harsh environment buyer resistance is understandable.

This article presents information on the impact of the breakup of AT&T Corp. on A.J. de Grandpré, chairman of Bell Canada Enterprises Inc., which runs the biggest telephone company in Canada. As in the U.S., long-distance revenues have helped keep local rates down. But now there are two kinds of potential competition. The first is a joint venture between Canada's major railroads. Their CNCP Telecommunications already provides service to big customers. Now it wants to hook into local telephone circuits, like MCI and other discounters in the U.S. De Grandpré finds this ironic because Canadian National Railway is a crown corporation. So, the same federal government that regulates shareholder-owned Bell has a partnership interest in his competitor.

The article presents information on the downfall of Psych Systems Inc. (PSI) company, which in 1983 sold computerized systems for psychological testing, had grown by 175% annually over the past two years and had fans on Wall Street. Things were going so well that the company was contemplating a stock offering. Instead, demand began to fall for the tests and other software it sold as a package with minicomputers made by Digital Equipment Corp. PSI was vulnerable because it offered the popular Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory test through a license granted by a competitor. That agreement expired at the end of 1983, and customers were worried that the well- known test might be yanked. To make matters worse, the boom in personal computers began to price PSI's big DEC machines out of the market.

This article presents information on economist Thomas Doerflinger. History has taught Doerflinger how difficult it is to pick winners in emerging industries. Not only do startup companies have to fight every day for financial survival, but they may not know for as long as a decade whether their technology will survive as the industry standard. Ford Motor Co., for instance, was just one of many carmakers experimenting with gasoline-fired engines just after the turn of the century. In fact, many investors back then were betting on steam and electric power. He has distilled his findings into a prizewinning 1986 book, "A Vigorous Spirit of Enterprise."

The article focuses on junk bonds. The usual definition of a junk bond is that anything rated BBB or higher is investment grade and everything else is junk. Recently the average spread between junk bonds and Treasury bills was 4.8%, between junk bonds and higher-quality corporates was 3.7%. Diversification is more imperative in the junk market than among high-grade corporates. For this reason, junk bond funds are probably the best approach for the typical investor, even though the management fee will cut down the yield. Some good junk bond funds are Kemper High Yield, Fidelity High Income and Eaton Vance High Yield.

The article deals with the effects of the decision of the U.S. home sewing machines manufacturer Singer to expand and turn into a consumer goods company. The author discusses the company's business with sewing machines, its spin-off, and the financial performance of sewing machine division SSMC Inc. Special attention is paid to Singer's chief executive officer William Andrews and its marketing concept.

The article focuses on the expertise of Gregg Smith and Douglas Breeden of consulting group Smith Breeden Associates in the money market. It states that the partnership has acquired annual fees of $7 million from savings and loans executives who need advises about hedging. It indicates that foreclosures determine prepayment rates and that geography insights do not benefit individual buyers. Moreover, it stresses that executives must be mediators of mortgage depositors and borrowers.

The article reports on the status of business innovation in the U.S. Topics discussed include percentage of patents issued by the U.S. Patent Office in 1986 that went to foreign business enterprises, McKinsey & Co. releasing a study revealing that medium-sized firms in the U.S. create more jobs three times faster than country's whole economy and characteristics of big companies that attain success in the country. Also discussed are factors behind a successful business innovation.

The article reports on the development of Manhattan, New York bond-rating firm McCarthy Crisanti & Maffei Inc. Managed by Philip Maffei and his two partners, the firm has boasted 115 customers which pays $18,500 every year for junk ratings. It is different from other firms because it gains income selling research to securities buyer. Acording to Maffei, junk bonds have a tendency to overreact which create great opportunities to the companies.

The article features Franklin Savings Association bank in Ottawa, Kansas under the leadership of chairman Ernest Fleischer. He was able to manage the repayment risk on mortgages to protect against interest-rate volatility and make a consistent return. Currently, the bank has invested about $1.7 billion to hedge 60 percent of its entire portfolio internally.

The article discusses on ComFed Savings Bank's interest rate problems in its mortgage business. Topics include overhead and profits in the mortgage banking industry, the company's increased operating costs due to the opening of branch offices and the hiring of more brokers, and executive Raymond Miller's plan to address interest rate changes by aggressive expansion.

The article discusses the success of Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. in the financial services industry in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm which is also considered as a nonbank bank has become the nation's fastest-growing lender to rich and near-rich customers after it was bought by Shearson Lehman Brothers Inc. in 1981. According to Chairman James von Germeten, the company's 30% annual return on equity in the last five years make it the most profitable bank in America.

The article discusses the real estate market of New England region in the U.S., which began to decline in 1987 because of lowering asking prices and rising vacancy rates. Topics covered include the real estate boom that started in 1983 due to strong New England economy, the effect of the slowing-down real estate market on loan portfolios of banks who took advantage of the real estate boom in New England, and the impact of the declining real estate market on regional lenders.

The article reports on the decision of Gordon Cain, a petrochemical executive to buy big chemical companies in the U.S. It was shown that his interest to manage his own business motivated him to arrange buyout deals from chemical companies. Cain won a 2% stake at Vista Chemical Co. which he sold for $4.5 million. He also made leveraged buyouts with Sterling Group company and Cain Chemical Inc.

An interview with Kathryn Rudie Harrigan, a business professor at the Columbia University is presented. Harrigan stated that companies can make profit from a declining company with the application of an endgame strategy. She stressed that providing the demands of laggard customers can help companies increase profits. Harrigan enumerated that the automobile industry, household appliances and mainframe computers are likely to experience a decline in business.

The article reports on the success of lawyer Bruce Engel in founding the WTD Industries Inc. in Portland, Oregon. He bought the bankrupt mill from Johnston Lumber Co. for $3000 assuming the $2 million debt in 1981. He approached the mill's banks to swap monetary debt service payments for a share of the lumber production. Due to his leadership, WTD has owned 17 lumber mills capable of producing 1 billion board feet annually. WTD has become one of the country's top ten lumber producers.

The article focuses the financial problem facing Ohio-based fiberglass manufacturer Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. With the $2 billion debt incurred by the firm in its recapitalization plan, Owens-Corning lay-off some 480 of its research employees and cut 50 percent of its research budget, where the development of its product depends. The company's officers are expressed that their uncertainty for the firm's long-term security as it leaves its established products.

The article discusses business developments in the U.S. as of February 1987. It cites the need by the National Football League to renegotiate their five-year 2.2 billion dollar network television (TV) contract, which already expired. It also features the real estate firm Eastdil Realty owned by Ben Lambert, Albert Sieg of Kodak Japan, and University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School dean Russell Palmer.

The article reports on the efforts of chief Canadian Pacific Ltd. chief executive officer (CEO) William Stinson to welfare of the company in Canada. Stinson amazed the business community when he sold the Cominco Ltd. to an international mining consortium for $340 million. Years after, the nation's largest conglomerate obtained $11 billion in revenues and $15 billion in assets.

The article presents information about Cargill Inc. In the past five years Cargill has dedicated 87 per cent of its cash flow to making new investments and buying troubled companies, mostly in the deteriorating agricultural sector. Since 1981 Cargill has laid out $2 billion buying, modernizing, building and expanding plants in commodity businesses ranging from high-fructose corn syrup to steel tubes for oil drillers. A fifth of all the commodities Cargill buys are now ultimately processed by Cargill factories, grain mills and oil presses.