Iowa City Press-Citizen from Iowa City, Iowa • Page 18

BUSINESS BRIEFCASE Page 6C WEDNESDAY. JULY 8, 1987 Iowa City Press-Citizen arkets like North's testimony Stocks, bonds up; dollar in Japan hits 3 -month high Staff reports and news services Armstrong Tire threatens to close Union workers at the Armstrong Tire plant in Des Moines were put under renewed pressure Tuesday to grant concessions as the company announced it would close the plant in six months, eliminating 1,050 jobs. A company spokesman said the closing notice came because workers had refused to yield enough in wages and benefits to make Armstrong competitive with Firestone Tire Rubber whose Des Moines employees, were faced with a similar closing threat and agreed to concessions. Brender ends 19 years at Clarice Schwitzer Brender, 135 West Zeller, North Liberty, retired June 30 after 19 years service with Procter Gamble in Iowa City. In 1974, she became the first woman in the plant to be a tractor operator.

She began her retirement with her marriage to Wilbert Brender. 'Ollie North has apparently taken the president out of harm's way.1 Larry Wachtel Prudential-Bache analyst cisco who was watching the bond market, said: "We had a TV going for a little while here this morning. We even felt it was boring here and turned it off pretty quickly." Dealers said the dollar's rise, which helped other markets, also was helped by recent statements from Tokyo that the Bank of Japan would not intervene to move the'dollar lower. The bellwether 30-year Treasury bond rose 7-32 point, or about $2.50 per $1,000 in face value, while its yield dipped to 8.39 percent from 8.42 percent late Monday. Corporate and municipal bonds finished higher in light trading.

Analysts said bond prices got their biggest boost from a rising dollar. The Associated Press Financial markets responded warmly to the congressional testimony of Lt. Col. Oliver North, and experts credited his failure to implicate President Reagan in wrongdoing in the Iran-Contra controversy. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 20.25 points Tuesday to close at 2,449.78 as advancing issues outnumbered declines by a margin of about 2-to-1 on the New York Stock Exchange.

In other markets, the dollar climbed above the psychologically important level of 150 Japanese yen for the first time in three months, bond prices strengthened, and precious metals futures prices fell a sign of easing jit-tors. "Ollie North has apparently taken ness and robbed the economy of leadership during his final Vh years in office. "I don't think it helped the dollar as much as it removed a potential source of weakness," James Vick, senior currency trader for Manufacturers Hanover Trust said. "He (North) didn't embarrass the administration." Steven Wood, an economist for Ban-kAmerica Capital Markets in San Fran the president out of harm's way," Larry Wachtel, an analyst for Prudential-Bache Securities said. North, a former National Security Council aide, said Tuesday that he never discussed with Reagan the issue of the diversion of money from arms sales to Iran to rebels in Nicaragua.

Traders feared that any evidence that Reagan was involved in illegal activities would have hurt his effective Business Briefcase appears every day in the Press-Citizen. The column contains information about area business openings and closings, promotions, appointments and transfers. Send items of interest to: Business Desk, Press-Citizen, Box 2480, Iowa City, 52244. Phone inquiries should be directed to (319) 337-3181. Striking meatpackers, IBP resume search for truce STOCKS OF LOCAL INTEREST Tuesday cloilngt progressive to date.

Frazer quashed those rumors, however, saying that erroneous information had been broadcast Tuesday through the news media. One such item is that replacement workers are an issue on the bargaining table, Frazer said. This issue a non-issue has not been presented, he said. Frazer and fellow federal mediator Gayle Winewriter had been meeting separately with the two sides, and occasionally, the union and company would get together. "We're working back and forth," he said.

ASA 57 ATT 29 AlldCp 21 -V4 Alcoa 56 Amoco 9874 1 ArchD 25H V4 Bandae 66 BurlNth 804 2 Deere 28 Enon 94' 1 Gannett in GenElec 55'i GenMot 80 Gillette 38V4 V4 Goodyear 66'4 even Heinz tm IV4 Heritage 334 even IBM 163' -14 IFG 14 IntstPw 244 IowaEl 23 '4 IowalU 414 -t JamesRiv 33 V4 Kidde 619'4 Kmart 44' 4 Kodak 86414 Mapco 55IV4 Mart-Marieta 454 4 MrshM 61 -4 Maytag 524 4 MidEng 204 even Moore 254 even Navistar 74 even PaylCsh 22V4 -4 Penney 54 4 ProctG 964 QuakOat 51 even RaythG 76414 Rockwell 27 4 Sara Lee 444 even Sears 514 4 Texaco 44 even ThmBet 58 USWest 53 4 WestgEl 624 -V4 Winnbgo 114 -4 The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. Talks continue today between members of the striking United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 222 and IBP inc. in an effort to resolve a nearly 7-month-old labor dispute at the company's Dakota City meat processing plant. Talks resumed Tuesday after a July 4 holiday recess, and federal mediator Kent Frazer said both sides have a ways to go. The Sioux City Journal said reports had filtered out from the meeting site at the Omaha Airport Ramada Inn that the talks might have been the most NBC strikers stage protest against GE The Associated Press NEW YORK Striking NBC workers took their protest Tuesday to the doorstep of the network's parent company, General Electric.

About 300 strikers, now in the second week of their walkout, and supporters gathered in front of GE headquarters a few blocks from NBC's offices for a noon rally. The National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians says that GE is behind NBC's bargaining strategy. NBC denies that GE is running the bargaining, which has been at a standstill since the strike began June 29. The union contends that NBC's proposal, which calls for greater use of free-lancers, threatens the job security of permanent employees. NBC says its use of free-lancers provides the network with greater flexibility.

No talks have been conducted or scheduled since the strike began. Japanese automakers do testing on plant grounds The Associated Press DETROIT The U.S. factories of Japanese automakers have adopted the practice of driving vehicles for quality control checks on plant grounds, rather than in overnight road tests. It was during overnight evalua- tions that 40 cars were damaged by Chrysler test drivers. Those cars, repaired and sold as new, will be replaced by Chrysler in the aftermath of a federal indictment June 24 on odometer fraud charges.

Overnight evaluations routinely performed on a small percentage of vehicles at General Motors Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. factories are conducted by supervisors or hourly workers who take the cars home at night then drive them back in the morning. Japanese auto companies have test programs for new cars, but most are tested on short drives around plant test courses, and odometers never are disconnected or turned back, the companies said. Dow Jones Averages Industrials 2449.93; 20.4 Transportationl030.16; 8.44 Utilities 205.44; .53 Over the Counter Bid Asked NLCS 14 15 Flexsteel 16 164 Cycare Stystems 8 9 Caseys Gen'l Stores 16 4 16 Statesman Group 4 5 United Fire Cas 30 31 Life Investors 49 494 Bank of Iowa 454 464 Hawkeye Bancorp 34 3 Pion'r Hybred Infl 35 36 Allied Group 14V 15 HON Ind 16 17V IA South.

Utilities 30 30 V4 Furnished by Dean J. Jarnow, DJIA Financial Services WALL STREET TUESDAY: The stock market rose in heavy trading Tuesday, bolstered by strong demand from foreign investors, especially Japanese investors, and to computerized buying programs. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.25 points to close at 2,449.78. Advances led declines by about 2-to-l on the New York Stock Exchange, as 200.73 million shares changed hands. Standard Poor's 500-stock composite index was up 2.48 at 307.40.

At the American Stock Exchange, the market value index rose 2.50 to 344.45. The NASDAQ composite index for the over-the-counter market fell 0.55 to close at 424.55. i The Associated Press Shirt stack Anne Crossen stands among stacks of shirts as she inspects them before shipment. Peter England a plant in Northern Ireland, manufactures about 3.5 million shirts a year. portrait studio I I Linda Alexander, rural reporter 337-3181 GOOD THROUGH JULY 11 Buyer for Hormel plant in works, governor says The Associated Press DES MOINES Gov.

Terry Branstad said Tuesday that officials might have found a buyer for Geo. A. Hormel's Ottumwa plant, though a deal hasn't been completed. "We may have an opportunity to get somebody in to replace Hormel," Branstad said in an interview with the Mason City Globe-Gazette. "There's nothing that's put together yet.

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