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emigration applications soared in N when britain and china ratified their accord on hong kong 's future |
in N hong kong 's most <unk> year for a decade N left up N N from the previous year |
last year N went |
the government predicts that annual outflows will level off over the next few years at as much as N a projection that is widely regarded as <unk> low |
a large number of those leaving are managers and professionals |
while no one <unk> to know the exact cost of such a brain drain to the economy hardly anyone doubts that it <unk> a threat |
when the economy loses a big portion of its work force that also happens to include its most productive members economic growth is bound to be affected says <unk> <unk> an economist with hang seng bank |
while wall street is retreating from computer-driven program trading big institutional investors are likely to continue these strategies at full blast further <unk> the stock market trading executives say |
<unk> to a mounting public outcry three more major securities firms bear stearns & co. inc. morgan stanley & co. and oppenheimer & co. announced friday they would suspend stock-index arbitrage trading for their own accounts |
painewebber group inc. announced a <unk> on thursday from stock-index arbitrage a controversial program-trading strategy blamed by many investors for encouraging big stock-market swings |
though the trading halts are offered as a sign of concern about recent stock market volatility most wall street firms remain open to handle program trading for customers |
trading executives privately say that huge stock-index funds which <unk> wall street firms in terms of the size of their program trades will continue to launch big programs through the stock market |
wells fargo investment advisers bankers trust co. and mellon capital management are among the top stock-index arbitrage clients of wall street trading executives say |
these huge stock-index funds build portfolios that match the s&p N stock index or other stock indexes and frequently swap between stocks and futures to capture profits |
they will do it every chance they get said one program-trading executive |
consequently abrupt swings in the stock market are not likely to disappear anytime soon they say |
in fact without wall street firms trading for their own accounts the stock-index arbitrage trading opportunities for the big funds may be all the more abundant |
more customers may come to us now said james <unk> president of bear stearns <unk> |
executives who manage these funds see the current debate over program trading as a repeat of the concern expressed after the N crash |
they noted that studies completed after the N crash <unk> program trading as a source of volatility |
the issues that are now being raised in classic <unk> fashion fly in the face of a number of post-crash studies said fred <unk> chairman of wells fargo investment advisers |
a bankers trust spokesman said that the company 's investment arm uses stock-index arbitrage to enhance investors ' returns |
officials at mellon capital were unavailable for comment |
stock-index funds have grown in popularity over the past decade as pension funds and other institutional investors have sought a low-cost way to match the performance of the stock market as a whole |
many money managers who trade stock actively have trouble consistently matching the <unk> 's returns |
some stock-index funds are huge |
wells fargo investment advisers for example managed $ N billion in stock investments tracking the s&p N at the end of june according to standard & poor 's corp |
mr. <unk> said $ N billion of that is used in active index arbitrage |
stock-index funds frequently use the futures markets as a hedging tool but that is a far less aggressive strategy than stock-index arbitrage in which traders buy and sell big blocks of stocks with offsetting trades in stock-index futures to profit from price differences |
the 190-point plunge in the stock market oct. N has heightened concerns about volatility |
and while signs of an economic slowdown softer corporate earnings and troubles with takeover financing all have contributed to the stock market 's recent weakness many investors rushed to blame program trading for <unk> market swings |
the wall street firms ' <unk> followed their recent <unk> by several institutional investors |
last tuesday kemper corp. 's kemper financial services inc. unit said it would no longer trade with firms committed to stock-index arbitrage including the three that later suspended stock-index arbitrage trading on friday |
phoenix mutual life insurance co. and <unk> asset management inc. also cut off brokerage firms that engage in program trading |
though it is still doing stock-index arbitrage trades for customers morgan stanley 's trading halt for its own account is likely to shake up firms such as kidder peabody & co. that still do such trades for their own account |
morgan stanley has consistently been one of the top stock-index arbitrage traders in recent months |
indeed morgan stanley 's president richard b. fisher said the firm is putting up money to form a group of regulators investors and investment banks to find out if stock-index arbitrage artificially <unk> stock-market volatility |
we have to clear up these issues and find out what is present that is creating <unk> volatility mr. fisher said |
there is no question that investor confidence in the stock market is critical |
joining the call for some kind of study or regulatory action merrill lynch & co. recommended program-trading reforms late friday including higher margins on stock-index futures and greater regulatory coordination |
separately mr. <unk> of bear stearns said his firm is working with regulators to balance margin requirements to enhance <unk> |
margin rules determine the minimum amount of cash an investor must put up when buying a security |
current rules permit investors to put up less cash for futures than for stocks |
some observers say that different rules governing stock and futures markets are partly responsible for volatility |
these rules they say permit faster and cheaper trading in futures than in stocks which frequently <unk> the two markets out of line |
stock-index arbitrage because it sells the more expensive market and buys the cheaper one attempts to <unk> the link between the stock and futures markets and the adjustments are often abrupt |
but <unk> trading rules allow the futures market to trade differently from stocks which invites frequent <unk> of stock-index arbitrage in the first place |
there has to be better coordination on a regulatory basis said christopher <unk> director of trading at <unk> securities corp |
one agency should have the authority over all equity products |
like so many trends in the entertainment industry the current spate of rape <unk> on television seems to represent a <unk> of <unk> and <unk> |
the former comes from the latest wave of political <unk> in hollywood especially around <unk> issues such as abortion |
the latter comes from the perception on the part of many people in network tv that their only hope of keeping viewers from <unk> to cable is to fill the <unk> with an increasingly raw <unk> |
put these together and you get programs about rape |
the best of the crop was last week 's season premiere of in the heat of the night the nbc series based on a N feature film about a black philadelphia police <unk> in a small southern town |
in the series <unk> <unk> howard <unk> and his wife <unk> <unk> johnson have settled in <unk> miss |
because the show has acquired a sense of place by being <unk> on location in georgia this episode in which <unk> gets <unk> by an arrogant white <unk> does a decent job of <unk> the social <unk> of the crime |
obviously it 's harder to establish a sense of place in a <unk> tv movie |
but tonight 's offering settle the score N p.m. est on nbc does n't even try |
this tale of a chicago <unk> returning home to find the man who <unk> her N years earlier is supposed to be set in the <unk> |
but it 's more like an illustration of what ben stein describes in his study of social attitudes in the tv industry fear of violence and <unk> because of race or <unk> fear and lack of <unk> about the politics of small-town people produce a powerful wave of dislike of small towns in the minds of tv writers and produce... |
the writer and executive producer of settle the score steve sohmer is a graduate of yale who participated in a pbs <unk> aired this summer in which six members of the yale class of N <unk> about their lives since <unk> |
at one point in the <unk> mr. sohmer who is jewish says he felt rejected by many of the <unk> and <unk> he met at yale |
he quotes one student saying you 're just the kind of <unk> we <unk> ca n't stand |
mr. sohmer <unk> that it was partly in response to such attitudes that he is now a <unk> on one of the two islands off the coast of america |
but is <unk> in hollywood enough |
not to judge by settle the score in which mr. sohmer seems to be settling a score of his own |
of all the <unk> <unk> of small-town america i 've seen on tv this film is the most <unk> nasty |
the sole sympathetic character is the <unk> daughter kate <unk> smith and she is <unk> only by virtue of having nothing in common with her <unk> a truly <unk> pack of southern <unk> whose grim existence consists mostly of growing <unk> and <unk> sex |
i mean these folks are so <unk> that they blame pretty kate for the fact that when she was a <unk> someone tied her hands behind her back thrust her head into a <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> and beat her and then left her to die in a <unk> room |
her pa howard duff is the kind of guy who while saying grace at the <unk> table <unk> at the word <unk> and <unk> at the daughter he has n't seen for two decades because he knows in his heart that she enjoyed what happened in the <unk> room and has been <unk> the same taste ever since in the <unk> of chicago |
people like pa do exist of course |
but in mr. sohmer 's <unk> he is but the tip of the <unk> <unk> |
every man kate <unk> is either <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> <unk> or all three |
add the fact that any one of them including pa could be her <unk> and you have a setting that does n't resemble small-town america or even hollywood 's nightmare of small-town america so much as a <unk> <unk> <unk> like margaret <unk> 's the <unk> 's tale itself soon to be you <unk> it a hollywood movie |
there are two exceptions <unk> jeffrey <unk> the local doctor who has always loved kate and lincoln richard <unk> kate 's <unk> but <unk> brother |
<unk> makes <unk> passes at kate when she 's <unk> with anger and fear but we know from the outset that he 's not a member of the evil <unk> |
how could he be |
he 's the director of the local planned <unk> chapter |
as for lincoln if you ca n't guess why he 's so sweet to his sister when everybody else <unk> her then i 'm not going to tell you |
as for the women they 're <unk> |
kate 's <unk> <unk> <unk> is a moral <unk> |
her <unk> <unk> wright is a <unk> <unk> afraid that kate will <unk> all the married men in town including a particularly <unk> fellow named tucker whose idea of fun is to leave his wife at home <unk> to her <unk> and cigarette burns while he <unk> kate into a dance that consists of <unk> on her while trying to break h... |
at the very least it would appear that <unk> is a poor judge of <unk> <unk> |
yet even these <unk> <unk> are not as bad as the moral <unk> at the heart of settle the score |
in the <unk> episode of in the heat of the night we saw <unk> being attacked but we were n't invited to enjoy the <unk> |
in mr. sohmer 's film by contrast we are urged to share the <unk> excitement of the <unk> creeping up on his victim as the camera <unk> kate in various stages of <unk> and <unk> on the sight of her <unk> body during frequent <unk> to the rape |
at this point the truce between <unk> and <unk> gets mighty uneasy |
take the scene in which kate stands naked by a <unk> window <unk> to her hidden <unk> look all you want |
starting tomorrow i 'm <unk> you |
or the one in which she and <unk> are <unk> in the city and after insisting on separate motel rooms she <unk> on his door to pour out her feelings about the rape wearing nothing but a <unk> and a <unk> <unk> |
surely the question is obvious |
with friends like mr. sohmer do the <unk> of hollywood need enemies |
crossland savings bank 's stock plummeted after management recommended a suspension of dividend payments on both its common and preferred stock because crossland may not meet the new government capital criteria effective dec. N |
in composite trading on the new york stock exchange friday crossland closed at $ N down $ N a N N decline |
a spokesman said the savings bank may not qualify for the capital requirements because under the proposed guidelines its $ N million of preferred stock does n't meet the core capital criteria outlined under the new financial institutions reform recovery and enforcement act of N |
he added that final guidelines to be published in early november will determine whether the bank is in compliance |
crossland said it retained three investment bankers to assist it in developing and <unk> a financial restructuring plan |
it would n't identify the bankers |
additionally crossland reported a third-quarter loss of $ N million or $ N a share compared with net income of $ N million or $ N a share a year ago |
a major factor in the third-quarter loss was the write-down of $ N million of goodwill |
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