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both moody 's and s&p cited first boston 's reliance in recent years on merchant banking which has been responsible for a significant portion of the closely held firm 's profit |
the recent cash squeeze at campeau corp. first boston 's most lucrative client of the decade is proving costly to first boston because it arranged more than $ N billion of high-yield high-risk junk financings for campeau units |
in addition a big loan that first boston made to ohio <unk> co was n't repaid on time when its $ N million junk financing for a buy-out of the <unk> company was withdrawn |
these two exposures alone represent a very substantial portion of cs first boston 's equity moody 's said |
total merchant banking exposures are in excess of the firm 's equity |
cs first boston however benefits from the backing of its largest shareholder credit suisse switzerland 's third largest bank |
shearson also has been an aggressive participant in the leveraged buy-out business |
but its earnings became a major disappointment as its traditional retail or individual investor business showed no signs of rebounding from the slump that followed the october N stock market crash |
in addition shearson 's listed $ N billion of capital is <unk> according to the rating concerns because it includes $ N billion of goodwill |
shearson really only has $ N million of capital says mr. <unk> of s&p |
a shearson spokesman said the firm is n't worried |
a year ago moody 's also had shearson under review for possible downgrade he said |
after two months of talks our rating was maintained |
drexel meanwhile already competes at a disadvantage to its big wall street rivals because it has a slightly lower commercial paper rating |
the collapse of junk bond prices and the cancellation of many junk bond financings apparently have taken their toll on closely held drexel the leading underwriter in that market |
the firm also has been hit with big financial settlements with the government stemming from its guilty plea to six <unk> related to a big insider-trading scandal |
drexel this year eliminated its retail or individual customer business cutting the firm 's <unk> almost in half to just over N |
recently drexel circulated a private financial statement among several securities firms showing that its earnings performance has diminished this year from previous years |
the firm 's capital moreover has n't grown at the same rate as in the past officials at these firms say |
drexel remains confident of its future <unk> |
we 're well positioned with $ N billion of capital a drexel spokesman said |
and as a leading investment and merchant banking firm the fact that we are no longer subject to the uncertainties and <unk> of the retail business is a major plus in our view |
moreover we 've probably been the most aggressive firm on the street in reducing costs which are down around N N over the last six months |
lewis c. <unk> the father of the team that created the highly successful ford <unk> and mercury <unk> cars retired early after experiencing recent heart problems |
most recently mr. <unk> N years old has been vice president of product and manufacturing engineering at ford motor co |
but he is best known in the auto industry as the <unk> of a team <unk> approach that produced the two midsized cars that were instrumental in helping the no. N auto maker record profits in recent years and in enabling the company 's ford division to <unk> general motors corp. 's chevrolet division as the <unk> <unk> i... |
under the so-called team <unk> approach mr. <unk> and other ford product planners sought the involvement of parts suppliers <unk> workers auto designers and financial staff members from the initial stages of the development cycle |
the concept 's goal was to eliminate bureaucracy and make ford 's product development more responsive to consumer demands |
it was later applied to other <unk> programs including those that produced the ford <unk> and mercury <unk> |
ford chairman donald e. <unk> said yesterday that mr. <unk> has helped to change the world 's perception of <unk> cars |
mr. <unk> worked at ford for N years holding a variety of car and <unk> positions |
the limits to legal <unk> stretched another <unk> this week when the supreme court refused to hear an appeal from a case that says corporate defendants must pay damages even after proving that they could not possibly have caused the harm |
we can understand and share the <unk> that makes judges sometimes wish to offer a kind of <unk> aid to those who 've been hurt |
but this case is a stark lesson in how the failures of the traditional <unk> process have left the courts as the only forum this country has to debate risk technology and innovation |
too often now a single court decision becomes the precedent for other less compelling cases |
from the <unk> until N some two million women took the synthetic <unk> <unk> des to prevent <unk> and morning <unk> |
the drug was approved by the food and drug administration and marketed by some N pharmaceutical companies often under generic labels |
in the 1970s scientists reported cancer cases among the daughters of des users |
the cases quickly went to court but the mothers of several thousand des plaintiffs could n't recall whose brand they used |
beginning in N courts in several states including california and new york decided to suspend the <unk> rule that plaintiffs must prove that the defendants are the ones who are liable |
courts made the assumption that all des pills were essentially the same and created a market-share test so that damages would be assessed against drug makers in the proportion of their share of the original sales |
this has some logic |
drug makers should n't be able to duck liability because people could n't identify precisely which identical drug was used |
but courts quickly tumbled down a <unk> <unk> |
just as all plaintiffs are not alike it turns out that des defendants marketed the drugs differently and may have offered different <unk> |
the ultimate result came in <unk> v. lilly where the highest new york court expanded the market-share approach for the first time to say that drug makers that could prove <unk> <unk> 's mother did n't use their pill must still pay their share of any damages |
but as duke university law professor william van <unk> notes by this <unk> a defendant could be held liable in new york for a bad apple even if he sold all his apples in california |
despite the supreme court 's refusal to hear the case there are serious constitutional issues of due process and <unk> <unk> from the defendants |
the big problem however is that there 's no guarantee that this <unk> will be limited to des or to drugs |
the problem here goes well beyond <unk> legal doctrine |
the california supreme court last year reversed direction to make it much harder to win des cases because the justices saw how all the pharmaceutical litigation has <unk> the introduction of new drugs |
the court rejected strict liability for prescription drugs citing the huge hidden social costs |
public policy favors the development and marketing of beneficial new drugs even though some risks perhaps serious ones might <unk> their introduction because drugs can save lives and reduce pain and suffering the <unk> court said |
the california justices noted that the fear of litigation already forced the only remaining <unk> drug <unk> off the u.s. market |
this raises the key issue what to do about people who suffer serious injuries from beneficial drugs |
we now know that holding drug makers liable where there 's no evidence that they or anyone else knew of any risks only means the drugs wo n't be available to anyone |
as liability expert peter <unk> tells us after the <unk> case if any drug maker <unk> an <unk> drug it 's time to sell that company 's stock short |
we also know that the <unk> system is a <unk> way to compensate victims anyway some win the legal <unk> others get much less and <unk> lawyers take a big cut either way |
des daughters and other victims of drugs would be better off if their cases were taken out of the courts |
congress could create a compensation program to help such victims while protecting the national interest in encouraging new drugs |
but a N law that supposedly replaced lawsuits over children 's <unk> with a compensation fund has predictably led to even more litigation |
everyone by now understands that congress is utterly <unk> of writing legislation to help <unk> people without its becoming some billion-dollar <unk> |
we have no doubt this is one reason judges in new york and justices on the supreme court are willing to trash the law in the des cases |
they must figure that justice has to get done by somebody but know it wo n't be done by congress |
<unk> partners limited partnership an investment firm completed the purchase of may department stores co. 's <unk> discount chain for $ N million plus the assumption of $ N million in debt |
<unk> based in <unk> conn. operates N stores in the northeast it reported revenue of $ N billion last year |
may stores st. louis runs such well-known department stores as lord & taylor |
n.v <unk> said net income in the third quarter jumped N N as the company had substantially lower extraordinary charges to account for a restructuring program |
the dutch chemical group said net income gained to N million guilders $ N million or N guilders a share from N million guilders or N guilders a share a year ago |
the N N state-owned <unk> had eight million guilders of extraordinary charges in the latest quarter mainly to reflect one-time losses in connection with the disposal of some operations |
the charges were offset in part by a gain from the sale of the company 's construction division |
last year <unk> had N million guilders of extraordinary charges for the restructuring program and other transactions |
the earnings growth also was fueled by the company 's ability to cut net financing spending by half to around N million guilders |
also substantially lower dutch corporate tax rates helped the company keep its tax <unk> flat relative to earnings growth the company added |
sales however were little changed at N billion guilders compared with N billion guilders |
<unk> inc. said it received food and drug administration approval to sell the <unk> <unk> lens the first <unk> <unk> lens available for <unk> surgery |
the <unk> 's <unk> enables it to be inserted in smaller <unk> than are now possible for <unk> surgery the eye care and skin care concern said |
<unk> refer to a <unk> of the eye 's natural lens |
a man from the bush administration came before the house agriculture committee yesterday to talk about the u.s. 's intention to send some $ N million in food aid to poland with more to come from the ec |
the committee 's members are worried what all this free food might do to the economic prospects of poland 's own farmers |
rep. gary ackerman noted that past food aid had <unk> farmers in el salvador and egypt |
however well <unk> food transfers have the habit of growing larger and <unk> the market incentives for the <unk> country 's own farmers |
the first world has for some time had the bad habit of <unk> other people 's economies with this kind of <unk> <unk> |
it should be constantly stressed that poland 's farmers mostly need a real market for their products |
<unk> industries inc. said it expects net income in the year ending june N N to fall below a recent analyst 's estimate of $ N a share |
the <unk> ill. maker of fasteners also said it expects to post sales in the current fiscal year that are slightly above fiscal N sales of $ N million |
the company said its industrial unit continues to face margin pressures and lower demand |
in fiscal N <unk> earned $ N million or $ N a share |
the company 's stock fell $ N to $ N in over-the-counter trading yesterday |
<unk> truck corp. <unk> wis. estimated earnings for its fourth quarter ended sept. N fell N N to N N below the year-earlier $ N million or N cents a share |
the truck maker said the significant drop in net income will result in lower earnings for the fiscal year |
in fiscal N the company earned $ N million or $ N a share on revenue of $ N million |
<unk> truck attributed the downturn in its earnings to higher start-up costs of its new <unk> division a softer <unk> market and higher administrative costs of compliance with government contractor regulations |
the company said it is in the process of <unk> out john deere its current source of production for midsized motor home <unk> |
in anticipation of the start-up of its new factory the company said a <unk> <unk> supply has been built to carry it through the transition period |
tokyo stocks edged up wednesday in relatively active but <unk> trading |
london shares finished moderately higher |
at tokyo the nikkei index of N selected issues which gained N points tuesday added N points to N |
in early trading in tokyo thursday the nikkei index fell N points to N |
wednesday 's volume on the first section was estimated at N million shares in line with tuesday 's N million |
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