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the <unk> wage would apply only to first-time <unk> workers for N days |
the white house had enough votes to sustain a veto but chose to avoid a confrontation |
the only permanent losers will be the N or so workers everyone agrees will be priced out of a job at the $ N rate congress is likely to approve today |
it is <unk> such as this that convince washington 's liberals that if they simply stay the course this administration will <unk> from its own course on this and other issues |
the head trader of chemical banking corp. 's interest-rate options group has left the company following valuation errors that resulted in a $ N million charge against its third-quarter results |
chemical said steven <unk> resigned recently but one individual close to the situation said the resignation was forced |
mr. <unk> could n't be reached for comment |
a separate inquiry by chemical cleared mr. <unk> of allegations that he had been <unk> <unk> by a new york money broker |
that inquiry has n't resolved similar allegations involving another chemical options trader |
in other personnel changes stemming from problems in its options unit |
chemical named james kennedy a trader in swaps contracts for the bank to assume mr. <unk> 's duties and to be trading manager for derivative products including swaps and interest-rate options |
lee <unk> vice president in charge of options research who discovered the valuation errors and was asked by senior management to <unk> out the mess resigned to take a position in asset and liability management at continental bank in chicago |
mr. <unk> whom chemical tried to keep did n't return calls for comment |
separately chemical confirmed that it took an undisclosed charge in the second quarter for losses on <unk> agreements involving foreign currency written by its branch in frankfurt west germany |
a chemical spokeswoman said the second-quarter charge was not material and that no personnel changes were made as a result |
the spokeswoman said the frankfurt situation was totally different from problems in the interest-rate options unit |
according to individuals familiar with the situation the frankfurt loss stemmed from a computer program for <unk> prices on <unk> agreements that failed to <unk> an interest-rate environment where short-term rates were equal to or higher than long-term rates |
while the incidents involving interest-rate options and <unk> agreements are unrelated some observers say they echo a N incident in which bankers trust new york corp. restated the value of its foreign exchange options contracts downward by about $ N million |
these complex products require close monitoring because each must be valued separately in light of current market conditions |
in an interest-rate options contract a client pays a fee to a bank for <unk> protection against adverse interest-rate swings for a specified period |
in a <unk> agreement a client agrees to an exchange rate on a future currency transaction |
some competitors maintain the <unk> option loss in particular may have resulted more from chemical 's taking large and often <unk> positions than a valuation problem |
started three years ago chemical 's interest-rate options group was a leading force in the field |
from N to N the value of chemical 's option contracts outstanding <unk> to $ N billion from $ N billion |
more <unk> the volume of options written exceeded those purchased by almost <unk> |
with such a <unk> book of options traders say chemical was more vulnerable to <unk> valuation assumptions |
the chemical spokeswoman said the bank has examined its <unk> and internal controls |
we consider our internal controls to have worked well she said adding that some procedures have been strengthened |
its valuation <unk> she said are recognized as some of the best on the street |
not a lot was needed to be done |
when thomas w. wathen went big league last year he acquired a <unk> of <unk> along with a well-known but ailing security business pinkerton 's inc |
there was a wanted <unk> offering rewards for the arrest of express and train <unk> frank james and <unk> w. james and the original pinkerton 's <unk> with an open eye and the <unk> we never sleep which inspired the phrase private eye |
then there were two gold watches once owned by <unk> pinkerton who founded the company in chicago in N |
but there were supposed to be three mr. wathen 's company claims |
the missing watch is <unk> of the problems mr. wathen encountered in building his closely held california plant protection security service into the largest <unk> and security agency in the u.s. through acquisitions |
the <unk> mr. wathen has learned that while acquiring a big <unk> company can be a <unk> to growth it can also bring a host of <unk> problems |
we cleared out a lot of <unk> ' <unk> says the <unk> security veteran |
mr. wathen who started his career as an air force investigator and worked as a security officer for several large companies built his california plant protection from a tiny <unk> security <unk> firm here in the san fernando valley |
he joined the firm in N and bought it from the owners the next year |
over the next N years california plant protection opened N offices around the country |
yet although california plant protection was <unk> bigger and bigger clients the firm provided security for the N summer olympics in los angeles it still did n't have the name recognition of pinkerton 's |
so when american brands inc. decided to sell the unit in N as part of a divestiture of its food and security industries operations mr. wathen saw a chance to accomplish several objectives |
he decided he could easily merge pinkerton 's operations with his own while slashing overhead costs because the two already operated in many of the same cities |
he could acquire a staff of loyal pinkerton 's employees many of whom had spent their entire careers with the firm he could eliminate a competitor and he could get the name recognition he 'd wanted |
mr. wathen also <unk> the chance to demonstrate an entrepreneur like himself who 'd spent his whole career in the security business could run pinkerton 's better than an <unk> conglomerate or investment banker |
the security business is my favorite subject |
i love this business he says |
most of the lbo guys do n't know how to run a business anyway |
but there were <unk> not the least of which was that mr. wathen says he <unk> almost <unk> in doing the $ N million acquisition which was completed in january N |
we were n't allowed to do any due <unk> because of competitive reasons |
if we had it might have scared us off he says |
five years of rapid expansion under american brands with an emphasis on marketing the agency 's services instead of improving them had hurt pinkerton 's profits mr. wathen claims |
he says his team could n't tell whether accounts <unk> had been paid or not |
pinkerton 's had locked itself into <unk> contracts to win new business with no hope of profitability until the contracts expired he adds |
and regional offices were <unk> <unk> he claims |
one office had N people doing the work of three and half of the employees had company automobiles |
american brands declined to comment on mr. wathen 's accusations |
the acquisition combined the country 's second-largest security company pinkerton 's with N sales of $ N million and the fourth largest california plant protection with $ N million in sales creating the industry 's biggest firm which took on the pinkerton 's name |
even after <unk> itself of $ N million of unprofitable business the new pinkerton 's will have sales of about $ N million this year and operating profit roughly double the industry average of N N of sales says lloyd <unk> of <unk> & co. in los angeles which arranged the pinkerton 's acquisition |
mr. wathen says his turnaround strategy has been simple just <unk> away at the fat |
he began by closing N of the combined companies ' N offices in two months eliminating about N N of the company 's <unk> <unk> staff including more than N sales positions |
he shut down the company 's tony new york headquarters |
pinkerton 's world headquarters today is a <unk> <unk> office building across the street from the small van <unk> airport |
next mr. wathen raised pinkerton 's rates which were <unk> lower than california plant protection 's average rate of around $ N |
and he got rid of <unk> businesses that just were n't making money for the company |
mr. wathen who says pinkerton 's had a loss of nearly $ N million in N under american brands boasts that he 's made pinkerton 's profitable again |
but mr. wathen 's team still must pay down about $ N million of long-term bank debt from the acquisition within the next four years |
last year earnings of the combined companies did n't cover debt service and pinkerton 's was forced to borrow $ N million of subordinated debt |
we would n't have had to <unk> if a lot of the problems had n't been there mr. wathen says |
this year mr. wathen says the firm will be able to service debt and still turn a modest profit |
now pinkerton 's could become <unk> in a <unk> legal <unk> with its former parent |
the company recently filed suit in state court in los angeles against american brands seeking at least $ N million in damages from the old greenwich <unk> company |
the suit alleges that american brands <unk> the financial condition of pinkerton 's before the sale failed to disclose pending lawsuits and material contracts in which pinkerton 's was in default had n't registered the pinkerton 's name and trademark in the united kingdom and did n't tell california plant protection a... |
we have previously had discussions with representatives of pinkerton 's inc. concerning the sale of the company and we concluded that we did not have liability under the contract says american brands |
as this is now a litigation matter we have no further comment |
and then there 's the case of the missing gold watch |
the lawsuit alleges that an inventory of pinkerton 's <unk> disclosed that one of the watches had n't been <unk> over by american brands |
american brand 's failure to surrender the gold watch has damaged new pinkerton 's in an amount as yet to be determined and deprived it of a valuable <unk> for which it had <unk> the suit charges |
the key to pinkerton 's future will be sticking to what it does best being a security company says mr. wathen |
the company is also renewing its emphasis on investigations particularly <unk> investigations for corporations |
although investigations now account for only about N N of pinkerton 's total revenue that side of the business has traditionally been the more glamorous of the two and it carries historical and <unk> value |
author <unk> <unk> who wrote the <unk> falcon was a former pinkerton 's <unk> |
american brands just had a different approach mr. wathen says |
their approach did n't work mine is |
farm prices in october edged up N N from september as raw milk prices continued their rise the agriculture department said |
milk sold to the nation 's dairy plants and dealers averaged $ N for each hundred pounds up N cents from september and up $ N from october N the department said |
commercial <unk> led by <unk> and <unk> rose N N in october <unk> and other <unk> rose N N |
<unk> prices fell N cents in october to N cents a pound while turkey prices rose N cents a pound to N cents |
egg prices averaged N cents a dozen down N cent from september |
<unk> rose $ N to $ N a <unk> in october while beef cattle slipped N cents to $ N for each hundred pounds and <unk> dropped N cents to $ N |
soybeans averaged $ N a bushel down N cents from september corn averaged $ N down seven cents and <unk> grain averaged $ N for each hundred pounds down N cents according to the department |
paramount communications inc. new york completed the sale of its associates corp. consumer and commercial finance subsidiary to a unit of ford motor co. for $ N billion |
paramount which agreed to sell the unit in july said it would realize net proceeds from the sale of $ N billion with an after-tax gain of $ N billion |
paramount said the gain would be recorded in its fourth quarter which ended yesterday |
paramount said the sale <unk> the strategic restructuring it began in N and would enable it to focus on its entertainment and publishing businesses |
ford said in july it planned to operate associates based in dallas as a separate entity in its ford financial services group |
paramount said associates has about $ N billion in total assets making it third-largest in terms of assets among independent finance companies in the u.s. |
sea containers ltd. in a long-awaited move to <unk> a hostile takeover bid said it will sell $ N billion of assets and use some of the proceeds to buy about N N of its common shares for $ N apiece |
together with the N million shares currently controlled by management subsidiaries and directors the completed tender offer would give sea containers a controlling stake |
describing itself as asset rich sea containers said it will move immediately to sell two ports various <unk> ferry services containers and other investments |
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