Business world By Nick Pisani Our financial future Capitalism is the mainstay of much of the world's economy. Even the Soviet Union, whether they admit it or not, has created the Eurobank organization with which to invest in bourgeoisie capitalistic businesses. In short, capitalism is a proven ideal that works; its major component is companies whose philosophy is to max imize profits, and minimize losses; for those people who invest in companies that materialistically follow this ideal, the reaping of dividends and other high returns can be realized. Unfortunately, we are not, I repeat,- not equipped with a crystal ball that can enable us to see into the future and predict when to buy a stock, and when to sell it, because magic does not exist, and this is not Star Wars! However, there are many people who dedicate their lives trying to predict business trends so that investors have a better chance of making money, in stead of losing it. There are many that are accurate. In the past two months, many leading economic hen chmen from such pseudo financial conglomerates as Merrill Lynch have predicted that the Dow would dive below the 800 mark. It has, and it seems to be hovering around this figure. Certainly, things could not get much worse, in fact, a predicted, and sorely needed rebound is in sight. With falling interest rates, and Paul Volker's tight money supplies being realiz ed, major banking and finan cial execs predict a sharp spring rebound, with the Dow reaching a possible high of 1020. Perhaps, it sounds a bit far fetched, but it should happen. Those with faith and op timism, be prepared, if you dare, to reap a bountiful harvest of money in the com ing months (but, don't curse yourself come tax season next year!). The best returns will pro bably be realized in the high tech issues: reverred as the "darlings" of Wall Street a mere six months ago, these stocks have recently gone below their all-time lows; in some cases, their market value has been cut in half. The oils have faired no better. Mobil, the second largest cor poration in the world, is sell ing at around twenty a share. But, unlike the high tech issues, there is no relief in sight. With projected oil prices expected to plummet, and an oil glut in the works, these stocks will probably stay where they are. In other issues, U.S. Home (11), the largest home builder in the country, and controlled by the French conglomerate Phenix, is selling at an all time low. You can expect to see a rebound in housing con struction soon. All hospital management issues, ie Hospital Corp. of America, Humana, are involved in a recession-proof service in dustry. Whether times are good or .bad, people still get sick, thus providing these companies with guaranteed customers now, and in the future. These stocks are highly recommended because of their low selling prices. In the Transportation index, two airlines have survived deregulation with flying col ors (no pun intended): Delta (28), and U.S. Air (14); both are selling at discounts. With so many stocks selling at ir resistible discounts, it is hard to ignore the possible rewards one can receive for investing in such companies. But, perhaps investing in such "stable" stocks as those I have mentioned, is not in your "bag." Maybe you prefer a bit more speculation in your investing; I know I do. I am particularly intrigued by those small, speculative compahies with explosive growth potential: Welber (21), data communications; Triad Systems (18), com puter peripherals; and, Flight Transportation (8), flight simulation systems. All three companies are selling at ridiculously low prices too irresistible to ignore. Each company is in a specialized industry where competition is low. Personally, I like four highly speculative issues in particular: Teleflex (17), which makes everything from noncorrosive specialty coatings to nuclear reaction cores, is especially recom mended because of its recession-proof balance sheet; Aydin (18), a produder of highly sophisticated com munications, and microwave systems, is attractive because of an increasing number of government con tracts, and a high backlog of unfulfilled orders; Charming Shoppea-- (9), the operator of Fashion Bug women's speeialtyshoPs that has had a 32% compounded growth in net income for the past ten years; and, AM Cable TV In dustries (5), a cable televi sion equipment-and construc tion concern that has grown so fast that it has not been able to fulfill all of its orders, but is completing construc tion of two plants in Penn sylvania, and one in the Philippines. Its shares are selling at 1 / 4 their high of twenty last year. Whether you look over these stocks, or others like them, let me say that they are all POTENTIAL gold mines; but, looks can be deceiving. They are very speculative. Yet in the words of the im mortal Alexander Pope: "Of all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: It might of been." These stocks may, or may not make it. I ar rest my case. Enough for now on in vesting. Let me mention the events that have become ma jor issues in the business world, in recent weeks. Smithkline Beckman (62) recently completed its previous announced billion dollar acquisition of Beckman Instruments, "...a marriage made in heaven," accordingly to one industry analyst. Marathon Oil is now a subsidiary of U.S. Steel; price: 6.8 billion dollars. Coke has made a marriage pro posal to Columbia Pictures at 78 a share. Rockwell Interna tional has - come under government scrutiny by NASA for , allegedly COME IN AND SEE THE HELPFUL LOAN OFFICERS AT THE HAZLETON NATIONAL BANK TO PLAN FOR YOUR EDUCATION. •HAZIETON *WEATHERLY .NUREMB E RG .CONYNGHAM *LEHIGHTON •WEISPORT overstating its expense ac counts with regards to the B-1 bomber • contract it received last year. Pabst Brewing (Blue Ribbon Beer) received a $l6 a share takeover offer from 'C. Schmidt & Sons, of Philadelphia, and. told Schmidt to stick its offer, in plain ordinary words. Pabst is presently fighting a proxy battle with Minneapolis in vestor Irwin Jacobs, and has agreed to acquire small Pitt sburgh Brewing. Perhaps, it is a bit confusing, even to Pabst chairman William Smith. Seagrams Ltd. (V. 0., Seagram 7 Whiskey) was rumored to be talking takeover with Gillette. Heublein (Smirnoff Vodka, and Kentucky. Fried Chicken) is fighting a hotly-contested battle to ward off amorous General Cinema's takeover fever. And, finally, Bendix bought 5.5% of financially ail ing RCA's common (just for investment purposes only, you understand). With in terest rates plunging, expect to see more corporate mergersin the future. Education Loans Are Available At . . . HNB THE PARENT LOAN FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS (PLUS) THE GUARANTEED STUDENT LOAN (GSL) WE'RE 'THE HELPFUL BANK'. THE HAZLETON NATIONAL BANK The Helpful Bank Pac4tial tops electric goes By Alan Smith All-American as hot dogs, baseball, and apple pie, PAC man has become one of America's favorite electronic games since its inception in August of 1980. With over 100,000 games sold by the midway company, the trend of playing PAC-man is reaching new heights every day. Yet what is it about play ing PAC-man that is so ap pealing? Ron Swayer, a daily PAC man player, sees the game's challenge of man against machine as a strong attrac ting force. - "lt's like being slapped in the face and challenged to a duel everytime you drop in a quarter." Bob Tier, also a veteran PAC-man player, feels the cuterfess of the game attributes to its popularity. Lacking the war and destruc tion themes of so many other electronic games, PAC-man attracts males and females of all ages. Whether its the challenge or just the cuteness, Speedy, Blinky, Inky, and Clyde will be doing their half-time per formance for quite sometime. ' 4 1 I 1., " mvTIW, F 0 I C
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