Stocks to watch
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May 12, 1997: 8:09 a.m. ET
Fred Meyer and Smith's Food & Drug merge; Echostar sues News Corp.
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The merger of two Western food retailers make them stocks to watch as another trading week begins on Wall Street.
Fred Meyer has reportedly reached an agreement to buy Smith's Food & Drug Centers in a stock deal worth about $720 million. Meyer will also assume about $1.3 billion of Smith's debt.
Shares of Fred Meyer (FMY) gained 5/8 to 41-7/8 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange while Smith's stock (SFD), which is up 7 since the beginning of the month, rose 1-3/8 to 40 Friday.
The battle in the skies continued between Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and Echostar Friday. Echostar filed a breach of contract suit against its would-be partner in a satellite television venture. The company is suing for $5 billion in damages due to lost profits.
News Corp. (NWS) was up 1/8 to 18-3/4 Friday while Echostar (DISH) lost 1-3/4 to 13-5/8 on the NYSE.
Ford is looking into selling its cars directly to consumers in three mid-sized cities, published reports say. In a break with tradition, the company would attempt to create auto superstores in those cities to eliminate competition between Ford retailers.
Ford shares (F) accelerated 1 to 36-5/8 Friday.
Workers at a Chrysler engine plant in Michigan are back on the lines after they ratified a labor agreement which ended a month-old strike. That labor action idled production of its lucrative Jeep Grand Cherokee and popular pickups.
Chrysler stock (C) was up 3/4 Friday to 31-1/4.
SBC Communications, which recently merged with Pacific Telesis, posted a small decline in its first quarter earnings, down 3.5 percent to $857 million, or 94 cents a share. The company also said it was taking another look at PacTel's move into wireless cable television. SBC's stock (SBC) lost 1/8 to 56-3/8.
Investors may want to keep an eye on blue chip IBM Monday. The company showed that its computers can, at least this time, beat human beings at something. Its Deep Blue supercomputer quickly finished off chess champion Garry Kasparov Sunday to win the match.
IBM shares (IBM) were up 1/8 to 167-1/2 Friday.
--Randy Schultz
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