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CNNfn market movers
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October 1, 1998: 2:40 p.m. ET
Harbinger, Sterling both tarnish, Richey rolls, investors cash out Paychex
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - It's a painful day for Wall Street investors generally -- but a heap of woe descended on a pair of electronic-commerce software makers, Harbinger and Sterling Commerce.
Harbinger (HRBC) had negative tidings, dropping 2-3/4 to 4-1/2 after the electronic-commerce software maker said third-quarter operating earnings will come in between 4 and 8 cents per share, versus a consensus analysts' estimate, as reported by First Call, of 11 cents.
Gerard Klauer Mattison cut its rating on Harbinger to "sell" from "hold" and advised clients to move assets into shares of the larger rival Sterling Commerce (SE).
Sterling itself plummeted 10-1/16 to 24-9/16 in sympathy with Harbinger's woes, however. BancBoston Robertson Stephens lowered its revenue estimates on the company as well.
Also in heavy trading, Paychex (PAYX) dropped 7-5/8 to 43-15/16 even though the payroll-processing company said it had raised its quarterly dividend to 9 cents a share from 6 cents. Salomon Smith Barney cut its rating to "outperform" from "buy."
Osteotech (OSTE) slipped 5-1/4 to 21-1/4 after BancBoston Robertson Stephens cut its rating on the orthopedic-services provider to "buy" from "strong buy."
Lesco (LSCO), which makes turf-care products and equipment for golf courses, fell 2-3/4, or 20 percent, to 11 after the company said earnings per share for the year will fall about 30 percent below year-ago results.
Kennemetal (KMT) fell 5-13/16 to 21-1/8 after the construction-equipment maker said the General Motors strike, weakness in the oil and gas industry and production cuts at some customers will cause it to fall short of analyst estimates in its fiscal first quarter.
Kennemetal said it sees profit of 20 to 25 cents per share, versus a First Call estimate of 53 cents per share, and said it will cut costs by 5 percent starting Oct. 31.
This in from Reuters Group: the information giant's U.S. shares (RTRSY) slipped 5-7/8 to 43-7/8 the company said it may suffer from cost-cutting by bank customers amid the global market turmoil.
Healthcare service firms tank
Institutional pharmacy service providers and other healthcare-related companies racked up losses on Thursday, led by Omnicare (OCR), which plunged 6-9/16 to 28-11/16, or about 19 percent, in heavy trading.
Many analysts did not return calls or refused to comment Thursday.
Other sector players were Total Renal Care (TRL), off 2-1/2 to 21-1/2, Lincare (LNCR), dropping 2-5/8 to 36-1/8, Renal Care Group (RCGI), slipping 1-11/16 to 23-15/16, and Pediatrix Medical Group (PDX) down 3-3/8 to 41-1/2.
Buyouts pepper computer sector
On the buyout front, Richey Electronics (RCHY) soared 3 to 9-7/8 after the computer products vendor, Arrow Electronics (ARW), said it will buy the electronics distribution unit of Bell Industries (BI) for $10.50 a share.
For its own part, Bell announced a major restructuring and a huge decline in expected third-quarter earnings. Its shares were down 1-15/16 to 10 as a result.
Elsewhere in the high-tech arena, Carnegie Group (CGIX) rose 1-13/16 to 4-7/16 after the British software maker Logica agreed to buy the call-center software maker for $35 million. 
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