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Stocks to watch
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May 15, 1997: 8:06 a.m. ET
Amazon.com makes its debut, as market awaits economic figures
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A Web-based bookseller makes its much-anticipated debut Thursday on the Nasdaq, making it one of the stocks to watch.
Amazon.com will launch its initial public offering of three million shares Thursday at a price of $18 per share. At that price the book retailer, which is found only on the Internet, will raise more than $54 million. Its ticker symbol will be AMZN.
Amazon.com sold $15.7 million worth of books last year, a small amount compared to book retailing leader Barnes & Noble. However, Barnes & Noble is taking its threat seriously and Tuesday launched its own Web site.
Shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) gained 5/8 to 39 on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday.
Leaders of the union that launched a short strike in Ohio against General Motors said Wednesday they were confident rank and file workers would approve the deal they reached with GM. Workers are returning to the lines and will vote on the agreement this weekend.
Shares of General Motors (GM) lost 3/4 to 56 Wednesday on word of the labor agreement.
Former Dow component Woolworth announced after the closing bell Wednesday that it earned $1 million, or one cent per share, in its first quarter. That compares with a loss of $22 million, or 17 cents per share, the same period one year ago when it took special charges for certain discontinued operations.
Ahead of the news, Woolworth (Z) rose 5/8 to 22-1/2.
Tobacco company Philip Morris said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it was being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for its "merchandising practices at the wholesale and retail levels."
Philip Morris stock (MO) lost 1/8 to 42-1/2 on the NYSE Wednesday.
A full slate of government economic figures are scheduled to be released Thursday.
At 8:30 a.m., the Department of Labor will issue its consumer price index report for the month of April. It is forecast to rise 0.2 percent. Its core rate, which excludes the volatile food and energy prices, is also expected to be up 0.2 percent.
A separate report by the department will release the initial jobless claims for the week ending May 10. Analysts expect the figure to fall 7,000 to 340,000 claims. That number is also scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
At 9:15 a.m., the Federal Reserve will release its report on industrial production. That figure is expected to show an increase of 0.2 percent. The capacity utilization rate, which measures the use of the nation's mines, factories and utilities, is predicted to fall slightly to 84 percent.
--Randy Schultz
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