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CNNfn market movers
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August 27, 1998: 2:40 p.m. ET
CBS holds its own, Net's stocks catch the down wave, Mainstreet firm gains
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - As Wall Street careened out of control Thursday in the wake of frenzied worldwide stock sell-off, the better question may have been which stocks weren't moving much.
CBS (CBS) appeared to pick a good day to announce a spin-off of its recently acquired radio unit, Infinity Broadcasting. The broadcasting giant was thus relatively unscathed from the market plunge. Its shares were up 1-7/8 to 29-1/16.
The eye network also said it would take a restructuring charge of $50 to $70 million in its third quarter.
Also making waves in the radio market, Chancellor Media (AMFM) fell 2-1/2 to 42-1/4 after agreeing to buy fellow Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst holding Capstar Broadcasting (CRB) for $4.1 billion, creating the largest radio broadcaster in the nation. Capstar dropped 2 to 19-1/2.
Cendant (CD) fell 1-9/16 to 13 after the marketing and franchising firm said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked it to further alter its accounting policies following a government probe of the company.
One of those high-flying Internet search engines, Excite (XCIT), was brought back to Earth Thursday, dropping 4-3/16 to 39-3/16 after the Wall Street Journal's "Heard on the Street" column questioned its accounting of a marketing partnership deal with Netscape Communications (NSCP).
Reports earlier in the day that CS First Boston lowered its rating on Excite to "hold" from "buy" were subsequently discredited.
Net stocks overall were having a tough time Thursday. Yahoo! (YHOO) lost 4-3/8 to 92-1/2, Zapata (ZAP) slipped 1-1/4 to 10-11/16 and online bookseller Amazon.com (AMZN) dipped 6-1/4 to 121.
Net stocks that are relatively fresh off their initial public offerings got punished especially. NetGravity (NETG) drifted 1-1/2 to 10-1/4, GeoCities (GCTY) lost 2-7/8 to 28-3/8 and Cyberian Outpost (COOL) fell 1-3/4 to 11-7/16
Ciena (CIEN) lost 3-1/8 to 31-1/8 after the fiber-optic telecommunications systems maker was named late Wednesday in a shareholder lawsuit alleging it issued false statements to inflate Ciena's stock price recently.
Ciena said the suit is "without merit."
Closure Medical (CLSR) rose 1-7/8 to 23-5/8 after the maker of wound closing products said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its Dermabond Topical Skin Adhesive for market release.
Global TeleSystems (GTSG) lost 4-1/8 to 29-1/2 after the telecommunications services provider said it will buy 5.9 million shares of Amtec (ATC), a provider of cell phone services in China for about $7 million.
ShoLodge (LODG) fell 1-5/8 to 5-1/4 after the operator of Sumner Suites and Shoney's Inn hotel chains said its second quarter profits fell to 4 cents a diluted share. The consensus analysts' estimate was for 15 cents a share, according to First Call.
PanAmSat (SPOT) dropped 5-15/16 to 43-5/8 after the satellite communications provider said late Wednesday it plans to use current satellites and additional spacecraft to provide services lost from the recent destruction of its Galaxy 10 satellite.
Anheuser-Busch (BUD) stayed frothy, up 1/2 to 49-11/16 in the down market after a report in the Wall Street Journal said the world's largest brewer plans to lift prices for the first time in nearly two years.
While most of Wall Street ailed, at least Mainstreet Financial (MSBC) was faring well, soaring 7-7/8 to 33-3/8 as the North Carolina bank BB&T (BBK) said it would pay $554.3 in stock for the Virginia-based counterpart.
Getting put onto a key index was one way to eke out gains amid the wide market turmoil on Thursday.
Provident Companies (PVT) rose 1-3/16 to 35-15/16 after Standard & Poor's added the insurance provider to the S&P 500 index in place of Bay Networks (BAY), which is being acquired by Northern Telecom (NT).
Wall Street upgrades rally a few
The gleeful gaze of some brokerage houses propped up several stocks Thursday, helping them to avoid the market sell-off.
ITC/DeltaCom (ITCD) gained 2-3/4 to 35 after Merrill Lynch raised its long-term rating to "buy" from "accumulate" and its short-term rating to "accumulate" from "neutral" on the provider of long-distance phone service.
And General Mills (GIS) rose 5/8 to 64-13/16 after a report said Prudential Securities upgraded the cereal maker to "accumulate" from "hold."
But it wasn't a rosy day for USA Floral Products (ROSI) which tanked 4-7/8 to 6-1/4, or more than 43 percent, after Morgan Stanley Dean Witter cut its rating on the flower and plant wholesale distributor to "outperform" from "strong buy."
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