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CNNfn market movers
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August 28, 1998: 2:33 p.m. ET
Net stocks, brokerages slip while air lines, automakers led by Chrysler rev up
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Key companies that make or fly the machinery that gets you around moved higher Friday, while stocks of high-flying Internet issues continued a slump and brokerage stocks were in the dog house.
A battered airline sector shot higher, including Delta Air Lines (DAL), which gained 4-11/16 to 106-11/16, AMR (AMR), parent of American Airlines, up 2-3/16 to 57-13/16, UAL (UAL), parent of United Air Lines, adding 4-1/16 to 65-7/16, and even Northwest Airlines (NWAC), which is facing a possible pilots strike but rose 1-7/8 to 29-7/8.
Auto makers get in gear
A day after Chrysler (C) tanked Thursday, Merrill Lynch reminded investors the number-three U.S. automaker still has an extra shock absorber in its pocket: a huge merger with Germany's Daimler-Benz.
Merrill upgraded Chrysler to intermediate buy from intermediate accumulate. After its 7-3/8 plunge Thursday, Chrysler shares were up 2-11/16 to 49-15/16 Friday.
And PaineWebber raised its rating to attractive from neutral on Chrysler's rivals Ford Motor (F), which rose 1-1/4 to 47-3/4, and General Motors (GM), up 1-1/16 to 61-13/16.
Brokerages themselves were under selling pressure Friday because of their investments in Russia's woe-stricken market. Bear Stearns (BSC) tumbled 2-13/16 to 41, Merrill Lynch (MER) fell 3-11/16 to 74-5/8, and A.G. Edwards (AGE) slipped 1/4 to 30-3/8.
Internet stocks reel
America Online (AOL) dropped 6-1/2 to 98-1/2 after Banyan Systems (BNYN) said it will not renew its White Pages contract with the online service giant at the end of November. Banyan fell 1-5/8 to 2-3/4.
Others in the Internet sector were reeling Friday, such as Amazon.com (AMZN), losing 8-3/4 to 110-1/4; Broadcast.com (BCST), off 4-3/8 to 46-5/8; MindSpring Enterprises (MSPG), down 3-5/16 to 31-7/16; GeoCities (GCTY), losing 3 to 24-1/8; and Inktomi (INKT), shedding 6-1/32 to 65-3/4.
The big search engines also were lower. Yahoo! (YHOO) dropped 6-1/8 to 84-15/16, Excite (XCIT) fell 4-1/8 to 30-5/16, Lycos shed 4 to 30-1/4, and Infoseek (SEEK) was down 1-3/4 to 22.
National Service Industries (NSI) got soiled after the corporate cleaning and maintenance services provider said its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings will come in 12 cents under analyst consensus expectations at about 72 cents a share. Its shares lost 2-13/16 to 39.
Kent Electronics (KNT) dropped 2-1/16 to 10-3/8 after the wire and cable distributor warned of lower-than-expected earnings in its second quarter due to shrinking sales.
AccuStaff (ASI) rose 15/16 to 18-5/16 but was off earlier highs after Dutch firm Randstad Holding said it will buy AccuStaff's temporary staffing unit for $850 million cash. AccuStaff had planned to take the division public.
Computer Learning Centers (CLCX) discovered learning doesn't always translate into earnings and dropped 7-7/8, or nearly 59 percent, to 5-1/2 after the operator of computer schools said it will post second-quarter earnings of 4 to 5 cents per share, more than a dime below analysts' estimates, as reported by First Call.
MRV Communications (MRVC) fell 7-31/32 to 6-13/32 after the telecommunications equipment maker said its third-quarter profits, based on a 10- to 15-percent drop in revenues, would fall below expectations due to European market weakness.
DSC Communications (DIGI) gained 3-1/16 to 25-7/16 after shareholders of the telecom equipment maker late Thursday agreed to the $3.4 billion buyout offer from Alcatel Alsthom (ALA). France's Alcatel, which recently went public in the United States, was up 2-3/16 to 32-1/2 as well.
Enterprise software maker J.D. Edwards (JDEC) got two votes of confidence Friday and gained 4-3/16 to 40-1/8 Prudential Securities reportedly started coverage of the company with an accumulate rating, while Morgan Stanley Dean Witter upgraded its shares to strong buy from outperform. 
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