Voice of America, 98-12-28

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

[02] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY KEVIN LYNCH (WASHINGTON)

[01] N-Y ECON WRAP (S&L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

INTRO: STOCK PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES WERE MIXED TODAY (MONDAY), BUT THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSED UP FOR THE SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE SESSION. V-O-A CORRESPONDENT BRECK ARDERY REPORTS FROM NEW YORK.

TEXT: THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSED AT 92-HUNDRED-26, UP EIGHT POINTS. IT WAS THE SECOND TIME THIS YEAR THAT THE INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE HAS CLOSED UP IN SEVEN CONSECUTIVE SESSIONS. BUT THE STANDARD AND POOR'S 500-INDEX CLOSED DOWN ALMOST ONE POINT, AT 12-HUNDRED-25, WHILE THE NASDAQ INDEX CLOSED AT A RECORD HIGH. NED RILEY, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT THE BANK OF BOSTON, SAYS THE RECENT RALLY IN THE U-S STOCK MARKET IS AN ATTEMPT BY TRADERS TO GET AHEAD OF AN EXPECTED JANUARY RUN-UP IN PRICES.

WE ARE GETTING THAT JANUARY RALLY IN DECEMBER. TOO MANY PEOPLE HAVE PLAYED OUT THE THEME THAT JANUARY IS USUALLY A GOOD MONTH. SO WE ARE SEEING THIS IN DECEMBER. THE MARKET IS UP SIX PERCENT ALREADY THIS MONTH AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL END ON A HIGH NOTE.

IN BUSINESS NEWS, GENERAL MOTORS SAYS IT WILL DEVELOP A HYBRID BUS WHICH IS POWERED BY ELECTRICITY AND DIESEL FUEL. THE BUS, WITH SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER EMISSIONS THAN CURRENT MODELS, WILL BE TESTED IN NEW YORK CITY NEXT YEAR.

COOPER INDUSTRIES, A HARDWARE AND ELECTRICAL PRODUCTS MANUFACTURER, WILL CUT ONE-THOUSAND JOBS AND CLOSE 12 PLANTS IN AN EFFORT TO IMPROVE PROFITABILITY. S-P-X, AN AUTO PARTS MAKER, SAYS IT WILL ALSO CUT ONE-THOUSAND JOBS. THE COMPANY IS HOPEFUL THAT MOST OF THE JOB CUTS CAN BE ACHIEVED THROUGH EARLY RETIREMENTS, RATHER THAN LAYOFFS.

THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS SAYS SALES OF NEW HOMES IN THE UNITED STATES WILL LIKELY SLOW IN 1999 AFTER THIS YEAR'S RECORD TOTAL OF 870-THOUSAND. HOWEVER, THE ASSOCIATION SAYS LOW MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES SHOULD LIMIT NEXT YEAR'S SALES DROP TO BETWEEN 10 AND 12 PERCENT.

INITIAL REPORTS SHOW U-S RETAIL SALES WERE GOOD, BUT NOT AS STRONG AS EXPECTED DURING THE CHRISTMAS SHOPPING SEASON, WITH ABOUT THREE AND ONE-HALF PERCENT GROWTH. HOWEVER, HOLIDAY SALES ON THE COMPUTER INTERNET SOARED BY MORE THAN 200 PERCENT FROM LAST YEAR.

THAT FIGURE HELPED PUSH UP THE STOCKS OF MANY RETAILERS THAT SELL ON THE INTERNET. THE STOCK OF A CATALOG RETAILER NAMED SKYMALL JUMPED 300 PERCENT, AND THE ACTIVE APPAREL COMPANY'S SHARES SOARED BY 600 PERCENT. (SIGNED) NEB/NY/BA/LSF/WTW
28-Dec-98 5:02 PM EST (2202 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[02] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY KEVIN LYNCH (WASHINGTON)

TEXT: NEXT MONTH, AS THE 106TH SESSION OF CONGRESS OPENS, THE SENATE WILL BEGIN CONSIDERING THE TWO ARUICLES OG IMPEACHMENT AGAINST BILL CLIOTON -- ONE FOR PROVIDING FALSE TESTIMONY TO A GRAND JURY, THE!OTHER FOR OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE -- THAT WERE APPROVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. BOTH STEM FROM MR. CLINTON'S EFFORTS TO CONCEAL HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH A FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN. IF THE IMPEACHMENT CASE GOES TO A SENATE TRIAL AND 67 OF THE SENATORS VOTE TO CONVICT MR. CLINTON, HE WOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE. THE "NEW YORK TIMES" DOES NOT WANT MR. CLINTON REMOVED FROM OFFICE. THE PAPER WRITES THE SENATE SEEMS INCLINED TO CHOOSE A LESSER FORM OF PUNISHMENT:

VOICE: BIPARTISAN SENTIMENT SEEMS RAPIDLY TO BE GATHERING AROUND THE IDEA OF STRONGLY CENSURING MR. CLINTON RATHER THAN REMOVING HIM FROM OFFICE... THOUGH SENATOR ROBERT BYRD [A LEADING DEMOCRAT] HAS ADVISED COLLEAGUES THAT THE CONSTITUTION DOES NOT REQUIRE THEM TO CONDUCT A FULL TRIAL OF THE CHARGES AGAINST MR. CLINTON, MOST SENATORS FAVOR OPENING A TRIAL... THE WHITE HOUSE CAN CONTEST THE PROCEEDINGS AT EVERY TURN, AND CERTAINLY HAS A LEGAL RIGHT TO DO SO... BUT MR. CLINTON'S POLITICAL INTERESTS AND THE COUNTRY'S NEED TO RESOLVE THIS CRISIS WOULD BE ILL SERVED BY A LEGAL STRATEGY OF DELAY AND RESISTANCE.

TEXT: "THE WASHINGTON POST" SAYS THE SENATE SHOULD CONCERN ITSELF ONLY WITH ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT VOTED BY THE HOUSE, NOT WITH WHAT IT DESCRIBES AS "SECRET EVIDENCE" RELATING TO AN ALLEGATION THAT MR. CLINTON MADE UNWANTED SEXUAL ADVANCES ON A WOMAN MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS AGO.

VOICE: [THOUGH] WE BELIEVE THAT AN EARLY CENSURE IS THE BEST OUTCOME AVAILABLE, THOSE WHO FAVOR MR. CLINTON'S REMOVAL ARE ENTITLED TO ARGUE THAT THE SENATE SHOULD GO THROUGH ITS WHOLE PROCESS BEFORE DISPENSING WITH THE CHARGES. IT IS OFF BASE, HOWEVER, TO IMPLY ... THAT THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM OFFICE BASED ON ALLEGATIONS THAT DO NOT FORM THE BASIS OF EITHER IMPEACHMENT ARTICLE PASSED BY THE HOUSE. SURELY, AT THIS STAGE, NOBODY COULD BELIEVE THAT THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WOULD HAVE IGNORED THIS NONPUBLIC MATERIAL HAD IT BEEN MATERIALLY RELEVANT. MAINE'S "PORTLAND PRESS HERALD" TURNS ITS ATTENTION TO THE PLIGHT OF POLITICAL DISSIDENTS IN CHINA, WHICH RECENTLY SENTENCED THREE PEOPLE WHO TRIED TO FORM A CHINA DEMOCRACY PARTY TO STIFF PRISON TERMS. THE PAPER WRITES:

DECEMBER HAS BEEN A MONTH OF SHAME FOR THE CHINESE COMMUNIST GOVERNMENT. IT HAS SHOWN ITSELF TO BE AN UNREFORMED, BRUTAL DICTATORSHIP WITH NO INTENTION OF HONORING THE POLITICAL AND HUMANITARIAN ACCORDS IT SIGNS. ITS CYNICAL SIGNING THIS YEAR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IS A CASE IN POINT. THE COVENANT DID NOT DO MUCH GOOD FOR THREE BRAVE PATRIOTS WHO TRIED TO ORGANIZE A CHINA DEMOCRACY PARTY.... WANG YOUCAI ... WAS SENTENCED TO 11 YEARS IN PRISON.... XU WENLI ... WAS GIVEN 13-YEARS [AND] QIN YONGMIN WAS SENTENCED TO 12-YEARS.... ALL THIS AT A TIME WHEN CHINA IS TRYING TO BE ACCEPTED AS A MODERN, PROGRESSIVE STATE. SADLY, THE ARRESTS AND TRIALS SHOW THAT, POLITICALLY, CHINA IS IN THE DARK AGES.

TEXT: BUT POLITICAL FREEDOM IS DOING BETTER IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO "THE BALTIMORE SUN", WHICH CITES A SURVEY RECENTLY ISSUED BY FREEDOM HOUSE, A U-S-BASED HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION THAT ANNUALLY ISSUES A REPORT ON FREEDOM AROUND THE WORLD. "THE SUN" WRITES:

AS 1998 DRAWS TO A CLOSE, CITIZENS OF 88 OF THE WORLD'S 191 NATIONS -- OR NEARLY 40-PERCENT OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION -- LIVE IN SOCIETIES IN WHICH THERE IS A BASIC RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES. THE SURVEY FOUND THAT MORE THAN 61-PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S COUNTRIES, CONTAINING-PERCENT OF ITS POPULATION, ARE ELECTORAL DEMOCRACIES. NEW THIS YEAR TO [FREEDOM HOUSE SURVEY'S] LIST OF 'FREE' COUNTRIES ARE INDIA; THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; NICARAGUA; PAPUA NEW GUINEA; ECUADOR; SLOVAKIA AND THAILAND.... ECONOMIC TURMOIL IN PARTS OF THE WORLD DID NOT LEAD TO WIDESPREAD REVERSALS IN DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS, THE SURVEY FOUND. IN FACT THE TURMOIL HELPED BRING ABOUT GREATER FREEDOM IN SOME COUNTRIES.

WITH THAT EDITORIAL FROM "THE BALTIMORE SUN", WE CONCLUDE THIS ISSUE OF EDITORIAL DIGEST.
NEB/KL/RAE
28-Dec-98 1:55 PM EST (1855 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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