Business World

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Aug 20, 1996

An honest appraisal

NEW YORK (NYT) -- Smart Money's September issue is a prime example of why this personal finance magazine has succeeded in a very crowded field.

For starters, the editor in chief, Steven Swartz, writes in an Editor's Page column that his magazine doesn't have a clue if this summer's stock market correction is over. He also acknowledges that Smart Money's record on forecasting the `96 correction was a mixed bag. And he confesses that the funds selected in last month's cover article - "The Seven Best New Funds'' - "marched right into the hurricane'' and "went down along with the rest of the market.'' They were not, he concedes, as flexible as hoped. Luckily for investors, that article hit the newsstands after the market's biggest drops.

But the point is that the magazine doesn't pretend to know it all and is willing to analyze its own track record, which certainly can't hurt its credibility.

LSB declares dividend

OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) -- LSB Industries Inc. has declared a cash dividend on its outstanding shares of $3.25 Convertible Exchangeable Class C Preferred Stock, Series 2. The regular quarterly dividend of 81.25 cents per share is payable Sept. 15 on its outstanding Series 2 Preferred to holders of record on Sept. 1. LSB issued 915,000 shares of its Series 2 Preferred.

Amtrak restructures

NEW YORK (NYT) -- Amtrak has restructured its schedule, to begin Nov.10, ending service at 42 stations nationwide while increasing it at 131 stations. Although Federal appropriations for fiscal year 1997 (beginning this October) have not been finalized, Amtrak anticipates receiving only $200 million of the $250 million it sought.

Service will end on the Boston-Albany leg of the Lakeshore Limited (bus service will replace it); the St. Louis-San Antonio leg of the Texas Eagle; the Desert Wind, which links Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles (the California Zephyr will continue daily between Chicago and Salt Lake City); and the Denver-Seattle segment of the Pioneer (the Zephyr replaces the Pioneer's Chicago- Denver leg).

Daily service will be restored along the Minneapolis-Seattle segment of the Empire Builder, the Salt Lake City-San Francisco segment of the California Zephyr, and the entire Chicago-New Orleans length of the City of New Orleans. The Atlanta-New Orleans segment of the Crescent, increased to daily during the Olympics, will remain so.

Service from New York to Chicago through Pittsburgh will be restructured to eliminate a lengthy train switch in Pittsburgh. Also, a third daily train between New York and Miami (the Silver Palm) will be added, maintaining Jacksonville-Miami service that will end when the Sunset Limited from Los Angeles is terminated in Sanford, Fla., instead of Miami.

Wheels and deals

NEW YORK (NYT) -- If you're in the market for an automobile, four magazines are offering help. Kiplinger's, Smart Money and Money all have articles aimed at helping readers find the right car, truck, mini-van or sport-utility vehicle. Kiplinger's and Smart Money focus on new vehicles, while Money explores deals at used-car superstores. For help in insuring your car, Worth magazine looks at companies that sell policies directly to consumers through toll-free phone lines, thus eliminating the need for a traditional agent.

Tax collections top target

OKLAHOMA CITY (JR) -- Oklahoma City officials report that August General Fund sales tax collections were $9.84 million, which was over the monthly target by $104,702. However, the use tax for the General Fund was $60,650 below the target.

The combined sales and use tax for the General Fund was 0.41 percent above target, or $44,052. The combined July and August sales and use tax is above target by 1.9 percent, or $390,396, but only 0.79 percent ahead of last year at this time.

Sequoyah's sweetheart deal

GORE, Okla. (AP) -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reached a sweetheart deal for the cleanup of the contaminated Sequoyah Fuels plant, critics of the proposal say.

The agreement that was announced earlier this month calls for General Atomics Corp. to set up a trust fund of either $5.4 million or $9 million, depending on whether the Internal Revenue Service considers the money tax-deductible. The NRC has estimated it will take $86 million to treat and dispose of up to 6 million cubic feet of contaminated soil, concrete and machinery at the site 40 miles southeast of Muskogee. Sequoyah Fuels Corp., a subsidiary of San Diego-based General Atomics, is supposed to provide the rest of the money.

"The proposed settlement amount is horrifyingly inadequate," said Jim Wilcoxen, general counsel for the Cherokee Nation. "It's a bad joke."

The tribe and Native Americans for a Clean Environment have filed a legal brief opposing the settlement, which has yet to be approved by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. "There's no educated cost on the cleanup of this," Wilcoxen said. "I have heard numbers ranging from $100 million to $500 million." Critics say Sequoyah Fuels could never come up with that much money, leaving the project to someone else -- most likely, taxpayers.