21980002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@As part of what a Recognition spokeswoman termed an "amiable agreement," Prospect Group will wind up with control of top management posts and an increased stake in the maker of data management equipment.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21980003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In a management restructuring, Thomas L. Ringer resigned as chairman, chief executive and a director, while Israel Sheinberg resigned as a director.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21980004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Sheinberg remains as executive vice president.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21980005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Thomas M. Hurley and Robert A. Vanourek, who had been designated to take over Recognition's top spots had Prospect's tender offer succeeded, were named co-chief executives and directors.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21980006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Hurley was formerly a vice president and general manager of an Avery International division; Mr. Vanourek was a former group vice president of Pitney Bowes Inc.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21980007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In addition, the agreement calls for Gilbert H. Lamphere, chairman of Prospect Group's executive committee, to be named chairman of a restructured board that will include four new independent directors.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21980008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Also named to the revised board was Thomas A. Loose, Recognition's senior vice president and general counsel.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21980009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Prospect, a New York-based leveraged buy-out firm, also agreed to invest $15 million in Recognition, which in turn agreed to repurchase as much as $20 million of its stock.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21980010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@That would increase Prospect's ownership of the company's fully-diluted shares outstanding to 20% from 14.1%.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21980011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Under the agreement, Prospect is permitted to increase its stake in Recognition to 30%.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21980012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Beyond that, Prospect said it wouldn't offer to acquire additional shares for less than $11.25 a share during the next year or less than $14.06 a share during the subsequent two years.@@@@1@32@@oe@2-2-2013 21980013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Recognition also said it obtained a commitment from Chemical Bank and Bank of Boston to convert an estimated $18 million in bank debt to a new, 24-month secured term loan to be repaid through the sale of certain assets.@@@@1@39@@oe@2-2-2013 21980014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In August, Recognition said it was in violation of certain terms of its debt agreements with bank lenders because of a $3.9 million loss for the third quarter ended July 31.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21980015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company attributed the loss to declining revenue and litigation costs relating to criminal charges against the company and two former executives, William G. Moore Jr. and Robert W. Reedy.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21980016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The former executives were indicted last October on charges of fraud, theft and conspiracy related to efforts by the company to win $400 million in Postal Service contracts.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21980017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Recognition Equipment said it expected to put the agreement with Prospect to a vote of its stockholders at a special meeting in January.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21980018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Recognition rose 87.5 cents to $6.625.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21980019@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Prospect slipped 25 cents to $10.50 in national over-the-counter trading.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21981001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet division, reacting to slow sales, said it will offer $800 rebates on its 1990 Beretta, the two-door version of its core compact-car line.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21981002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Sluggish sales of the Beretta, and its four-door sister car, the Corsica, prompted GM to idle the two plants that build the automobiles for a total of three weeks this month.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21981003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Corsica and Beretta make up the highest-volume car line at Chevrolet, but sales of the vehicles are off 9.6% for the year, and fell a steep 34% during early October.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21981004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Chevrolet already is offering an $800 rebate on the 1990-model Corsica.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21981005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The latest rebate is good for all Beretta models.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21981006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Chevrolet buyers can take the rebate, or get discount financing at rates ranging from 6.9% on 24-month loans to 10.9% on 60-month loans.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21982001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@StatesWest Airlines said it submitted an offer to the directors of Mesa Airlines to acquire the Farmington, N.M., carrier.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21982002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Except to characterize its offer as "fair and generous and in the best interests of Mesa shareholders," StatesWest declined to discuss details of its proposal.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21982003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It also asked Mesa to keep the proposal confidential.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21982004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@A Mesa official confirmed receipt of the offer and said directors would meet to consider it.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21982005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Last week, Mesa rejected a proposal by StatesWest to acquire it or merge.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21982006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@StatesWest has a 7.25% stake in Mesa, which operates 20 twin-engine and two single-engine turboprops among 42 cities in New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21982007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@StatesWest operates four twin-engine turboprop aircraft, connecting 10 cities in California, Arizona and Nevada.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21982008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The carrier hasn't yet turned a profit.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21983001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The former president of FirstSouth F.A., a defunct Arkansas thrift, pleaded guilty to conspiring to inflate the institution's earnings by concealing worthless loan guarantees.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21983002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Roderick D. Reed III, who was also chief operating officer of FirstSouth, could receive a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21983003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@A sentencing date hasn't been set.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21983004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Reed admitted he conspired to conceal an agreement not to enforce loan guarantees executed by Dallas real-estate developers A. Starke Taylor III and George S. Watson, both of whom were FirstSouth stockholders.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21983005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Neither Mr. Taylor nor Mr. Watson have been charged with criminal wrongdoing.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21983006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@By concealing the non-enforcement agreement, certain transactions with Messrs. Taylor and Watson were entered on FirstSouth's books as loans, allowing the thrift to report fees and interest as current income, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Little Rock, Ark.@@@@1@40@@oe@2-2-2013 21983007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The conspiracy was part of an effort by Mr. Reed to hide FirstSouth's shaky financial condition from federal regulators, according to federal prosecutors and regulators.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21983008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The $1.68 billion thrift was declared insolvent and closed in December 1986.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21983009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@FirstSouth's former chairman and chief executive officer, Howard Weichern, is also charged with conspiring to conceal the agreements with Messrs. Watson and Taylor.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21983010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Weichern is scheduled for trial Jan. 3 before federal Judge Stephen Reasoner of Little Rock.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21984001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@I approached "Mastergate," Larry Gelbart's new comedy at the Criterion Center, with considerable trepidation.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21984002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Nothing, I assumed, would be more hopelessly dated than a political satire on the Iran-Contra affair.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21984003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@I had underestimated, however, both Mr. Gelbart's wit and the persistence of scandal in Washington.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21984004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Though the play clearly is framed around the events of Iran-Contra, it takes in the wide sweep of scandals over the past 30 years.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21984005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In fact, at one point Merry Chase (Melinda Mullins), a cool, carefully coiffed television announcer, recites a list of a dozen or more scandals of recent years, concluding with those affecting the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the savings and loan industry.@@@@1@44@@oe@2-2-2013 21984006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Onstage, a congressional hearing is in progress, complete with elegant crystal chandelier overhead and a lifesize reproduction of the signing of the Constitution in the background.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21984007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The witness table is center stage and below it, the paraphernalia for the ever-present media, in this case TNN, the Total News Network.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21984008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Not only are there camera operators on all sides, but the proceedings are shown on monitors throughout the theater.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21984009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The metaphor of theater is not entirely coincidental.@@@@1@8@@oe@2-2-2013 21984010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Gelbart clearly feels that all the participants in a congressional hearing -- the witnesses, the lawyers, the interrogators and the news media -- are performers.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21984011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@As the story of "Mastergate" unfolds, we learn that the Internal Revenue Service confiscated one of the properties of a foreign financier who owes the government millions in taxes.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21984012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The man, it seems, has a Lichtenstein corporation, licensed in Libya and sheltered in the Bahamas.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21984013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@He himself lives in a "consecutive series of unnumbered houses in a town in Switzerland."@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21984014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The property seized by the IRS is a Hollywood film studio, Master Pictures Incorporated (MPI).@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21984015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Supposedly the IRS will sell off the assets of MPI, but before it can, a lowly IRS agent is called into the hospital room of Wylie Slaughter, the dying head of the Central Intelligence Agency.@@@@1@35@@oe@2-2-2013 21984016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The lowly agent, Abel Lamb, who as you might guess, is being led to the slaughter, is ordered to take over the studio.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21984017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Soon the studio is producing a $40 million picture called "Tet, the Motion Picture," to distinguish it from "Tet, the Offensive," as well as "Tet, the Book" and "Tet, the Album."@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21984018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The picture, to be made in the Central American country of San Elvador, is a cover for sending $800 million of arms to Los Otros, the rebel group attempting to regain neighboring Ambigua, which has been taken over by the leftist dictator Dr. Overtega, a former podiatrist, who leads a revolutionary band of foot soldiers.@@@@1@55@@oe@2-2-2013 21984019@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The man handling all this for the now-deceased Slaughter is Major Manley Battle, Mr. Gelbart's stand in for Col. Oliver North.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21984020@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Director Michael Engler has assembled a top-flight cast to carry out the impersonations of well-known political figures and to play the stock characters who invariably show up at congressional hearings.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21984021@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Daniel von Bargen is ramrod-stiff but totally assured as Major Battle, mixing just the right brand of self-righteousness and patriotism; Jeff Weiss is fire, brimstone and teary-eyed emotionalism as the far-right senator who serves as a friendly interrogator of Major Battle; Zach Grenier is maddeningly officious playing a succession of lawyers; Joseph Daly has the perfect "aw, shucks" demeanor of George Bush in his portrayal of the vice president; and Ann McDonough is first-rate as a succession of witnesses' wives.@@@@1@80@@oe@2-2-2013 21984022@unknown@formal@none@1@S@With one she is pregnant, with Major Battle she is knitting an American flag, and as the vice president's wife she rushes in with white hair, wearing a tailored suit and pearls, imitating Barbara Bush's gestures down to the last detail.@@@@1@41@@oe@2-2-2013 21984023@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Though it's clear that Mr. Gelbart's sympathies do not lie with the far right, it's also true that he is evenhanded in dispensing his satirical jabs, taking sharp aim at senators and congressmen of all stripes and particularly at the media.@@@@1@41@@oe@2-2-2013 21984024@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Gelbart also has fun with language.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21984025@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Mastergate" is subtitled "a play on words," and Mr. Gelbart plays that game as well as anyone.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21984026@unknown@formal@none@1@S@He describes a Mastergate flunky as one who experienced a "meteoric disappearance" and found himself "handling blanket appeals at the Bureau of Indian Affairs."@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21984027@unknown@formal@none@1@S@This interest in words goes beyond puns and playfulness, however.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21984028@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Gelbart deplores the obfuscation, the circumlocution and the debasement of language he sees on all sides.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21984029@unknown@formal@none@1@S@As the hearings begin, the self-important Sen. Bowman (Jerome Kilty) announces: "Let me emphaticize one thing at the outset: We are not looking for hides to skin nor goats to scape."@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21984030@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Major Battle himself speaks in pure Pentagonese: "Without further monetary-stroke-military aid, scores of Ambiguan freedom lovers, who had gone way out on their life and limbs for us, were literally cut off at the knees without a paddle."@@@@1@38@@oe@2-2-2013 21984031@unknown@formal@none@1@S@At another point he intones: "Publicity is a small price to pay for secrecy."@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21984032@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The evening is short -- 95 minutes without an intermission -- but even so, as the play progresses the thrust of Mr. Gelbart's satire loses its sharpness as his targets pop up ever more predictably.@@@@1@35@@oe@2-2-2013 21984033@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Most of the evening, though, is filled with rare and welcome wit.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21984034@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In "Mastergate," Mr. Gelbart has provided us not just one but two commodities that have all but disappeared from the Broadway theater: sharp political satire and an even sharper appreciation of the value of language.@@@@1@35@@oe@2-2-2013 21985001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Federal National Mortgage Association set up a three-member office of the chairman and elected James A. Johnson as vice chairman, effective Jan. 1.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21985002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Johnson has been a managing director at Shearson Lehman Hutton since 1985, and before that was president of Public Strategies, a Washington consulting firm.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21985003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@He is well-known in Democratic circles, having been executive assistant to Vice President Walter Mondale and chairman of Mr. Mondale's 1984 presidential campaign.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21985004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@At Fannie Mae, he will take responsibility for the corporation's financial and legal areas and will work with David Maxwell, chairman and chief executive officer, and Roger Birk, president and chief operating officer, on strategic planning.@@@@1@36@@oe@2-2-2013 21985005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Johnson, 45 years old, has been a consultant on strategy to Fannie Mae for the past 3 1/2 years.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21985006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In an interview, he said Fannie Mae faces a number of challenges with the restructuring of the thrift industry and the push to broaden its activities overseas.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21985007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"There's no shortage of major things to do," he said.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21985008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Fannie Mae also said James A. Aliber, chairman of First Federal of Michigan and a director since 1985, moved up the date of his retirement from the board to accommodate Mr. Johnson's election as a director.@@@@1@36@@oe@2-2-2013 21985009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The board has 13 members elected by holders and five presidential appointees.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21985010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Fannie Mae, a federally chartered, shareholder-owned corporation, operates a secondary market for mortgage loans, buying loans from lenders, packaging some into securities for sale to investors and keeping the rest in its portfolio.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21986001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"The New Crowd" by Judith Ramsey Ehrlich and Barry J. Rehfeld (Little, Brown, 444 pages, $19.95), describes the displacing of the old "our crowd" Jewish Wall Street banking grandees by such new business barons as Saul Steinberg, Carl Icahn, Sanford Weill and Bruce Wasserstein.@@@@1@44@@oe@2-2-2013 21986002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Its many lively stories include the Gutfreund-Postel holiday cheer imbroglio.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21986003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@These two New Crowd families lived in the same apartment building, with the Postel penthouse perched on top of the Gutfreund duplex.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The penthouse elevator started up from the Gutfreund landing, and Susan Gutfreund used to turn off its light, to give the impression that there was no higher floor.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21986005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Eventually, Mr. Postel broke his toe in the dark.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21986006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Then the Gutfreunds determined to put up a 22-foot Christmas tree, weighing a quarter of a ton, to amaze their holiday guests.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For this, a crane needed to be mounted on the Postels' terrace.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21986008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Postels did not give permission.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21986009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But the Gutfreund workers went ahead anyway, only to be captured "in flagrante" by Joan Postel, who called the police.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21986010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Before the Gutfreunds finally left this unfriendly environment for a prodigious duplex on Fifth Avenue and an 18th-century mansion with a specially excavated $1 million garage in Paris, the Postels had obtained an injunction to prevent any future hoisting of trees, and in a neighborly spirit hit both the Gutfreunds and the building with a $35 million lawsuit.@@@@1@58@@oe@2-2-2013 21986011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Nothing less, it seemed, could console them for their traumas.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21986012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Where had all the money come from?@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21986013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The young John Gutfreund had been discovered by Billy Salomon of Salomon Bros. when he was still a bearded liberal, and put to work as a trader, and then as a rough-and-tumble syndicator.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21986014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@" `Get off your . . .,' he would bellow," say the authors.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21986015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Rising in the firm, he became powerful and bland, though his new wife, Susan, made him shine in the gossip columns with her profligate spending habits and flamboyant frocks.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21986016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@After he had been head of the company for 3 1/2 years, he and his partners sold it to Phibro, a powerful commodity trading outfit, for $550 million in Phibro stock.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21986017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Limited partner Billy Salomon, whose family name had been on the firm's door for 70 years and who had hoped it would be there forever, was not consulted.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21986018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Gutfreund collected $32 million, while Billy Salomon got $10 million, much less than if he had conducted the sale.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21986019@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"I felt betrayed," he later said.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21986020@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Worse, Salomon's timing had been off.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21986021@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Its profits, unlike Phibro's, soared over the next two years, and had it held out, Salomon could have gotten an even bigger bundle.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21986022@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The book also recounts the not dissimilar maneuvers surrounding the changing of the guard at Lehman Bros. and other grand old firms.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986023@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Often the genteel, conservative, long-term-oriented investment bankers were displaced by crude traders: "When angered, he cursed so forcefully that his face reddened and his pale-blue eyes narrowed into tiny slits," the authors say of Lehman's Lewis Glucksman.@@@@1@37@@oe@2-2-2013 21986024@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The earlier generation of "our crowd" bankers -- Belmonts, Warburgs, Lehmans, Baches and Schiffs -- had stressed above all probity, tradition, continuity and reputation.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21986025@unknown@formal@none@1@S@They were old-fashioned elegant gentlemen, who happened to be of German Jewish extraction.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21986026@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But in the harsh world of today's Wall Street they have lost out to more aggressive and sometimes less scrupulous successors.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21986027@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The cuckoo prefers the nests of other birds and heaves out their eggs.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21986028@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But the old guard hired the New Crowd people: It brought in its own cuckoos.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21986029@unknown@formal@none@1@S@So, as the Old Crowd toppled from the branch, it shouldn't have been too surprised.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21986030@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The old guard had every right, however, to disdain the newcomers' new ways of making money, such as greenmail.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21986031@unknown@formal@none@1@S@(A Fortune article on Saul Steinberg was entitled, "Fear and Loathing in the Corporate Boardrooms.")@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21986032@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Their other staple has been corporate takeovers, often hostile and financed by junk bonds.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21986033@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Hostile takeovers are quite a new phenomenon.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21986034@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Sometimes they are constructive, but often not.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21986035@unknown@formal@none@1@S@First, by making management focus on short-term results, they inhibit building for the future -- just the opposite of Japan.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21986036@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Second, a long-term shareholder of a good company needn't worry too much when the stock price drops temporarily: It will bounce back.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986037@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But if a raider takes over when the stock is weak, the shareholder never gets his recovery.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21986038@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The raiders, meanwhile, have evolved their own pattern for spending their new millions.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21986039@unknown@formal@none@1@S@As described in "The New Crowd," they take on ambitious new wives, move to Greenwich, Conn., or Bedford, N.Y., buy OK pictures, and let their wives share the wealth with decorators.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21986040@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Having donated heavily to museums, they demand a place on their boards.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21986041@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The book is patronizing about this nouveau riche struggle for respectability, which has its tawdry aspects.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21986042@unknown@formal@none@1@S@However, on balance, the charity game helps America.@@@@1@8@@oe@2-2-2013 21986043@unknown@formal@none@1@S@If those who have the money don't get involved with the museums and the charities, then City Hall will do it, badly.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986044@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It has been rightly observed that the main thing wrong with tainted money is, t'aint enough of it.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21986045@unknown@formal@none@1@S@A handful of the New Crowd operators have crossed the line from the immoral to the illegal, and have ended up in the slammer or paying huge fines:@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21986046@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Ivan Boesky, Dennis Levine, Martin Siegel, Victor and Steven Posner, and now Michael Milken and perhaps Leona Helmsley.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21986047@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The glitzy office that Ivan Boesky vacated for a prison cell had previously contained commodity operators Marc Rich and "Pinky" Green, today fugitives from a potential century apiece of jail sentences.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21986048@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Old Crowd is deeply concerned by the backlash from all this.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21986049@unknown@formal@none@1@S@However, the phenomenon is not specifically Jewish.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21986050@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It has always been true that those outside the club want to climb in, and that a few will cut corners in the process.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21986051@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Some pretty seamy stuff built the turn-of-the-century families' Fifth Avenue and Newport palazzi and endowed their daughters' weddings to foreign noblemen.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21986052@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Boesky was a piker compared to Jay Gould and Jim Fiske, and Commodore Vanderbilt thought nothing of bribing judges and legislators.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21986053@unknown@formal@none@1@S@So who knows?@@@@1@3@@oe@2-2-2013 21986054@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In a generation or two some of the New Crowd may attain true respectability, perhaps to be displaced in turn by a later flock of unscrupulous raptors.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21986055@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Or perhaps Wall Street, when it has suffered enough, will realize that finance is a service industry, and change its ethos.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21986056@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Train is president of Train, Smith Investment Counsel, New York.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21987001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Dallas investor Harold C. Simmons said he raised his stake in Lockheed Corp. to 10.62% from 10.43% of the aerospace and electronics concern's common shares.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21987002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Mr. Simmons said he and companies he controls, NL Industries Inc. and NL Chemicals Inc., hold 6,744,600 shares of Lockheed, of Calabasas, Calif.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21987003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@They include 122,700 shares bought Friday for between $47.125 and $48 each.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21987004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Lockheed closed at $46.125 a share, down 12.5 cents.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21987005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Earlier this week, Mr. Simmons objected to published reports quoting him as saying he planned to sell his Lockheed stake because "the defense industry seems to be getting more uncertain."@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21987006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Valhi Inc., another of Mr. Simmons' companies, responded to an article Monday in The Wall Street Journal, which credited a story in the Sunday Los Angeles Daily News.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21987007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Valhi said the articles didn't accurately reflect Valhi and its affiliates' intentions toward Lockheed.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21987008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Instead, Valhi said, they may increase, decrease or retain their Lockheed holdings, depending on a number of conditions.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21988001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Canada, which is preparing to speed up tariff cuts with the U.S., recorded a 47% narrowing in its trade surplus with the U.S. in August, Statistics Canada, a federal agency, reported.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21988002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@U.S. exports to Canada jumped 11.2% in August from July while U.S. imports from Canada rose only 2.7%.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21988003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@As a result, Canada's trade surplus with the U.S. narrowed to C$656.5 million (US$558 million) in August from C$1.23 billion (US$1.04 billion) in July.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21988004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@U.S. exports benefited in August from heavy Canadian spending on new plant and equipment and a pickup in Canadian auto demand, Canadian officials said.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21988005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The U.S. and Canada, which do more trade than any other pair of nations, are to meet next month to arrange an acceleration of planned tariff cuts under the U.S.-Canada free trade agreement.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21988006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Industries in both countries have requested a speedup of tariff cuts on hundreds of products.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21988007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Some tariffs were eliminated when the trade pact took effect Jan. 1.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21988008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The remainder were to be phased out in five or 10 annual installments, with all tariffs eliminated by January 1998.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21988009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The two countries aim to reach an agreement by early December on a package of accelerated tariff cuts that would take effect early next year.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21988010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Canadian officials said the trade pact has kindled an export interest among many small Canadian companies that previously had little or no foreign sales.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21988011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For such businessmen, the Canadian government is organizing 55 missions this year to U.S. states bordering on Canada.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21988012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The businessmen are introduced to potential agents and distributors and instructed in trade procedures.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21988013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The U.S. Commerce Department is planning to try out similar trips on U.S. businessmen in coming months under its Canada First! Outreach Program.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21988014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Participants in the U.S. missions to Canada are to be assisted by members of the Service Corps of Retired Executives, a volunteer group, in dealing with their export challenges.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21988015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Canadian government also has recently opened new trade offices in San Diego; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Miami; Princeton, N.J., and Denver, bringing the total number of such Canadian offices in the U.S. to 27.@@@@1@35@@oe@2-2-2013 21988016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The U.S. has six trade promotion offices in Canada.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21988017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Canada's export effort has been blunted by robust home market demand and by an 18% appreciation of the Canadian dollar against its U.S. counterpart in the past three years that has made Canadian goods more costly in the U.S.@@@@1@39@@oe@2-2-2013 21988018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Canada's trade surplus with all countries narrowed to C$203.5 million in August from C$528.3 million in July, Statistics Canada said.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21989001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Loral Corp. said it received a $325 million order from Turkey's Ministry of Defense, the largest contract the company ever has received.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21989002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Loral will provide to Turkey an electronic countermeasures system for its fleet of F-16 aircraft.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21989003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The system provides radar-threat warning and electronic jamming capabilities.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21989004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The defense electronics maker said delivery will begin in October 1991 and run through mid-1995.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21989005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Loral said the contract with Turkey will provide opportunities for Loral to supply that country with other defense systems.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21990001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Crown Resources Corp. said it reached a definitive agreement to acquire the Gold Texas Resources Ltd. shares it doesn't already own.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21990002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Under the proposed agreement, Gold Texas holders will receive 1.43 Crown shares for each of the 1.1 million Gold Texas shares not owned by Crown, which already owns 65%.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21990003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The arrangement is subject to approval by the Supreme Court of British Columbia province, Crown said.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21990004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Gold Texas is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Crown Resources is based in Denver.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21990005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Both are mining concerns.@@@@1@4@@oe@2-2-2013 21991001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Apogee Robotics Inc. said its board extended until Feb. 1 the exercise period of Apogee's existing stock purchase warrants outstanding.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21991002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The expiration date had been Nov. 3.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21991003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Each of the 1,075,000 warrants entitle the holders to purchase one share of Apogee common stock for $2.25.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21991004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Apogee was quoted in the over-the-counter market yesterday at $2 bid.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21992001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Bank of New England Corp., seeking to streamline its business after a year of weak earnings and mounting loan problems, said it will sell some operations and lay off 4% of its work force.@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21992002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The bank holding company also reported that third-quarter profit dropped 41%, to $42.7 million, or 61 cents a share, from the year-earlier $72.3 million, or $1.04 a share.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21992003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Among its restructuring measures, the company said it plans to sell 53 of its 453 branch offices and to lay off 800 employees.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21992004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Altogether, employment is expected to decline to less than 16,000 from the current level of about 18,000.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21992005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Walter Connolly, chairman, said in an interview that the company expects to record pretax gains of $100 million to $125 million from the sale of its leasing operations and of certain financial processing services.@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21992006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In a prepared statement, the company said it expects to realize those gains before year end.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21992007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Nonperforming assets continued to pile up in the latest quarter, rising to $900 million, or 3.52% of loans and leases, from $667 million, or 2.68%, at the end of the second quarter.@@@@1@32@@oe@2-2-2013 21992008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Some $170 million of the $233 million increase in nonperforming loans was related to real estate, and roughly three-quarters of that was in the troubled New England market, according to Richard Driscoll, vice chairman.@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21992009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Driscoll said that, despite continued weakness in the region's real estate market, Bank of New England expects the rate of increase in nonperforming assets to slow in coming quarters.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21992010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Connolly noted that net third-quarter charge-offs, at $63 million, improved slightly from the $67 million in the second quarter.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21992011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@And he indicated that more substantial improvement is expected in the next couple of quarters.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21992012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company increased its loan loss reserve to $354 million from $342 million at the end of the second quarter.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21992013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Total assets slipped to $31.4 billion, from $32 billion as of June 30.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21992014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Among other restructuring measures, the bank said it will close its loan production offices in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21992015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The Chicago office figured prominently in the bank's problems earlier this year, when $65 million in loans to Chicago businessman William Stoecker went sour.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21992016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In an internal memorandum to employees, Messrs. Connolly and Driscoll described the restructuring as an effort to continue rationalizing operations assembled during a series of mergers over the past five years.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21993001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Italy's wholesale price index rose 0.4% in August from July and was up 6.1% from a year earlier, the state statistical institute reported.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21993002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The index registered 196.1 in August, compared with 195.4 in July and with 184.9 in August 1988.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21993003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The year-on-year rise in August was slightly down from the 6.4% rate in July.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21993004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The index has a base of 100 set in 1980 and isn't seasonally adjusted.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21994001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@U.S. steel imports in August fell 14% from a year earlier to 1,531,000 tons, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21994002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The trade group's compilation of Commerce Department data showed that August imports, the second largest monthly total of the year, were up 5% from July's 1,458,000 tons but below last year's high of 1,979,000 tons in June 1988.@@@@1@38@@oe@2-2-2013 21994003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@August imports claimed 18.5% of the U.S. market, compared with 19.3% in July and 20.5% in August 1988.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21994004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The latest month's figures show that imports of steel from European Community nations fell to 466,000 tons from 481,000 a month earlier, while imports from Japan rose to 323,000 tons from 288,000 in July.@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21994005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Imports from Canada rose to 272,000 tons in August from 209,000 in July.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21994006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The American Institute for Imported Steel said imports for the first eight months of 1989 were below the level allowed by the Voluntary Restraint Agreement program.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21994007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The institute said that, excluding semifinished steel products, year-to-date imports represented 15.2% of consumption, compared with a permitted maximum of 18.5%.@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21995001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Japanese machinery makers received orders totaling 1.465 trillion yen ($10.33 billion) in August, up 14% from a year earlier, the Economic Planning Agency said.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21995002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Equipment orders on the domestic side were particularly strong in shipping and power utilities," said an agency official.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21995003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The latest report compares with a modest 9.9% increase in July machinery orders from a year earlier.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In August, soon after Wang Laboratories Inc. reported a staggering $424.3 million loss and replaced its president, two Boston sales representatives sent customers a letter saying: "We fully expect that you will soon be reading stories in the press reporting the `Amazing Comeback at Wang.'"@@@@1@45@@oe@2-2-2013 21996002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@How soon Wang will stage a comeback, or if it will at all, are still matters of debate.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21996003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But Wang salespeople are trying to cope with the biggest challenge any marketer can face: selling the products of a company that is on the ropes.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21996004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"If your prospect is feeling risk the whole time and you're not feeling as if you're backed up by a stable company, you've lost it before you've begun," says Mary Ann Cluggish, a Wellesley, Mass., sales trainer and consultant who works with high technology companies.@@@@1@45@@oe@2-2-2013 21996005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It can happen in any industry.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21996006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Consider the difficulties faced by Audi salespeople when the car was tainted by false charges of sudden acceleration, or Exxon dealers' problems in the wake of the Valdez oil spill.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21996007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Like thousands of salespeople before them, Wang's are finding ways to combat the bad news.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21996008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"It's very important that we exude confidence, even though within the family we know there's a lot of hard work ahead," said Richard Miller, the Lowell, Mass., computer concern's new president, in a video message to salespeople a month after he took over.@@@@1@43@@oe@2-2-2013 21996009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Wang got into financial trouble because of bloated overhead and overly optimistic sales forecasts.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21996010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Its mainline minicomputers and word processors have lost ground to cheaper personal computers.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Last year it funded its high employment by heavy borrowing, and it suffered huge losses when sales turned down instead of rising.@@@@1@22@@oe@2-2-2013 21996012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@After the company reported red ink for the fiscal third quarter, Wang's marketing department provided the sales force answers to questions such as "How could you not have known you were going to lose $55 million?" and "Is Wang still a viable company?"@@@@1@43@@oe@2-2-2013 21996013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Salespeople try to push their products and avoid discussions of finances.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21996014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Responding to such questions is "defensive," says Kenneth Olissa, Wang's vice president, marketing.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"That's antithetical to the art of selling."@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21996016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Moreover, he notes that analyzing financial results "poses a problem for a salesman who isn't particularly familiar with a balance sheet."@@@@1@21@@oe@2-2-2013 21996017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@At one sales strategy meeting, an executive suggested ordering salespeople to become experts on the annual report.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Miller vetoed that: "Even I can't understand all the footnotes," he says.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996019@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Instead, he says, if the salespeople can get the customers to consider Wang's products on their merits, he or a top financial officer will try to assuage the fears about finances.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21996020@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mike Metschan, a salesman in Wang's Austin, Texas, office, has a breezier method: "We tell them $3 billion companies don't go out of business.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21996021@unknown@formal@none@1@S@We tell them all the major companies are having financial difficulties."@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21996022@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Numerous computer companies are having sales slumps and earnings declines, but very few have had losses comparable to Wang's or are carrying such a large debt load.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21996023@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Miller says that after a sharp sales slump in July and August, sales stabilized in September.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996024@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Although Wang will report a loss for the first quarter ended Sept. 30 and the full fiscal year, Mr. Miller says he expects the company will return to profitability by the fourth quarter.@@@@1@33@@oe@2-2-2013 21996025@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Experts on sales technique say anyone representing a troubled company must walk a fine line.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21996026@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"If a salesman jeopardizes his credibility in this time of trouble, it will be a problem for the long run," says George Palmatier, a Minden, Nev., sales consultant and author of "The Marketing Edge."@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21996027@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Still, says John Sullivan, a management recruiter with Daniel Roberts Inc. of Boston, who has held senior sales positions at Polaroid and Atari: "The customer will react to strength.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21996028@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Ignore the present condition.@@@@1@4@@oe@2-2-2013 21996029@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Show it's business as usual."@@@@1@5@@oe@2-2-2013 21996030@unknown@formal@none@1@S@That isn't easy.@@@@1@3@@oe@2-2-2013 21996031@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Wang's customers are data processing managers who want to be sure that their suppliers are stable, wellrun companies that will be around to fix bugs and upgrade computers for years to come.@@@@1@32@@oe@2-2-2013 21996032@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For buyers, "these are career-risking decisions," says Jean Conlin, who supervises a network of Wang computers in the admissions department at Boston University.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21996033@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The university is considering installing a $250,000 system to store applications electronically.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21996034@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Before the really bad news, we were looking at Wang fairly seriously," she says.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21996035@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But "their present financial condition means I'd have a hard time convincing the vice president in charge of purchasing."@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21996036@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Ms. Conlin adds: "At some point we'd have to ask, `How do we know that in three years you won't be in Chapter 11?'"@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21996037@unknown@formal@none@1@S@During the past year, Wang has developed new products and a new strategy and hired a new president.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21996038@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Wang's overall product line is "still not as good as other vendors, but they've come a long way," says Steven Wendler, a consultant with market researcher Gartner Group, Stamford, Conn.@@@@1@30@@oe@2-2-2013 21996039@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"They were on the road to recovery in terms of customer attitudes until this bad quarter happened."@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996040@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The first priority for Wang's sales force is to make sure it holds on to existing customers.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996041@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Wang's installed base is one of its greatest assets, and many of those customers remain extremely loyal.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996042@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But even before Wang's latest financial troubles surfaced, some customers "were trying to wall off their Wang installations" so other departments wouldn't add Wang, says Chris Christiansen, a former Wang marketer who is now a market analyst with Meta Group, a market research firm in Stamford, Conn.@@@@1@47@@oe@2-2-2013 21996043@unknown@formal@none@1@S@One Wang salesman who left the company in July recalls that when he tried to sell products to Eastman Kodak, he worked "to muster support from internal allies," but "those allies became skeptical as they saw the downtrend.@@@@1@38@@oe@2-2-2013 21996044@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The more recent losses were really devastating."@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21996045@unknown@formal@none@1@S@New customers, the source of higher commissions for salespeople and the key to Wang's long-term viability, are even tougher.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21996046@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Rick Lynch, a former top salesman in Wang's Boston office, referring to Wang's mainstay computer line, says: "You can't sell a VS to a new customer."@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21996047@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Lynch left Wang this summer for Oracle Systems Inc., a software vendor.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996048@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The financial problems are particularly frustrating for salespeople pushing Wang's image systems, which convert paper forms to electronic documents.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21996049@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Consultants say that Wang's technology is among the best available in the image market.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21996050@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But salespeople often found that news of Wang's problems superseded their sales efforts.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996051@unknown@formal@none@1@S@William Tait, a former sales manager in Indianapolis, says that his office had all but sold a $1.5 million image system to pharmaceutical maker Eli Lilly & Co.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21996052@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"When they were making the decision, all hell broke loose with the finances."@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996053@unknown@formal@none@1@S@He says the Lilly executives told him they couldn't take the risk with Wang.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21996054@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Tait say he doesn't blame Lilly.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21996055@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Buyers have to rely on a supplier "continually upgrading and replacing the product," he says.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21996056@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"When a company realizes that, it's hard to go with Wang."@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21996057@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For Mr. Tait, who says he used to earn as much as $150,000 a year at Wang, it was one more reason to quit.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21996058@unknown@formal@none@1@S@He is now president of Eastate Homes Inc., an Indianapolis contractor.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21996059@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It can be hard for a salesperson to fight off feelings of discouragement.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21996060@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Brian Petre, a former Wang salesman in upstate New York, says: "You have pride in your job.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21996061@unknown@formal@none@1@S@You think you can go out and turn things around.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21996062@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It's a tough thing when you can't.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21996063@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The reason doesn't relate to your selling skills."@@@@1@8@@oe@2-2-2013 21996064@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Discouragement feeds on itself.@@@@1@4@@oe@2-2-2013 21996065@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"The problem is, if people get down in the dumps, they stop selling," says Mike Durcan, a laid-off sales manager in Wang's Austin office.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013 21996066@unknown@formal@none@1@S@One key for salespeople is to boost their own morale.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21996067@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Paul Hellman, a Framingham, Mass., sales and management consultant and author of "Ready, Aim, You're Hired," says: "The bad news is, you'll be rejected more.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21996068@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The good news is, it's not your fault."@@@@1@8@@oe@2-2-2013 21996069@unknown@formal@none@1@S@So, he advises, make goals achievable.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21996070@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For instance, he suggests that salespeople making telephone calls should say to themselves: "All I want to do today is get 50 rejections."@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21996071@unknown@formal@none@1@S@But Mr. Miller, Wang's new president, recently warned his salespeople about negativism.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21996072@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Our customers watch us for the hidden message," he said.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21996073@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Look a customer right in the eye and say, `I'm glad to be at Wang.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21997001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Blinder International Enterprises Inc., the parent of beleaguered penny-stockbroker Blinder, Robinson & Co., said its shareholders approved a previously announced name change to Intercontinental Enterprises Inc.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21997002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"The parent company is diversifying into other industries around the world," said president Meyer Blinder in explaining the name change.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21997003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"Everytime we talked about Blinder International, {people} thought it was the brokerage house."@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21997004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Blinder said the change wasn't related to the brokerage's recent troubles, which have included sharp declines in earnings, run-ins with the securities regulators and lawsuits by former customers.@@@@1@29@@oe@2-2-2013 21997005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company said it expects the name change to take effect within a week.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21998001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Olin Corp. said third-quarter net income rose 26% on the strength of its chemical business.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21998002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Net was $24 million, or $1.15 a share, up from $19 million, or 90 cents a share, a year earlier.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21998003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Sales rose 7.4% to $580 million from $540 million.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21998004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Olin said its chemical segment had profit of $22 million, up from $15 million a year ago, largely because of gains in electrochemicals such as caustic soda.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21998005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company said the gains were tied to volume increases and higher prices.@@@@1@13@@oe@2-2-2013 21998006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The market for electrochemicals include the paper, water-purification and textile industries.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21998007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The chemical segment had a $6 million gain on the sale of ammonia and urea businesses, which was offset by a $6 million charge for future environmental expenditures.@@@@1@28@@oe@2-2-2013 21998008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Profit in Olin's defense and ammunition segment rose to $8 million from $7 million.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21998009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The metals segment, hurt by a strike, had break-even results, against $3 million a year ago.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21998010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In the first nine months, net rose 21% to $93 million, or $4.52 a share, from $77 million, or $3.62 a share a year ago.@@@@1@25@@oe@2-2-2013 21998011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Sales rose 13% to $1.91 billion from $1.69 billion.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21998012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Olin closed at $58.50 a share, down 25 cents.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21999001@unknown@formal@none@1@S@GTE Corp. and MCI Communications Corp. reported strong earnings gains to record levels for the third quarter.@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21999002@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Southwestern Bell Corp. and Cincinnati Bell posted slight declines.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21999003@unknown@formal@none@1@S@GTE Corp.@@@@1@2@@oe@2-2-2013 21999004@unknown@formal@none@1@S@GTE said net income rose 18%, aided by higher long-distance calling volumes and an increase in telephone lines in service.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21999005@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Pretax operating profit from telephone operations rose 8.2% but profits from telecommunications products and electrical products were flat.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21999006@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Revenues rose 8.8% to $4.35 billion from $4.0 billion.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21999007@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company said the quarter included a 10% increase in local-exchange usage for long-distance calling and a 5% increase in the number of access lines in service.@@@@1@27@@oe@2-2-2013 21999008@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Earlier rate reductions in Texas and California reduced the quarter's revenue and operating profit $55 million; a year earlier, operating profit in telephone operations was reduced by a similar amount as a result of a provision for a reorganization.@@@@1@39@@oe@2-2-2013 21999009@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Revenue in the telecommunications products and services unit rose 27% to $728.8 million, but operating profit was unchanged at $26.3 million, partly because of start-up expenses.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21999010@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Electrical products' sales fell to $496.7 million from $504.5 million with higher world-wide lighting volume offset by lower domestic prices and the impact of weaker currencies in Europe and South America.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21999011@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Operating profit of $37.2 million was unchanged.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21999012@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, GTE rose $1.25 to $64.125.@@@@1@14@@oe@2-2-2013 21999013@unknown@formal@none@1@S@MCI Communications Corp.@@@@1@3@@oe@2-2-2013 21999014@unknown@formal@none@1@S@MCI, which stepped up efforts to sell long-distance telephone service to residential customers, reported a 59% jump in earnings.@@@@1@19@@oe@2-2-2013 21999015@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Revenue rose 23% to $1.67 billion from $1.36 billion.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21999016@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Operating profit grew 57% to $269 million from $171 million, while operating margins rose to 16.1% from 15.9% the previous quarter and 12.6% a year ago.@@@@1@26@@oe@2-2-2013 21999017@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Daniel Akerson, MCI chief financial officer, said the company sees further improvements in operating margins.@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21999018@unknown@formal@none@1@S@"We think we can take it to the 18% range over next 18 to 24 months," he said.@@@@1@18@@oe@2-2-2013 21999019@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In national over-the-counter trading, MCI fell $2.625 to $42.375.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21999020@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Charles Schellke, an analyst with Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co., said some investors apparently expected slightly better revenue growth.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21999021@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company said that residential traffic grew faster than business traffic and attributed that to its new PrimeTime calling plan that competes with American Telephone & Telegraph's Reach Out America plan.@@@@1@31@@oe@2-2-2013 21999022@unknown@formal@none@1@S@MCI claims about 12% of the overall long-distance telephone market but just under 10% of the $23 billion residential market.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21999023@unknown@formal@none@1@S@It has been trying to improve its share of the residential market.@@@@1@12@@oe@2-2-2013 21999024@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company wants its business mix to more closely match that of AT&T -- a step it says will help prevent cross subsidization.@@@@1@23@@oe@2-2-2013 21999025@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Mr. Akerson said MCI recorded "another solid cash positive quarter," its fourth in a row, but declined to comment on whether the company is considering a dividend or is planning any acquisition.@@@@1@32@@oe@2-2-2013 21999026@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The current quarter, he said, "looks fine.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21999027@unknown@formal@none@1@S@We think revenue will continue to grow and that we can control costs and thus improve profitability."@@@@1@17@@oe@2-2-2013 21999028@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Southwestern Bell Corp.@@@@1@3@@oe@2-2-2013 21999029@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Southwestern Bell Corp. said net dropped 8.7%, mainly the result of four extraordinary items: a franchise tax refund that its Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. unit received last year; a production shift of several Yellow Pages directories to the fourth quarter from the third; a rate refund in Missouri and a one-time adjustment to phone company revenues.@@@@1@56@@oe@2-2-2013 21999030@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Revenue slipped 1.2% to $2.21 billion from $2.23 billion.@@@@1@9@@oe@2-2-2013 21999031@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The earnings drop had been expected.@@@@1@6@@oe@2-2-2013 21999032@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Chairman Zane E. Barnes said Southwestern Bell's "businesses are healthy and are continuing to grow."@@@@1@15@@oe@2-2-2013 21999033@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company reported a 3.1% increase in the number of access lines in service, and also said its Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems unit added 30,000 new customers, with a current total of about 333,000.@@@@1@34@@oe@2-2-2013 21999034@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Southwestern shares fell 50 cents to $55.875 in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21999035@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Cincinnati Bell Inc.@@@@1@3@@oe@2-2-2013 21999036@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Cincinnati Bell Inc. said net declined 1.8%.@@@@1@7@@oe@2-2-2013 21999037@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company noted that the year-ago period was particularly strong, with an increase of nearly 70%.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21999038@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Revenue jumped nearly 17% to $223.3 million from $191.4 million.@@@@1@10@@oe@2-2-2013 21999039@unknown@formal@none@1@S@In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Cincinnati Bell fell 25 cents to $29.@@@@1@16@@oe@2-2-2013 21999040@unknown@formal@none@1@S@The company said that the number of access lines dropped slightly in the quarter, a decline attributed to seasonal fluctuations.@@@@1@20@@oe@2-2-2013 21999041@unknown@formal@none@1@S@For the year, however, access lines in service have increased 5.5%.@@@@1@11@@oe@2-2-2013 21999042@unknown@formal@none@1@S@Chairman D.H. Hibbard said the company has set a new five year goal of doubling revenues to about $1.8 billion while steadily increasing net.@@@@1@24@@oe@2-2-2013