NIKE PREPARING FOR A BIG YEAR IN SHOES?

     With plans for the Madison Square Garden bid "long abandoned
and the need for immediate cash savings shelved," Nike cast of
vote of confidence in its own future last week, "hiking the
quarterly" dividend payout 25%, to 25 cents a share.  "That
increase came despite less-than-impressive first-quarter
results."  But, Nike's "optimism appears well founded.  The
company is confident that additional manufacturing capacity
secured in Asia will enable it to meet future order demands."
And a growing number of analysts "figure that domestic demand for
athletic footwear is finally starting to grow again after more
than three years of stagnation" (Jay Palmer, BARRON'S, 11/28
issue).