A PIT-FALL FOR RACING STOCK: TOY COMPANY REPORTS SHORTFALL

          Shares of Racing Champions Corp. "plunged" 60%
     Wednesday after the maker of die-cast toy cars announced an
     "unexpected sales shortfall and warned of second-quarter
     loss," according to Mary Ellen Podmolik of the CHICAGO SUN-
     TIMES.  The IL-based company said that it "expects to report
     a quarterly loss" of $.30-.35 a share and a "sales
     shortfall" of $16M-20M.  It also will take a $6M
     restructuring charge "tied to the integration of the
     recently acquired Ertl Co."  Shares closed yesterday on the
     NASDAQ at a 52-week low of $6.68 a share, down $10.18. 
     Analysts "expect earnings to recover by year's end."  First
     Union Capital Markets analyst Tom Thomson: "NASCAR has a
     tremendous amount of staying power.  I don't think this is
     representative of any decline in Nascar" (SUN-TIMES, 6/24).