Shares of Puma "jumped" 7% yesterday to close at
$15.88, after the company announced that '99 earnings "more
than doubled," according to Evelyn Nussenbaum of the N.Y.
POST, who writes that Puma's "order backlog, an indicator of
future sales, soared" 40%. Nussenbaum asks, "Why does Puma
look so hot when Nike appears to be cooling? ... Analysts
say teenagers see Puma's clothing as more of a fashion
statement than something to play basketball in." Meanwhile,
Nike shares "lost another" $3.25 yesterday on Wall Street to
fall to $33.75, bringing its two-day loss to $10.75.
Nussenbaum notes that Tuesday's $7.50 loss was Nike's
"biggest one-day drop in 17 years." But Nussenbaum writes
that "early word on Nike's fall fashions is good, and its
women's fashions ... are selling well" (N.Y. POST,
2/10)....Russell Corp. "plans to eliminate" about 800 jobs,
or 5% of its work force, in addition to the 4,200 jobs it
previously said "would be eliminated as part of a broad
restructuring program." By the end of 2000, Russell
"expects to have shifted" more than 90% of its apparel-
assembly operations offshore (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/10).
