"Driven by increasing worries about a slowing economy and
rising interest rates," the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped
91.52 points yesterday -- the stock market's "worst single-day
loss in nine months." The Dow closed at 3677.99, down 2.4%,
extending the two-day loss to 137.27 points. According to this
morning's WALL STREET JOURNAL, the "carnage was widespread, with
all major indexes suffering big losses." The S&P 500 "skidded"
8.21 to 450.09; the NYSE Composite Index fell 4.26 to 246.32; and
the Nasdaq Composite Index was "crushed" by traders for a decline
of 16.53 to 741.21 (Dave Kansas, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/23).
SPORTS COMPANIES TAKE A HIT: All but two of the 13 sports
stocks tracked by THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY were down at the
close of yesterday's market. Callaway Golf fell 2 1/8 to 34 5/8;
Cobra Golf dropped 1 1/2 to 33 3/4; Sport Supply dropped 1 to 9
7/8; and Reebok slipped 3/8 to 38 1/4. The only gainers were
Sportmart and The Sports Authority --up 1/2 and 1/8,
respectively. For our full listing of stock prices and trading
volumes. In separate news, Sport Supply cited "rising interest
rates" and the NHL's labor woes as its reasons for pulling out of
a plan to acquire an undisclosed hockey equipment manufacturer
(DOW JONES NEWS/SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 11/23).
OVERSEAS REAX: This morning's FINANCIAL TIMES reports that
Asian and European markets "were depressed yesterday by Monday's
45 point fall." The FT-SE 100 index was down 42.3 points to
3,078.7, and most European exchanges "declined about 1 percent,
with the exception of Italy, where the Mibtel index dropped 2.8
percent" on news that the prime minister is facing "questioning
about bribery allegations." The Nikkei 225 average fell below
19,000 -- the first time since February -- and the Hang Seng
Index suffered a 3.8% drop (Coggan/Bransten/Harverson, FINANCIAL
TIMES, 11/23).
GOOD NEWS FOR MICKEY: The FINANCIAL TIMES also reports this
morning that the Walt Disney Company has posted record fourth-
quarter earnings of $226M, and "for the first time in more than a
decade, films made more profit in the full year than theme parks
(excluding Euro Disney)." Led by the success of "The Lion King,"
fourth-quarter operating income from films nearly doubled to
$189M on sales up 43% to $1.26B. "For the year as a whole,
operating profits from films rose 38 percent on sales up 30
percent to $4.8B" (Tony Jackson, FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/23).
