MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL TO US ALL? FIRST EAGLE IN SPORTS STOCKS

     First Eagle Int'l, a sports-based mutual fund, has
accumulated $31M in assets, and has ranked No. 2 of 287
international funds followed by Lipper Analytical Services in the
12 months ended July 11.  The fund, co-managed by Allan Raphael
of Arnhold & Bleichroeder in New York with returns of 23.41%
(compared with an 8.06% average), consists of, among others,
adidas AG, Puma AG and the British soccer team, Manchester
United.  But Bob Powell, Editor of Mutual Fund Market News, notes
the risk "that sports is not a broad-based business.  The teams
go out of favor ... plus the expenses of running a sports venture
are considerable."  Among the companies Raphael likes are adidas,
whose stock has risen about 77% since it went public.  Raphael
notes only 4% of adidas sales are in the U.S., "so it has lots of
room to grow."  Raphael also recommends Puma and Fila.  But his
sports holdings aren't confined to shoemakers, with BSkyB, News
Corp.'s British PPV service also included (Jon Friedman,
BLOOMBERG BUSINESS/WASHINGTON POST, 7/21).