Newspaper Page Text
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1— FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, February 15,1096
STOCK MARKET UPDATE
MARKET IN BRIEF ;
Stocks of local interest
At the close of Feb. 13,1998
Stock Last Change
DOW
BellSouth Corp. 57-3/16 +5/16
Coca-Cola Company 68-9/16 -11/16
McDonalds Corp. 53 +l-13/16
Volume: 8370.10 Southern Company 24-7/8 -1/8
. % change YTD: + 5.84 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. 44-3/16 -1/2
Tyson Foods 18-11/16 +l/16
Home Depot 65-1/2 +3/8
Ford Motor Company 53-5/8 -1/8
General Motors 63-7/16 + 3/16
S&P 500 Scientific Atlanta 17-1/2
AT&T 63-1/4 +l/2
Intel 83-13/16 -1-3/16
Microsoft 157-1/2 -1-1/4
Volume: 1020.08 Regions Bank 38 -7/16
F % change YTD: + 5.12 Atlanta Gas Light 20-5/16 +l/8
GTE 55 -5/16
Coca-Cola Enterprises 32-15/16 +7/16
Pepsico 36-1/2 +l/2
Georgia Pacific 58-15/16 -5/16
Delta Air Lines 119 -4-1/8
NASDAQ
... .„. „ _, Stock market information provided by Edward
Volume: 1710.31 , , 1., ~
% change YTD: + 8.91 Jones Investments, 210 Dahlonega St., Cumming,
Ga. For more information, contact John Weaver at
the office of Edwafd Jones at (770) 844-1000.
Quarterly dividend reports
The Timber Company
... reports a 1997 income of $215 million
compared with $127 million in 1996. The
company is the timber business of Georgia
Pacific Corp.
For the 1997 fourth quarter the company
reported a net income of S3O million, com
pared with net income of $47 million for
the 1996 fourth quarter.
Results in the 1996 fourth quarter includ
ed significant land sales activity and above
normal timber harvest levels.
Operating profits were $442 million, or
$328 million excluding the timberlands
sale gain, compared with $3lB million in
1996.
“We will continue to focus aggressively
on achieving the highest value for our tim
ber assets as we broaden our outside cus
tomer base in 1998,” said Donald L. Glass,
president and chief executive officer. “The
Gainesville College
has an exciting opportunity for Forsyth County residents!
Gainesville College, North Georgia College & State University, and
Lanier Technical Institute are combining their efforts to bring quality
educational opportunities to the people of Forsyth County. NGCSU will
offer upper-level business administration and education courses, and
Gainesville College will be offering the classes shown below at the NEW
Forsyth Campus of Lanier Technical Institute*. All courses taught by
Gainesville College are generally accepted at University System of
Georgia Institutions.
Gainesville College
S Spring Quarter Course Offerings
MAT 104 Coll. Algebra 5:30-7:40 p.m. M/W
SOCIOS Intro, to Sociology 5:30-7:40 p.m. T/TH
★The Forsyth Campus of Lanier Technical Institute
is located off GA 400 on Majors Road. Entrance is
near Berean Church.
Spring Quarter Application Deadline is
February 27,1998 - Classes begin March 31.
Call Gainesville College today
at 770-718-3641 and find out
how you can take advantage
of this exciting opportunity.
C 1 A TKTI7QVII Tl7 CALL NOR ™ GeORG,A
VjAINESVILLE College & State University
College for the Spring Quarter I I
University System of Georgia course schedule and
p.o. Box 1358, Gainesville, ga 30503 application information.
www.gc.peachnet.edu 706-864-1800
770-718-3641
Timber Company remains well positioned
to maximize opportunities across its 5.8
milion acres to deliver increased value to
our shareholders.
Georgia-Pacific
reports a net loss of $164 million ($1.78
per share) for the fourth quarter compared
with a net loss of $45 million (50 cents per
share) for the 1996 fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter 1997 results include a
one-time after-tax, non-cash charge of S6O
million in order to comply with a new
accounting standard requiring certain
information systems development charges
to be expensed as they are incurred. The
most recent quarter’s results also include
unusual charges totally $l3O million
before tax. Without those items, the
group’s 1997 fourth quarter pretax loss
was S3B million.
Georgia-Pacific Group’s net loss for the
full year 1997 was $146 million versus net
income of $29 milion a year ago.
Wachovia Bank
reports a first quarter dividend of $.44
per common share payable March 2, 1998
to shareholders of record on Feb. 5.
Although unchanged from the previous
quarter, the dividend is 10 percent higher
than $.40 per share paid in the same period ~
of 1997.
For the fourth quarter, Wachovia reported
an operating net income of $210.7 million,
up 4.6 percent from $201.5 million and
represented annualized returns of 17.3 per
cent on shareholders equity and 1.41 return
on assets.
For the full year, operating earnings were
Think positive when others are selling
The chief problem with investors
is not money, but self.
This is the thought of Benjamin
Graham, one of the legends of
investing. To win in the stock mar
ket, he said, you not only must cre
ate a solid financial plan, you also
must stick with it. That second part
is where the “self’ comes in and can
cause problems.
When the market is going up in
giant leaps, it’s easy to stick with
your investment plan. When it starts
down, however, some investors
become their own enemies. Many
abandon financial plans, dump good
stocks and mutual funds and run for
the door.
To help you avoid the panic pitfall,
heed the following suggestions.
First, keep in mind that it is a mar
ket of stocks, not a stock market.
Forget about indexes, predictions
and daily fluctuations, and instead
focus on identifying and sticking
with good businesses. These are the
companies that will continue to
grow and adjust to economic condi
tions. In the event of a market cor
rection, these companies are the
ones most likely to recover and
march on to new highs.
Another investing expert, Warren
Buffett, says the market is not a fac
tor in his decision-making. “If
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770-889-7889
255 81m Street
somebody handed me a prediction
by the most revered intellectual on
the subject, with figures for unem
ployment or interest rates, or what
ever it might be for the next two
years, we would not pay any atten
tion to it,” he says in the book
“Warren Buffett Speaks: Wit and
Wisdom from the World’s Greatest
Investor,” compiled by Janet Lowe.
Instead, Buffett focuses on well
managed companies that are priced
right.
If it makes sense to buy good
stocks, it also makes sense to hold
on to them.
History shows that the price of a
stock is linked to the earnings of the
company. The market is only a
short-term measure of what some
one is willing to pay for that compa
ny’s stock at a particular time. In an
iffy market, this price can be based
on nothing more than emotions.
Over the long term, however, stock
prices follow profits. So if the price
drops, yet profits remain strong,
intelligent investors buy rather than
sell. There are only three basic rea
sons to sell a stock: when a stock
has reached its full potential, to cor
rect a mistake, or to readjust your
portfolio due to changing objectives.
Common stocks historically have
been one of the most profitable
$3.96 per diluted share, higher by 8.5 per
cent from $3.65 in 1996. Operating net
income totaled $799.9 million, an increase
of 5.6 percent from $757.3 million and rep
resented returns of 17.6 percent on share
holders’ equity and 1.39 percent on assets.
The operating earnings exclude three
special charges taken in the fourth quarter
of 1997: $231.2 million, pretax, from
Wachovia’s margers with Central Fidelity
Banks, Jefferson Bankshares and Ist
United Bancorp; $67.2 million, pretax to
dispose of personal computer hardware and
software and $4.6 million, pretax, in losses
from the sale of investment securities.
“Wachovia’s core performance results as
demonstrated by our operating earnings
were good for both the full quarter and full
year,” said L.M. Baker Jr., chief executive
officer.
Wachovia is traded on the New York
Stock Exchange under the ticket symbol
investments. With an average return
of about 10.5 percent over the {last
50 years, common stocks have dou
bled a patient investor’s money
about every seven years. There hre
no guarantees that this will contin
ue, but as long as there are good
companies making profits, the odds
are on our side.
If you’re still squeamish abdut
holding stocks for the long term,
add quality bonds to your portfolio.
Although bonds have traditionally
returned about four percentage
points less than common stocks,
that’s still a lot better than stuffing
your money in a mattress. If you’re
in a high tax bracket, consider tax
free bonds. A 6 percent tax-free
return could be worth more than 8
percent on a taxable investment.
Intelligent investors know that
trees don’t grow to the sky the stock
market will not always go up. But
they also know that high-quality
companies will reward them over
the long term. Positive thinking like
this is what gets them through short
term declines.
Provided by the Edward Jones
office of John M. Weaver, 210
Dahlonega St., Suite 1038,
Cumming, Ga. 30040, Phone: (770)
844-1000.
WB.
SunThist
...reports a net income for 1997 of $667.3
million compared with $616.6 million in
1996.
Fourth quarter net income was $172.2
million in 1997 compared with $158.5 mil
lion in the 1996 fourth quarter.
“1997 was a great year,” said James B.
Williams, chairman and chief executive
officer. “Earnings per share were at record
levels, they have been every year since our
formation in 1985; loans grew 13.4 percent;
noninterest income excluding securities
gains increased 16 percent while noninter
est expense was up 6.5 percent; credit quali
ty was exceptional and the stock price was
up 45 percent.”
Sun Trust is traded on the Hew York Stock
Exchange under the symbol STI.