Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Monday, September 7, 1998
Asian markets soar; yen gains vs. dollar
HONG KONG -- Asian stock markets recorded one big gain after another today, with traders crediting everything from Japan's strengthening yen to speculation about lower U.S. interest rates and new market controls imposed by Malaysia and Hong Kong.
In Japan, the yen climbed once again against the U.S. currency, reaching a four-month high of 131.99 to the dollar. Japan's benchmark 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average surged 747.15 points, or 5.32 percent, closing at 14,790.06.
As good as the Nikkei was, Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index ended at a six-week high, finishing up 7.9 percent to 8,076.76.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index closed at 862.10, a 7 percent increase, its best performance this year. In Thailand, the SET index surged 6 percent to 220.56 points.
And in Malaysia, the Composite index did the best of all, closing 22.5 percent, or 81.62 points, higher at 445.06. Traders said the government was manipulating the market.
The latest drop in the U.S. dollar's value against the yen was tied to a hint Friday by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan that American interest rates may have to be cut to prevent a U.S. recession. Lower interest rates tend to make a nation's currency less attractive to investors.
No progress made in Northwest talks
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Federal mediators told negotiators in the Northwest Airlines pilots' strike to take Labor Day off, urging both sides to rethink their positions after "exploratory" talks yielded no progress in ending the 10-day-old walkout.Officials for Northwest and the Air Line Pilots Association, the union representing the striking pilots, met separately with mediators at a suburban Chicago hotel during the weekend to determine whether full-blown negotiations were possible. Mediators shuttled between the two sides, then sent them home yesterday.
Discussions are scheduled to resume tomorrow in Minneapolis, although officials could not say whether the two sides would meet face to face.
Seinfeld tops Forbes list of richest entertainers
NEW YORK -- Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, whose show "Seinfeld" completed a highly successful nine-year TV run in May, earned $225 million to top this year's Forbes magazine's list of the 40 highest-paid entertainers. Larry David, the co-creator of the sitcom with Seinfeld, was No. 2 at $200 million despite his departure from the show two years ago. Both benefited from the $1.7 billion sale of the show into syndication, Forbes said in its Sept. 21 issue.The money from the sale enabled them to unseat director Steven Spielberg. The boss of Dreamworks SKG studio earned $175 million this year on the strength of his critically acclaimed World War II drama "Saving Private Ryan."
Rounding out the top 10 were talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, $125 million; "Titanic" director James Cameron, $115 million; " "Home Improvement" star Tim Allen, $77 million; author Michael Crichton, $65 million; actor Harrison Ford, $58 million; The Rolling Stones, $57 million and rapper and No Limit Records CEO Master P, $56.5 million.
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