EU OK's Boeing-McDonnell Merger

The European Commission recommended approval today of Boeing's planned $15 billion acquisition of McDonnell Douglas after the Seattle-based aircraft maker offered last-minute concessions. "There was a broad agreement (within the Commission). The remedies the Commission was striving for have largely been supplied," EU Competition Commissioner Karel van Miert said. The Commission, the European Union's 20-member executive body, says it will send its recommendation -- which averts the danger of a potentially damaging transatlantic trade war -- to antitrust experts from the bloc's 15 member nations, who will review it by next week.

Dow Opens at New High

The Dow Jones industrial average opens at a new high today on reassurances from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the U.S. economy is healthy and but not overheating. The blue-chip Dow index opens at 8,061.65 after gaining 154.93 points yesterday, beating last Wednesday's record finish of 8,038.88. Yesterday's close was the Dow's 33rd milestone so far this year. It was also the Dow's fourth-biggest gain in history. The Nasdaq Composite index opens 27.63 points higher at 1,563.86. In testimony on the economy to Congress, Greenspan did not mention market bubbles and irrational exuberance, the sort of alarm that sent financial markets reeling last year.

Greenspan Sees Slowing Growth

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan returns to Capitol Hill today to deliver the second half of his semi-annual report on the U.S. economy. Yesterday, Greenspan said the central bank would raise interest rates if needed to head off inflation, but suggested that might not happen anytime soon. His comments came before a House Banking subcommittee. Today, Greenspan continues his assessment with an appearance before the Senate Banking Committee. Wall Street stock and bond prices yesterday bounded higher as investors took heart from Greenspan's suggestion that Fed policy was on hold.

Strike Called at GM Plant

Members of United Auto Workers union Local 909 are on strike today at General Motors' tranmission plant in Warren, Mich. The strike affects about 2,800 hourly workers. The walkout came when bargainers failed to produce a new contract by a midnight deadline. In addition, talks are continuing at a GM Delphi Interior & Lighting plant in Anderson, Ind., after the union extended a strike deadline. A strike at either plant could quickly disrupt GM's North American production.

Lawmakers Criticize Greenspan

Despite a U.S. economy that is the envy of the world, Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan is being criticized by members of Congress on both sides of the political spectrum. The barbs at Greenspan's testimony before a House Banking subcommittee yesterday ranged from a socialist warning Greenspan against ripping the social fabric of the country to a Republican questioning if the central bank was analyzing bad data. Rep. Barney Frank applauded the central bank's increased accountability and transparency, but the Massachusetts Democrat criticized the Fed for striving to lower inflation rather than working to cut the unemployment rate.

Business Experts on Capitol Hill

U.S. business representatives and academics said they will make a case for full employment and against higher interest rates when they testify before the House Banking Committee today. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan yesterday delivered his Humphrey-Hawkins testimony before a subcommittee of the House Banking Committee, which has summoned 11 experts to testify on monetary policy today. The experts include some Wall Street Fed watchers, generally considered inflation "hawks," and some more "dovish" analysts.

Tobacco Trial Continues in Fla.

Testimony continues today in the class action suit against the tobacco industry, brought by 60,000 non-smoking flight attendants who say they were made ill by breathing secondhand smoke. Yesterday, an expert testified that secondhand smoke on U.S. airliners went unmonitored for decades because of missteps by federal regulators. Air pollution expert Donald Stedman, a member of a National Academy of Sciences panel that urged a ban on smoking in airline cabins, testified the air quality in pilots' cabins was monitored by the FAA but that until 1986 no government agency tracked air quality in the cabins for passengers and flight attendants.

Panel Debates Implant Risks

An independent panel of scientists continues a court-ordered review in Birmingham, Ala., today of scientific evidence about the relative health risks of silicone breast implants. The findings would not be legally binding, but are expected to influence future implant cases. U.S. District Judge Samuel Pointer, presiding over pretrial proceedings in all federal cases against silicone breast implant manufacturers, asked the four-member panel of experts to advise him if silicone implants can cause disease and what scientific evidence should be admissible in court. Defense experts are expected to present findings from their research today and tomorrow showing that silicone has not been proved to cause ailments.

Profits Climb at Euro Disney

Euro Disney, the operator of the Disneyland Paris theme park, said today that operating revenues in the April-June quarter rose 8 percent to $251.1 million, helped by a rise in attendance. Sales for the first nine months of its 1996/97 fiscal year to June 30 were up 10.6 percent at $598 million. Euro Disney SCA, 39 percent owned by The Walt Disney Co., says the increase in fiscal 1997 third-quarter operating revenues "was driven principally by growth in park attendance and hotel occupancy, combined with a small increase in average guest spending throughout the resort."

Folgers to Cut Prices

Folgers Coffee says it will cut the list price of its standard 13-ounce can of ground regular and ground decaffeinated coffees by 30 cents due to the decline in prices on the world's futures markets. The decrease, which will take effect Sept. 8, brings the price for a standard 13 ounce can of regular ground to $3.06, and decaffeinated ground Folgers to $3.76, the company said. Industry sources say rumors had recently been swirling around the coffee market that Folgers would cut retail prices after the price of green coffee on New York's Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange slipped some 40 percent from 20-year highs in late May.

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