2 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, October 13, 2000 NATION/WORLD Oil pnces cause market s AcROSS THE NATION f NEW YORK (AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 379 points yesterday, nearly drop- ping below 10,000, as new Mideast violence and soaring oil prices compounded worries about weak company profits. The Nasdaq composite index fell to its lowest close this year, extending a post-Labor Day slide dominated by fears that technology companies aren't growing fast enough to justify lofty stock prices. Home Depot led the Dow's decline after the retail- er became the latest blue chip company to warn it would not meet third-quarter expectations. The Dow closed down 379.21 at 10,034.58, the lowest it's been since March. It was its fifth-largest point drop ever, but the 3.6 percent decline did not even approach the top 25 percentage losses. Broader markets also fell. The Nasdaq composite closed down 93.81 to 3,074.68 - its lowest close of 2000. The Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled 34.81to 1,329.78. "In an already nervous market, this is all we didn't need," said Al Goldman, an analyst with A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis. "A terrorist attack, increased hostilities in the Middle East and a spike in oil prices - shake it all up and you get blind dump- ing of stocks." The apparent terrorist attack on a U.S. military ship in Yemen sent oil prices up as much as 10 per- cent, helping to re-ignite inflation fears. And Israeli combat helicopters rocketed Palestinian leader Yass- er Arafat's residential compound in the Gaza Strip as well as a West Bank town in retaliation for the brutal slayings of three Israeli soldiers. Oil prices reached $37.00 a barrel at one point on the New York Mercantile Exchange, nearing its recent 10-year high of $37.80 a barrel. Crude futures closed yesterday at S36.06, up 52.81. Meanwhile, shares of Home Depot, the nation's largest home improvement retailer, tumbled S13.81, or 28 percent, to 535.13 after it warned yesterday of lower-than-expected earnings, primarily because of material costs. The news sent other retailers down as well, including Wal-Mart, while financial stocks also suf- fered. Fears that higher oil costs would hurt airlines sent Continental Airlines down 52.75 at $41.19. Airplane manufacturer Boeing fell $4.06 to $56.13. Technology stocks were mixed. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices rose 31 cents to S22.13 after reporting earnings ahead of Wall Street expec- tations late Wednesday. Intel rose SI.75 to $37.13. But Yahoo tumbled again on worries about future earnings, falling 58.75 to 556.63. U.S., North Korea join communique WASHINGTON - The Clinton administration and North Korea yesterday took one of the biggest steps in nearly 50 years toward ending their bitter hostili- ties, issuing a historic joint communique asserting that they had decided to "fun- damentally improve" their relations. They also announced that President Clinton is likely to make a ground-break- ing visit to North Korea before he leaves office in January. "The U.S. and the (North Korean) sides stated that they are prepared to und take a new direction in their relations ... free from past enmity," the two govri- ments said in the communique, issued at the end of a visit here by a senior North Korean military leader. Such a written communique carries weight and enduring importance well beyond that of routine presidential utterances. North Korea did not, for now, win its objective of being taken off the U.S. list of states that support terrorism. That designation prevents the North from getting international loans for its hard-pressed economy. The United States did not win a permanent commitment from North Korea to stop its missile-development program, only a continuation of the qualified, tem- porary freeze on launches. Instead, the two governments appeared to have set aside the settlement of su issues so they could be announced by Clinton and North Korean leader Jong 11 when the U.S. president visits the Asian nation. THE MiCHIGAN AILY. SERVING 40,000. DAILY. T he John Marshall Law School prides itself on a rich 101-year history of diver- sity, innovation and opportunity. Learn about our programs and specialties during our visit to your campus, including: . Intellectual Property . Information Technology . Legal Writing . Trial Advocacy . January Admission (December LSAT accepted) "Law Day" Tuesday, Oct. 17 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Michigan Union Or visit us at www.jmls.edu A LFGACY OF OPPORTUNirTY A LIFETIME Of ACHIEVEMENT T HE JOHN MARSHALL LAw SCHOOL' 315 SOUTH PLYMOUTH COURT, CHICAGO, IL 60604 800.537.4280 OF THEE I SING music by George Gershwin * lyrics by Ira Gershwin ** Book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind ** directed by Brent Wagner * musical direction by Grant Wenaus Special Added Performance! * October 14 at 2pm ** Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre ** Tickets are $20 and $15 * Students $7 with ID League Ticket Office* 744-764-0450 t FCC may expand tenant phone options WASHINGTON - Small busi- nesses and apartment tenants could get more choices for their telephone service under modest steps taken by regulators yesterday. The Federal Communications Com- mission voted to bar phone companies from getting exclusive rights to serve office buildings with multiple busi- nesses and said it would weigh expanding those rules to residential apartment buildings. But, careful not to trigger charges of overstepping its jurisdiction, the FCC shied away from placing any mandates on landlords themselves. Th monimicsirn'c nlp lcn inblrk telephone companies from negotiating with commercial building owners for exclusive access to premises where they can set up equipment. Phone companies that control these areas in apartment complexes, campuses and office buildings would have to give other carriers and cable companies access, under the agency's action. "Access to the last 100 feet' is one of the last remaining barriers to com- plete end-to-end competition for telecommunications services," said FCC Chairman William Kennard. About a third of all Americans live in some type of multiunit complex, according to industry experts. GOP planning to push spending bill WASHINGTON - After weeks of trying to accommodate the White House on key budget issues, House Republican leaders are pushing for a more confrontational strategy over a giant health and education spendine bill, the largest piece of unfinishWi hiciness in the final days of the ses- sion. Unable to resolve their differences over spending for new school construe- tion and for hiring new teachers to reduce class sizes, GOP leaders are pre- pared to challenge President Clinton to either sign or veto a GOP-crafted labor, health and education bill rather than making further concessions. v Pulitzer Prize Winner. A funny and irreverent satire about scandal in Presidential politics. QTR, ., Y AROUND THE WORLD 'WINTERGREEN FOIR iPRESIDENT -I I Chinese novelist given Nobel Prize BAGNOLET, France - Gao Xingjian burned his early writings to save himself from communist zealots, was denounced by his own wife and eventually went into exile. Yesterday, the 60-year-old survivor of China's upheaval aid oppression became its first Nobel Prize laureate for litera- ture. The Swedish Academy cited the novelist and playwright for the "bitter insights and linguistic ingenuity" in his writings about the "struggle for individuality in mass culture." Gao, "very, very surprised" at the honor, declared writing to have been his salvation, even during Mao Tse- tung's brutal 1966-76 Cultural Revo- lution, when intellectuals were silenced and he had to burn "kilos and - kilos" of his writings lest they fall into the wrong hands. "In China, I could not trust anyone, not even my family. The atmosphere was so poisoned, people were so brainwashed that even someone from your own family could turn you n he told The Associated Press. That actually happened, accordiny to his friend and fellow Chinese exile poet Bei Ling. "His wife told pe* from the government that he had beer writing literary things at home, anc writing literature then was very dan. gerous," Bei said. *4 6 Americans held hostage in Ecuador QUITO, Ecuador - Colom l rebels seized a helicopter from an field in the Amazon jungle early yester- day, kidnapping six Americans and at least four others and flying them into Colombian territory, military officials said. The hostages, who also included . Chilean, an Argentine and the two Frenchmen, were taken at gunpoint before dawn in the El Coca region, 150 miles southeast of the capital. - Compiled from Daily' wire rep s. UM SCHOOL OF MUSic MusicAL THEATRE DEPARTMENT .A The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745967) is published Monday through Friday during thefall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $100. Winter term (January through April) is $105. yearlong (September through April) is $180. On-campus subscriptions for fall term are $35.:Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of The Associated Press and The Associated collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor. Michigan 48109-1327. PHONE NUMBERS (All area code 734): News 76-DAILY: Arts 763-0379: Sports 647-3336: Opinion 764 Circulation 764-0558: Classified advertising 764-0557: Display advertising 764-0554: Billing 764-0550. E-mail letters to the editor to daily.letters@unich.edu. World Wide Web: www.michigandaily.com. EITRA STAFMik Sa a r. 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