ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 30, 1997 TAG: 9701300011
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
Inflation-hedged T-bills score in debut
WASHINGTON - The government sold $7 billion in securities Wednesday that for the first time are designed to prevent inflation from eroding the value of people's investments.
The 10-year Treasury notes were auctioned in minimum denominations of $1,000 with an interest coupon rate of 3 3/8 percent. The rate was determined by the bidding, and the principal will be adjusted twice a year for inflation as measured by the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index. If inflation increases 3 percent this year, for instance, a $1,000 note would be adjusted to $1,030.
Analysts had predicted that most participants in the initial auction would be Wall Street traders and institutional investors, such as pension funds, rather than individuals.
``It doesn't look like small investors really stepped up here,'' economist Elliott Platt of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. in New York said after the auction. Still, he said the sale was a success. The Treasury said bids totaled $37.2 billion, more than five times the bonds sold.
-Associated Press
Prudential's paper destruction upheld
NEWARK, N.J. - Prudential Insurance Co. of America and its top officers did not obstruct justice in the destruction of documents sought by policyholders who are suing, a special judge ruled Wednesday.
Special Master Justin Walder, who investigated the matter on behalf of U.S. District Judge Alfred Wolin in Newark, ruled that several incidents of document destruction weren't the result of an official policy.
Wolin has fined policyholder-owned Prudential $1 million for destroying papers relevant to a massive class-action lawsuit alleging that the company had wrongly convinced holders to cash out existing policies in exchange for new ones.
-Bloomberg Business News
Briefly ...
* An Aaron's Rental Purchase store will open Saturday in Roanoke-Salem Plaza on Melrose Avenue. The 8,000- square-foot residential rent-to-own store is part of a franchise owned by Atlantic Coast Investments Ltd. of Upper Marlboro, Md. Atlanta-based Aaron Rents Inc. rents and sells residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, household appliances and business equipment. It has more than 300 stores in 27 states, including a store in Salem that carries only office products.
* Moneta Building Supply on Virginia 122 in Moneta has reopened under a new name: Capps Home & Building Center. Its main focus will continue to be Smith Mountain Lake contractors, but it will place increased emphasis on helping do-it-yourself customers, said Dave Cappellari, president of the company for 18 years and now its owner.
* Webb's Oil Corp., a Roanoke wholesaler of petroleum products, has won a contract with the Virginia Department of Transportation for about 4.5 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel for the central and southwest districts.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB