News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 33

IIISIDE Dilbert2D David Bowie 2D NYSE 3D MutualsMD Nasdaq 5D NEWS-PRESS To) ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOa'BUSINESS: BOB RATHGEBER, 335-0347 (Monday Friday 10 a.m. 7 p.m.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15. 1997 Qimwm sod mmh ta TV glamour alive now in Fort Myers disaster areas because of losses from the Jan. 18-19 freeze. The surprise cold snap caused an estimated $300 million in crop damage in Florida.

Lee County's winter vegetable losses have been estimated at $10 million. No estimates are available on local nursery or tropical fruit losses. Besides Lee, counties named as primary disaster areas were: Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, DeSoto, Broward, Dade, Hardy, Hendry, Highlands Hilsborough, Manatee, Okeechobee, Orange Palm Beach and Sarasota. Also listed as eligible for loan assistance although reported damage was less severe are the counties of Brevard, Indian River, Lake, Martin, Monroe, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Lucie, Seminole and Volusia.

Emergency loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture carry a 3.75 percent interest rate. Applications must be received within eight months of the disaster designation. Requirements include: Documentation of a minimum 30 percent loss of normal production. By LAURA RUANE News-Press staff writer Southwest Florida growers hit hard by last month's freeze now have a chance to apply for low-interest federal loans.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman this week declared 16 Florida counties including Lee i Marketing analyst Debi Gary demonstrates computer banking at her Online banking now rciorc ussr-frisndly Collateral. Ability to repay loaa Inability to obtain commercial credit The loan program is run by the Farm Service Agency. For details, phone credit officer Elijah Hamilton at the Lee-Charlotte FSA office, (941)997-1931. Wholesale prices decline The Associated Press WASHINGTON Prices charged by producers, pulled down by tumbling food costs, posted the first decline in more than two years in January while output at the nation's factories moderated.

"That means more thumbs-up for the economy," said economist Robert Dederick of Northern Trust Corp. in Chicago. "Growth isn't running amok and as a result, inflation is well contained." The prices, charged by producers from factories to farms and paid by wholesalers and others, fell a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in January, compared with a worrisome 0.6 percent increase in December, the Labor Department said Friday. Despite the good news, the Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks, which broke the 7,000 level for the first time Thursday, retreated 33.48 points to close at 6,988.96. But a scary producer price report could have triggered a much sharper sell-off.

The bond market rallied with yields on 30-year Treasury bonds dropping to 6.53 percent at the close, the lowest level since Dec. 27 and down from 6.62 percent late Thursday. Lower bond yields, if sustained, can translate into lower mortgage rates for home buyers. The Producer Price Index measures the cost of goods before they reach consumers. Its movements offer important clues for the future behavior of the Consumer Price Index, which tracks the price of both ser-vices and retail goods.

Group heading to China By LAURA RUANE News-Press staff writer A group of Southwest Floridians is making plans for a trade and cultural exchange trip to China. The itinerary for the April 20-to-May 3 trip will include Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guilin, Suzhou, Wuhan and Beijing. Among the stops: a business trade show in Guangzhou, the Great Wall of China, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The tour is being organized by Naples-based Masters Enterprises International and the Masters Foundation, which promotes education and cultural programs about China. Participants will include Dick Anderson, sales and customer service director for Mariner Properties Development's Little Pine Island mitigation bank.

Also hoping to go: Bill Hammond, an environmental educator who lives in Lee County, and who serves on the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District. Hammond said he's working with Florida Gulf Coast University to establish a distance learning link via the Internet between the region's new state university and a new university in Wuhan. The trip is open to the public. A fee covers air fare, accommodations, ground transportation, tours and scheduled meals. Reservations made before Feb.

28 will receive a $1,000 discount For details, phone Masters Enterprises International, (941) 495. 0777. or (941) 495-5500. KCN3 KCK3 1.0 Previous: 13239.95 13113.26 0.6 Previous: 4436.3 4464.2 London: FT 100 Toronto: TSE-300. i-nft hoteHy.

YOU SEE THOSE trendy clothes the actors wear on TV's Friends and Beverly Hills 90210, and funky styles by young New York designers in the fashion magazines but where can you find them? Not in Fort Myers, you might think. Not true. Heather Holland, 23, with a degree in fashion merchandising from the University of Mississippi, has returned to her hometown to open the Mallie Montgomery Boutique in The Design Center on McGregor Boulevard. She's actively pursuing "fashion forward" labels and designers with. AKKE MITCHELL Artful Shopper celebrity connections.

The brown and beige boucle sweater Heather Locklear wore on Melrose Place recently is $56, and a line by Buzzz, seen on the same show, printed with every kind of buzzing insect, is $58 for the dress, halter top, $25. Holland said the designer was inspired by the retro look of his mom's Lily Pulitzer outfits. You'll also find items from the Bisou Bisou line that Jennifer Aniston favors on Friends, and Doll House fashions seen on 90210. Go check out the floor it's a work of art, incorporating paintings, photos, thoughts, messages, fashion clips from magazines. Chandeliers, which Holland and her sister and mother have gussied up with ropes of pearls and crys tals, adorn the store and dressing rooms, along with gilt mirrors.

Though the fashions are strictly for the young at heart, there are lots of gift and home accessory items, such as: stainless steel watch by Storm of London which flips up to reveal a handy mirror maribou pen Betty Boop-style terry headband with huge animal print bow matching towel wrap Pregnancy Survival Kit containing dress, miniskirt, tunic and leggings in black, brown or indigo knit cotton as worn by Today Show host Katie Couric. The 4-inch stretch waistband has no uncomfortable elastic Wanted Jan Heinz: Generic brands of Coldeze, Ocuvite and Ocumin for eyes. Delores Williams: Elara cologne. Dorothy Nickel: Men's garters. Wish Maxwell: Columbia-Minerva Afghan book with fox and hounds pattern in panels.

Elaine Holland: Round ballerina music box which turns as it plays. Found Dorothy Downs can order a bread hook for a DAK automatic breadmaker from DAK Gourmet Products, 19749 Bahama Northridge, CA 91324, (800) 656-2253 or (800) 325-0800. Linda Murray, a Watkins distributor, 542-8908 can help Colleen Bofysil with the Mid-East food items she was looking for. Lil Reed can purchase Maas all metal cleaner to polish pewter from Sandra Rozanski at Rainbow Flea Market, Tamiami Trail, Charlotte Harbor, booth E-7. A 4 oz.

tube is $8. The Flea Market is open 9-5. To leave a message for Anne Mitchell or Artful Shopper assistant Susan Freedman, dial 335-0395. Long-distance callers should dial 800-468-0350 ext. 395.

Write: Anne Mitchell, News-Press, P.O. Box 10, Fort Myers, FL 33902. WORKSHOPS INTERNET: Learn how to increase your business using the Internet by attending a series of Internet workshops presented by the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce and Southwest Florida Internet Services Inc. Internet 101 will be held Feb. 20 and Feb.

27; Internet 102 will be on March 6 and March 20; Internet 103 on March 27. All classes are from 4-6 p.m. at the Bonita Springs Area Chamber of Commerce office. Cost per workshop is $25 for members; $50 for non-members. For reservations, call 992-2943.

office at Sun Trust. DESK-TOP These are the personal com- -puter services offered by a sampling of Lee County banks. Barnett Bank Desktop banking: Personal account management and bill paying through Prodigy Internet access; now testing its own software for a direct link to the bank. Website: www.barnett.com, includes features for loan applications, job openings Other products: The Barnett Connection, desktop banking for small businesses. First Union Bank Desktop banking: Personal account management and bill paying with Money or Quicken software and direct modem link to bank; personal account management through website home page; will add bill paying on homepage later this year Website: www.firstunion.com; Includes loan applications and term life insurance quotes Other products: CyberCoin, a wallet for Internet shopping WHAT YOU'LL KEEP IBM-compatible or Macintosh computer 386 processor 14 megabytes of disk space 4 megabytes of RAM "The Internet continues to see explosive growth," said Edgar Brown, senior vice president and manager of First Union's remote access products in Charlotte.

Barnett Bank, which began desktop banking via the Internet in 1993, is embarking on cable banking with Barnett Town, a feature on Time Warner's full service cable television service to 4,000 households in Orlando. "It's an interactive video game and home banking product," said Jerri Franz, Barnett's manager of media relations in Jacksonville. "Click on the ATM and do your banking, or go to animated tellers. You can go in and out in 90 seconds and do your banking during a commercial." The video game option, Franz said, "is a fun way to learn about our products and services. To my knowledge it's the first of its kind, an entertainmentbanking product.

It works with cable modems, which are an up-and-coming technology." "Customer response has been tremendous," she said. Will it come to Lee County? "We believe that it is successful, but where it might be available next would depend on the cable system operators." top concern some banks are customizing their -own desktop banking software, using direct modem links to the bank, and joining small networks to process the electronic transactions. In addition to its direct link, said Debbie Apicerno, vice president and regional sales support manager of NationsBank, its desktop banking program limits the actual transaction link to 60 seconds, enough time to upload or download but not enough to hack into other accounts. JoanD.LaGuardia By JOAN D.LaGUARDIA News-Press staff writer Get comfortable in your desk chair, and let's cruise the 'net. It's time to go to the cyber bank.

Most banks have made it easy for personal computer owners to bank from home. Now, several are offering innovative services to court the Internet-sawy customer. First Union Bank, for example, now offers CyberCoin, an electronic wallet that allows consumers to buy goods for as little as 25 cents to $10 on the Internet. The program accommodates purchases too small to be practical for credit cards. "We provide a distribution channel.

CyberCoin maintains the wallets," explained Mark Folk, spokesman for First Union in Charlotte, N.C. "It's like a virtual credit card." The wallet holds a maximum of $80, but can be reloaded in $20 increments at any time. Any Internet browser can access the CyberCoin Wallet on the Community Commerce page of First Union's website. Security is a Security ranks as a top priority for bank-at-home programs, especially with Satan lurking on the Internet. Satan, also known as the Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks, is software that tests for security lapses and identifies how a hacker might exploit them.

It was developed to help companies improve their security programs, but it can, when it falls into evil hands, be used as a virtual tutorial for breaching security. To minimize security risks, JOHN SEVERSONNews-Press BAKXIXG NationsBank Desktop banking: Personal account management and bill paying with bank's customized software and direct modem link Website: http:www.nations-bank.com, loan applications, job postings Other products: bank services for miliary personnel, map printouts for ATM locator Sun Trust Bank Desktop banking: Personal account management and bill paying with Quicken or other Intuit software and direct modem link to bank Website: www.suntrust.com Other products: mortgage loan calculator, bulletin boards SouthTrust Bank Desktop banking: Personal account management and bill paying with Quicken, Quickbooks and Money software through direct modem link Website: www.southtrust.com Other products: customized pc banking for small businesses, mortgage calculator TO GET STARTED I Commercial software, like Windows, Quicken or Money I Or, bank-customized software I Hayes-compatible modem WORLD MARKETS FRANKFURT 0.6 Previous: 3229.48 2348.18 TOKYO 0.2 Previous: 18688.06 18722.00 TDR0KT0 .18 Previous: 6214.24 LGXDCN 0.3 Previous: 4341.0 6225.78 PRICE-FIXING CHARGES HOLIDAY ARCHER DANIELS: Archer Daniels Midland CLOSINGS: Co. is picking up the legal tab for two executives U.S. financial who left their posts shortly before being indicted markets, federal on price-fixing charges, the company said. government In a quarterly filing with the federal Securities offices and and Exchange Commission, ADM also revealed many banks will Mexican authorities are investigating whether be closed the "supermarket to the world" fixed prices in Monday, Feb.

that country. 17, in obser- ADM pleaded guilty in October to fixing vance of prices of citric acid and the livestock feed addi- Presidents Day. tive lysine. The company agreed to pay a $100 Foreign finan- million fine and cooperate with prosecutors in cial markets will related price-fixing cases. be open.

BANKRUPTCY RETAILER: Welcome Home a home-furnishings retailer operating under bankruptcy protection, said Friday it will close 36 unprofitable stores, or 20 percent of the stores it operates. Most of the stores slated to close are in outlet shopping centers. Welcome Home, based in Wilmington, N.C, operates 176 stores that sell home furnishings, accessories and gifts. "We are staying open," Greg Benedict, manager of the Welcome Home outlet at Sanibcl Factory Stores, said Friday. 4327.1 MARKETS: FranMuit DAX.

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