Buy Shares

In the face of a tanking stock price and millions of dollars in losses, Bethlehem Steel Corp. is supporting a shareholder proposal that urges the steel maker to "take the lead in fostering major industry consolidation in the United States." Investment group Greenway Partners LP, which owns more than 8 million shares, or 6.9 percent, of Bethlehem's stock, has submitted a shareholder proposal that directs the steel maker's board to sell assets, buy back stock and pursue consolidation. The proposal was included in Bethlehem's proxy, which was filed yesterday.

A 113-year-old local commercial bakery mired in a family struggle over its future said yesterday that it had agreed to sell a majority stake to H&S Bakery Inc. Schmidt Baking Co. Inc. of Fullerton, which makes Blue Ribbon bread, will sell 58 percent of its shares to H&S; members of the Schmidt family will retain the balance. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The sale would consolidate control of the two largest commercial bakeries in the region, although John Paterakis Sr., president of H&S, said Schmidt would be operated independently of his company.

MANY PEOPLE ask if they should buy a stock when the company announces a stock split.Never buy a stock just because it's going to split. But if it's a good company and you buy the stock before it splits, you will save on commissions and probably show a profit, too.The AAII Journal says: "Stocks of firms that announce splits generally move higher at the time of the announcement, generally advancing 3.5 to 4.5 percent. Investors feel a split announcement is a positive signal about future earnings.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos said yesterday that he has no plans to purchase a share of the Ravens, contrary to a recent broadcast report.Ravens owner Art Modell is searching for an investor to pay at least $150 million for a minority share of the team. Modell, who needs to raise cash to pay off the franchise's debt, hopes to retain control of the team and will it to his children.Angelos, who has expressed interest in several NFL teams in the past, most recently the Washington Redskins, said he will not bid on the Ravens.

TOKYO -- Once again, the future of Japan's second-largest car maker, Nissan Motor Co., is uncertain.The announcement yesterday by DaimlerChrysler AG that it was walking away from negotiations about acquiring a controlling stake in Nissan and in its equally troubled truck-making affiliate, Nissan Diesel, ended one topic of speculation and debate only to renew another: What will happen to Nissan? With known debts of more than $20 billion, declining sales in two of its three main markets, a cost structure that is high even by Japanese standards and uncertain plans for fixing its problems, the outlook is grim.

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks rose yesterday in the lightest trading all year, as investors bought shares of companies expected to do well even if the Federal Reserve raises interest rates today.Procter & Gamble Co. and Coca-Cola Co. helped lead the Dow Jones industrial average up 34.21 to 7,228.88, about 105 points below Thursday's record close. The preference for consumer products companies reflected a belief that the economy will slow from the first quarter's blistering pace.The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.52 to 833.27.

NEW YORK -- Last year's initial public stock sales, among the riskiest of investments, generated 80 percent of investors' profit for the year the first time they traded, a new study has found.A review by Birinyi Associates Inc. of 1996's record $59.5 billion in initial public offerings showed that the stocks generated $7.99 billion of profit for investors, with $6.43 billion coming from the first trade.The report provides fresh evidence that investors who profit most from IPOs -- at least in the short term -- are those that get in on the ground floor.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- General Electric Co. said yesterday that it plans to split its stock 2-for-1, increase its dividend and buy back more shares because it's churning out record amounts of cash.The plans again reward investors who have held shares during the 15 years that Chairman and Chief Executive Jack Welch spent building General Electric's basket of businesses, which range from light bulbs to loans to jet engines.GE has almost reached Welch's long-stated goal of being No. 1 in everything it does.

TOKYO -- Gloomy economic news and the continuing plunge in the value of shares in a huge railroad the Japanese government recently sold to the public put the stock market into a tailspin yesterday, turning the steady slide of the past two weeks into a rout.The Nikkei index of 225 shares tumbled a dangerously wide 499.45 points yesterday, or 2.7 percent, to 18,125.71, much of that toward the end of the day.It was the second-worst fall for the market this year, and the wave of selling erased months of plodding gains.