Press of Atlantic City from Atlantic City, New Jersey • 83

The Press, Sunday, October 16, 1988-Atlantic City, N.J. Marketplace Circus Circus sharpens up for Excalibur LAS VEGAS With the blast of a herald's trumpet and the jousting of knights in armour, Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc. celebrated its groundbreaking for Excalibur, the castlethemed resort to be built on 70 acres on the Las Vegas Strip at Tropicana Avenue. The estimated cost for the project is $260 to $290 million. Circus Circus Chairman Wil(liam G.

Bennett pulled Excalibur, King Arthur's enchanted sword, from a rock to signal the groundbreaking for the project that will take almost two years to complete: The resort will contain 100,000 square feet of casino space and a that will house arcades, movie theaters and other recreational activities. Circus Circus currently owns Vegas Wire By ELLIOT KRANE six casinos in Nevada; when Excalibur is completed, the corporation will operate about 10 percent of the hotel rooms in the state. The furor over the collection of Nazi-era memorabilia by Imperial Palace owner Ralph Engelstad 2,592.00 Percentage indicates change from Aug. 7, 1987 to Sept. 23, 1988 THE DOW 360.70 THEN 1987-88 2,090.68 AND NOW A comparison of 60 weekly closings of the Dow Jones industrial average shows how the crash of 1987 has followed and then diverged from the path of the 1929 disaster.

1929-30 Percentage indicates change from Aug. 17, 1929 to Oct. 4, 1930 211.10 Source: Dow Jones Inc. Dominguez Local analysts recall a sobering experience By MARY JO LAYTON Staff Writer Like their Wall Street counterparts, local stockbrokers remember Oct. 19, 1987 as a selling frenzy fueled by program trading and headlines predicting bread lines, bankruptcy and impending depression.

But most recall the events of Oct. 19 as the "crash that wasn't" or "a meltdown" or "a bloody nose, just a temporary knock down" as James Pappas, vice president of the Somers Pointbased Paine Webber, said. They were more inclined to measure the day in terms of ripples rather than waves. Although no one heralded the crash as a savior, most did agree that it sobered investors drunk with unreal expectations, reminded people of the necessity of longterm investing and generally "cleaned things up," as Joseph ludica, of the Ocean City-based Butcher Singer, Inc. said.

"I don't have investors coming in and buying the junk now," ludica said. "There's been a flight to safety," he said. "The real story of the crash lies in what didn't offers Kevin Packer, a vice-president and branch manager of the Atlantic region for Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. The trend, at the time of the crash, was to make comparisons to the stock market crash in 1929, Packer said. "This was terribly the U.S.

economy contracted by 9.9 percent. It contracted 7.7. percent in 1931 and in 1932, 14.8 percent, Packer said. "By contrast, the economic growth in 1988 has excelerated to 4.1 percent from the 2.9 percent of last year. And Dean Witters predicts' 2.1 percent growth in 1989, Packer said.

"If the market hadn't crashed, we would have probably have seen rising interest rates and a less cautious approach to spending patterns and the economy," said Robert F. Ursomarso, resident manager and assistant president of the Vineland-based Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner Smith Inc. "People would have been taking on more debt, borrowing more and not thinking about the consequences of that which would have caused a deeper recession," he said. Most stockbrokers faulted program trading as the biggest villain on Oct. 19.

Those interviewed explained that computers programmed to sell when shares dropped by a certain percentage See Analysts, Page G8 Where We've Gone for Medical Care Percent receiving treatment in this location in the past year: Private doctor's office Hospital Clinic or walk-in medical center Emergency room 02154 Source: survey Fear not, phobia help is available TIP: Phobias are the most common mental disorders in the United States, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Seven out of every hundred Americans have them. The institute has published a free booklet called "Useful Information Phobias and Panic" which contains a list of the specific fears on people have, and the treatments that are now available. For a free copy, send your name and address to the Consumer Information Center. Department 593T, Pueblo, Colo.

81009. is escalating in spite of the casino operator's apologies to this community in the local press. While the Gaming Control Board is investigating Engelstad's suitability as a casino owner, many groups such as the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the NAACP and the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas said that the Nazi collection was a glorification of Hitler and should be destroyed. After calling a news conference to explain his collection, Englestad requested five minutes of time from the local TV stations but was turned down by the three network affiliates. Although he wished to purchase the time, the TV channels said that they would not sell air time to an individual to express his views on a personal matter and that five-minute segments were not available.

Golden Nugget Chairman Steve Wynn, who recently purchased the Nevada Club Casino in Laughlin for $40 million, said that the city by the Colorado River will some day enjoy a population of 250,000. Wynn's purchase includes 13 acres on the Nevada side of the river and a 78-room motel operated by the casino across the river in Bullhead City, Ariz. Wynn expects to spend an additional $85 million to renovate the property he purchased, to give it a "Golden Nugget sort of feeling." Wynn expects to employ a total of 1,400 and generate about $25 million a year in profits from his Laughlin operation. Meanwhile, Wynn's Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas was busy paying multimillion dollar jackpots. On Saturday, Oct.

1, June Vavasseur of Los Angeles hit a progressive slot for $2.8 million and one week earlier, Vernon Renfro Jr. of Ocala, won $3.1 million. The $5 million jackpot is yet to be hit. Spanish Palms resort has been approved by the Clark County commissioners for a 320-room on 18.3 acres at Las Vegas Boulvard South and Shelbourne Avenue, several miles south of the strip. (Elliot Krane is a writer and restaurant editor for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.) America after the crash: confident but different Associated Press Nearly a year after the crash of 1987, Wall Street is still retrenching and recuperating.

The that doubled the number of jobs in the securities industry from 1979 to mid-1987 has given way to layoffs, mergers and cost-cutting. Stock prices have staged a modest rally this year, recovering some of the huge losses they suffered in the slide that culminated in a record 22.6 percent drop for the Dow Jones industrial average on Black Monday, Oct. 19. But there is hardly an economic story that isn't colored by what happened one year ago: 1982 remembered The last time the United States had a recession, bullets were flying in the Falkland Islands and Barney Clark was preparing to get the world's first artificial heart. That was 1982, ancient history by economists' standards.

In November of that year, the economy began a powerful expansion that is about to become the longest in U.S. peacetime history. Next month, barring calamity, the expansion will tie the peacetime record set under George Washington from mid-1790 to mid-1796. Economists do not foresee a recession until next year at the earliest. What saved the economy from disaster a year ago were three main things: The Federal Reserve, which flubbed its job in the 1930s, had the good sense this time to open the money spigots, allowing banks to borrow freely and preventing the financial system from going into gridlock.

Consumers kept spending, only slightly daunted by the crash. The economy withstood the crash because it was and is basically healthy. In October 1929, a recession had already begun. Consumers help out The predictions that followed the stock market crash were ominous: Frightened consumers would stop spending, and the economy would topple into recession. It didn't happen that way.

Americans paused briefly after the Oct. 19 debacle, but generally they've kept on spending, buying cars and going into debt over the past year. Overall, consumer outlays slipped immediately after the crash. During the fourth quarter, spending skidded 2.5 percent, according to figures released by the Crash (Continued from Page G1) Critics continue to say, however, that there has been more study than action, more talk about new rules than changes in the rules. In international cooperation.

The securities collapse was global. Not only are marketplaces interlinked electronically, but economies are interdependent. As a consequence, monetary, fiscal and trade policies of trading nations affect each other infinitely. While international cooperation, since the crash has been volatile at times, with arguments raging about trade restrictions, interest rate levels, credit conditions, fiscal policies and the like, there has been some improvement. The dollar has stabilized, for the time being at least.

American goods seem more competitive abroad, helping to correct the Mr. Action Purchase 'stained' by loveseat ucts, such as bonds or certificates of deposits, are in these days, while stocks considered too speculative are out. "There has been a change in appetite," said Marshall B. Front, an economist at Chicago-based Stein Roe Farnham, which manages about $11 billion in investment assets, including pension funds and individual accounts. "There's much greater emphasis on capital preservation and less emphasis on capital enhancement.

"It mirrors what's been going on in the stock market in general today. The volume is down; the level of interest seems to be quite After the crash, many investors, who had thought the onceroaring stock market invincible, rushed to put their money into what they considered safe havens: government-backed Treasury bonds and notes, CDs, less risky mutual funds or just plain savings accounts. The amount of stock the average American family held in its investment portfolio declined to 20.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 1987, from 25 percent the previous quarter, the peak of the bull market, according to Goldman Sachs Co. Net deposits in the nation's federally insured savings institutions soared by $12 billion the last three months of last year, government regulators found. During those same months, assets of money market mutual funds gained about $15 billion nationwide, compared to a loss of about $60 billion in equity fund assets, according to the Washingtonbased Investment Company Institute, which tracks mutual funds.

to recycle all its "transfiles," large containers of documents that the casino hotel is no longer required to keep in storage. The Casino Control Commission has already approved the plan, said Price. In addition, future plans call for desktop recycling containers for in-house memos and other paperwork, some of which must first be shredded. To even further motivate employees, Price has arranged to show a videotape in employee lounges of an ABC "20-20" segment called "'The Poisoning of America." As for the wet garbage generated by the bars and kitchens at Harrah's Marina, that's being recycled, too by the hogs at a farm in nearby Galloway Township. felt the chief worries today relate to the basic economic cycle.

Now completing its sixth year, the economic expansion would seem to be in old age. For that reason alone, forecasters find it convenient to consider recession a possibility but they are forever postponing it. The stock market itself gives little indication, but it is still watched for clues. True, a feeling exists that the big crash of 1987 seems to have been confined primarily within the securities industry itself. But economy watchers realize that no sector of domestic activity is isolated from the rest, any more than American, European or Asian economies are immune from each other's specific problems.

Stock markets still are viewed as long-term economic indicators. And, in spite of the mysteries it hides, none remains more scrutinized for clues than the American marketplace. We bought a living room set from a company near Philadephia. The set was supposed to include a sofa, loveseat and chair. They delivered only the sofa and chair.

I called the store and was told that the loveseat had a stain on it so they ordered another one and would deliver it as soon as it arrived. That was five months ago. Now they tell us they can't get the loveseat. If that's the case, we want them to take the sofa and chair back and refund our money. They want us to choose a coordinating loveseat.

We don't want that. We want all three pieces of furniture to match. Aren't we entitled to that? E.S., Pomona You sure are! After all, that's what you bought. We discussed this with the store manager and got him to see it way, too. Your sofa and chair were picked up by the store last week.

At the same time, you were given a refund check. Now you can buy your living room set from an area store. Tire wear My two front tires are Weld wearing terribly. They ARIA HEld have only 11,000 miles on them and they look ready for the trash heap. The salesman at the tire shop says it has nothing to do with the tires.

He says I'm to blame for keeping my car in bad condition. Have you ever heard Commerce Department in its report on the gross national prod- uct. But when the new year arrived, Americans loosened their purse strings. Consumer spending rose at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the first quarter, and had a 3 percent pickup during the second quarter. Another jolt Battle-scarred Wall Street professionals, their ranks thinned by last October's crash, could be i in for another jolt and more job losses.

The shock waves sent out a year ago by the stock panic are still being felt, as many skittish investors have stayed away from the market. That has brought a prolonged decline in profits for the nation's battered brokerage firms, intensifying pressure on them to let more employees go or leave more vacant jobs unfilled. Some 12,000 to 17,000 people in the securities industry 7.5 percent to 10 percent of the work force lost their jobs as a result of the 19 crash, according to some estimates. Few have found new jobs within the industry, and some experts predict that the number of unemployed could double before the situation stabilizes. Play it safe Less-risky money market accounts and fixed-income prod- Idea (Continued from Page G1) ed for a landfill.

"I just read the trash bills." Price said Harrah's Marina now sends an average of 40 bales of material to be recycled each week. His goal is 45 to 50 bales a week by the first of the year, and Price envisions changing some inhouse buying habits to accomplish that goal. He estimates that each casino generates approximately 4 million plastic coffee cups a year. Multiply that by 12 casinos, said Price, and the potential for recycling is great. "I hope they'll go to cardboard," he said.

Future plans call for the casino U.S. payments imbalance and creating a healthier trade relationship among nations. Central banks throughout the world are now intensely aware that they must coordinate economic policies, since it is known that the slightest problems left untended can cause financial aberrations detrimental to all. In expectations. Perhaps the biggest impact is still beyond easy statistical measurement.

It is a renewed sense of realism about expectations, a vigilance about economic management, a recognition that a stable economy requires restraints. Without a doubt, most Americans are less cocky about continued economic expansion, but it is difficult to prove. While almost certainly they are more risk-conscious, almost every survey shows them optimistic. While hardly a day goes by without people being reminded that another shoe could fall somewhere in the economy that there is a crash impact yet to be of anything so silly? W.K., Absecon That's not silly at all. In fact, the reason your tires are wearing the way they are is that you have front end problems.

You'd better have it taken care of quickly. Otherwise, you'll chew through even the most expensive tires in no time flat. Quite a card The major credit card I depend on the most has been invalidated. I have no idea why this was done. I never have allowed charges to build up on it.

I've always paid upon receipt of the statement. Now all of a sudden, this has happened. I've called the company about this and they've promised to look into it. I haven't heard back from them since this call. I need the credit card when I go on my next business trip next week.

Can you see to it that I have it? Margate A computer error caused you all this aggravation. It was straightened out a few days ago, and you received a call' from the credit card company's main headquarters assuring you of this. Good luck on your business trip. Reading course I sent $79.99 to a company for a reading improvement course they advertised on late-night TV. They cashed my check but have yet send me anything in return.

I'm very upset by this. Please help me get something. A.J., Pleasantville Send a copy of your canceled check to the company's customer relations department. They'll take it from there. Just in case something goes wrong, we've given you the company's toll-free phone number.

Mr. Action's column appears every day except Friday and Saturday. If you have a problem you think he can solve, write to Mr. Action, The Press, Devins Lane, Pleasantville, N.J. 08232.

Be sure to include your name, address and telephone number, Please do not send original documents you want returned. Mr. Action reads each letter he receives. He prints only those that are the most interesting or helpful. He regrets that he cannot respond individually to those letters not used..