Six companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, including heavyweights Hewlett-Packard Co. and Charles Schwab Corp., have decided to dual-list their stocks on the Nasdaq stock market, increasing the competition between the two equity markets. Taking advantage of a dual-listing program unveiled by Nasdaq officials Monday, computer maker Hewlett-Packard and financial giant Schwab were joined by petroleum firm Apache Corp., electronic design company Cadence Design Systems, financial services company Countrywide Financial and drugstore retailer Walgreen Co. The move gives investors the opportunity to find the best price on the two different markets.
Canada on Monday turned down an American proposal aimed at ending steep U.S. tariffs on imports of Canadian lumber. Provincial governments opposed the deal, which would have dropped the tariffs in exchange for a quota system limiting imports. The United States imported nearly $6 billion of it from Canada in 2002, about a third of the American market. The United States imposed stiff duties on imports from four Canadian provinces in May 2002 after accusing Canada of subsidizing the industry.
The company that manages the Internet’s core directory – and has been criticized for trying to take undue advantage of its position – has been hired to perform a similar role in the emerging system for radio-frequency identification tags on consumer products. VeriSign Inc. was selected as the directory manager by EPCglobal, a venture formed to administer the radio-frequency tagging network that is expected to begin replacing bar codes as product identifiers over the next decade.
Microsoft reversed a decision to stop support for some older Windows operating systems, saying Monday some customers in developing countries were not aware of the change. Support for Windows 98 and Windows 98 S.E. had been scheduled to expire Friday, and for Windows Millennium Edition on Dec. 31.
The Treasury Department sold three-month bills Monday at a discount rate of 0.87 percent, down from 0.92 percent last week. Six-month bills sold at a rate of 0.95 percent, down from 1.02 percent. The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors – 0.887 percent for three-month bills with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,978 and 0.97 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,952. The Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year constant maturity Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, was 1.29 percent, unchanged from the week before.
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