NATION // Business in Brief

SPRINT STOCK DIVES NEW YORK - The stock of Sprint Corp. plunged in active tradingThursday after the phone company surprised Wall Street with a warningthat its fourth-quarter earnings from its long distance businesswould be lower than the previous quarter. The stock dropped $3.621/2 to $27.12 1/2 on the New York Stock Exchange. CHIPMAKERS IN JAPAN WASHINGTON - Foreign manufacturers of computer chips enjoyed anunprecedented 23.2 percent share of the Japanese market in the thirdquarter, breaking a previous record set in the second quarter, theClinton administration said Thursday. It was the fourth consecutivequarter that foreign share of the Japanese semiconductor markettopped the critical 20 percent level set in an agreement signed bythe two countries in 1991. JOBLESS BENEFIT CLAIMS DIP WASHINGTON - New claims for jobless benefits slipped last week fromthe previous week's level, the Labor Department said Thursday.Claims fell to 323,000 in the week ended Dec. 10 from the previousweek's revised 324,000. The four-week average number of claims,regarded as a more accurate barometer of the jobs market than themore-volatile weekly figure, slipped to 322,750 from a revised323,500 the previous week. BANKS POST RECORD PROFITS WASHINGTON - Bank earnings set a record in the third quarter andprofits are headed for another record year, the government saidThursday. Third-quarter earnings were $11.8 billion, as thenation's 10,700 commercial banks benefitted from rising interestrates and increased loans. Illinois banks earned $499 million in thequarter, a 7.6 percent drop from a year ago. NOW IT'S COLUMNIST BILL SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates is getting his ownnewspaper column. A notice from the New York Times SyndicateThursday said Gates' twice-monthly column will begin Jan. 3. AMicrosoft spokeswoman said the columns would be developed andapproved by Gates but written by Microsoft employees. "He won'tactually be sitting down and keying the columns himself," said thespokeswoman. "What he'll do is more or less dictate." NEW FUND RULES PROPOSED NEW YORK - Seeking to protect investors, the National Association ofSecurities Dealers said Thursday it proposed new rules on the sale ofmutual funds in banks and savings and loans. The new regulationswould include requiring NASD-member broker-dealers to clearlydisclose what they are selling, inform consumers that the funds arenot insured and require that the broker-dealer set up a clearly,separate location within a bank. The proposals must be reviewed bythe Securities and Exchange Commission and could be adopted as soonas late summer or early fall of 1995. MORTGAGE RATES RISE WASHINGTON - Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose toan average of 9.25 percent this week, the highest in 3 1/4 years, theFederal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. said Thursday. The rate on 15-yearloans also rose, to 8.89 percent.