Key Business Events of 1984

January - AT&T; breakup formally takes place. - Texaco proposes merger with Getty Oil. February - General Motors reports fourfold profit increase, and Ford reports first profit in four years. March - Gulf Oil accepts $13.2-billion takeover offer from Standard Oil of California. - Justice Department objections scuttle merger of U.S. Steel and National Steel. April - The Limited launches its ultimately unsuccessful bid to take over Carter Hawley Hale. - Crocker National’s loan problems become evident as bank firm reports $121-million first-quarter loss. May - Federal government organizes massive rescue plan for Continental Illinois Bank, only to follow up in July with an even more extensive bail-out. - Oil market shaken by assault on tankers in the Persian Gulf. - Walt Disney Productions faces takeover threat from financier Saul Steinberg, followed by threats from investor Irwin L. Jacobs and management shake-up. - Controversy erupts over milion-dollar bonuses paid to U.S. auto executives. June - Argentina and International Monetary Fund at loggerheads over economic austerity plan. Debt restructuring completed in December. - Citicorp names John Reed to succeed Walter Wriston as chairman and chief executive. July - GM makes major diversification move in agreeing to buy Electronic Data Systems. - Warner Communications sells loss-plagued Atari to computer executive Jack Tramiel. - ITT cuts its dividend by two-thirds and is haunted by takeover rumors late in the year. August - Financial Corp. of America restates second-quarter earnings to show a loss, touching off massive deposit withdrawals and prompting Chairman Charles Knapp to resign. September - Carnation agrees to be acquired by Nestle for $3 billion. - Resignation of Alan Hirschfield as chairman of 20th Century Fox is start of musical-chairs executive changes at major studios. - President Reagan says he’ll seek “voluntary” export quotas on imported steel rather than mandatory restraints. - IBM agrees to buy all of Rolm Corp. October - General Motors signs tentative contract with United Auto Workers. - OPEC contends with Nigeria’s price cut by cutting oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day. November - Bank of America and First National Bank of Chicago ordered by regulators to raise more capital. - Treasury Department proposes wide-ranging package of tax reform and simplification. December - Disaster from gas leak at Union Carbide plant in India raises questions about company’s future and chemical industry regulation. - T. Boone Pickens launches takeover bid for Phillips Petroleum and later withdraws after receiving what critics describe as “camoflaged greenmail.”