THE TICKER

SPIEGEL OFFERING: Spiegel completed a secondary public offering,selling 3.6 million shares of its Class A non-voting common stock for$18 a share. All shares were issued by the company, and the retailerhas authorized options on another 400,000 shares. Proceeds from theoffering will be used to reduce commercial paper debt. OMNIBANC ACCORD: Omnibanc Corp., which is planning to acquireIndependence Bank of Chicago, has signed a community lendingagreement with a coalition of four South Side community groups. Theagreement, which was drafted by the Woodstock Institute, calls forIndependence to make $25 million in residential and commercial loansin low- and moderate-income census tracts during the next five years.The groups negotiating the agreement included the Chicago RoselandCoalition for Community Control, the Chatham Coalition, the ChathamBusiness Association and the Woodlawn East Community and Neighbors.The acquisition requires regulatory approval. SAVINGS BONDS INCH UP: Sales of U.S. savings bonds rose 1.2 percentin November from the previous month but were 64.5 percent lower thana year ago when they carried a higher guaranteed interest rate, theTreasury said Tuesday. Sales totaled $787 million, up from $778million in October and a 22-month low of $746 million in September.But they were down from $2.22 billion a year ago. EMRO STATIONS: Emro Marketing Co. says it has signed a letter ofintent to acquire 36 gasoline stations in the Chicago area andNorthern Indiana from Martin Oil Marketing Ltd. of Alsip. Terms ofthe transaction, which is expected to be completed in the next fewmonths, were not disclosed. The majority of the outlets includeconvenience stores, along with gasoline and diesel fuel sales. Emro,of Enon, Ohio, is a subsidiary of Marathon Oil Co. PARAMOUNT BIDDERS: Putting itself up for grabs after a stingingcourt defeat, Paramount Communications Inc. said Tuesday its boardcalled for bidders to submit their best offers for the entertainmentgiant by Dec. 20. Cable company Viacom Inc. and home shoppingservice QVC Network Inc. have been fierce rivals in the $10 billionwar for Paramount. WHITMAN PURCHASE: Whitman Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed toacquire the Waterloo, Iowa, Pepsi-Cola franchise from PepsiCo forundisclosed terms. The Chicago-based company also said it has begunconstruction of a $7.5 million hot-fill bottling line at its Munster,Ind., plant for production of Lipton Original Tea. OIL-DRI EXPANSION: Oil-Dri Corp. of America plans a major expansionof its plant in Ripley, Miss., the Chicago-based firm announcedTuesday. The plant makes granular and powdered absorbents. Theproject is expected to be completed in the fall of 1994. EARNINGS Technology Solutions Co. on Tuesday reported second-quarter earningsof $841,000, or 7 cents per share, down 49 percent from the year-agoperiod. Sales fell 15 percent to $14.4 million. The Chicago-basedcomputer company took a $1.6 million charge in the quarter to coverthe consulting and separation agreements of former executives AlbertBeedie Jr. and Joyce Bennis. For the six months, the companyreported earnings of $2.6 million, or 22 cents per share, up 28percent. Sales fell 13 percent to $28.2 million.