  Of all known persistent stellar-mass black hole candidates, only LMC X-1 and
LMC X-3 consistently show spectra that are dominated by a soft, thermal
component. We present results from long (170ksec) Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
(RXTE) observations of LMC X-1 and LMC X-3 made in 1996 December. The spectra
can be described by a multicolor disk blackbody plus an additional high-energy
power-law. Even though the spectra are very soft (Gamma is about 2.5), RXTE
detected a significant signal from LMC X-3 up to energies of 50keV, the hardest
energy at which the object was ever detected.
  Focusing on LMC X-3, we present results from the first year of an ongoing
monitoring campaign with RXTE which started in 1997 January. We show that the
appearance of the object changes considerably over its ~200d long cycle. This
variability can either be explained by periodic changes in the mass transfer
rate or by a precessing accretion disk analogous to Her X-1.
