Mar 07, 2007

Big day for Wall Street

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street rebounded Tuesday as investors were encouraged by a recovery on world markets and moved to recoup some of the big losses suffered in last week's sharp pullback. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 150 points.

Investors came off the sidelines to buy stocks that have languished in five turbulent sessions. The Dow made back about 26 percent of the ground it lost over the past week, and scored its highest one-day point gain since July 24.

Despite the rebound, questions remained about whether the correction that has swept around the globe has truly run its course. U.S. investors were still contending with fundamental economic issues, including a weaker than expected reading on fourth-quarter productivity and the dollar's vulnerability against the yen.

The advance Tuesday treated Wall Street traders to what had become a rare sight — the color green splashed across their computer screens that show stock prices, instead of last week's red. But, after being knocked about by erratic market shifts in recent sessions, there was still a sense this might not be the recovery everyone is waiting for.

“I don't think we should get too used to seeing all this green,” said Jay Suskind, head trader at Ryan Beck & Co. “This market feels to me like it doesn't have legs, there just doesn't seem to be that euphoria out there. There is still trepidation.”

The Dow rose 157.18, or 1.30 percent, to 12,207.59, after dropping 581 points over the past week. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 21.29, or 1.55 percent, at 1,395.41 in its biggest advance since July.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 44.46, or 1.90 percent, to 2,385.14. The tech-dominated index, which includes many companies considered young and risky compared to S&P 500 stocks, was particularly hard-hit in last week's slide. It was the Nasdaq's best one-day advance since Oct. 4.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was up 18.82, or 2.48 percent, at 778.88.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.29 billion shares, down from 3.44 billion shares on Monday.

Overseas, stock indexes posted healthy gains after plunging for the past week. According to the Dow Jones Wilshire Global Total Market Index, the world's markets had lost $3.1 trillion since Feb. 26 — with $1 trillion coming from the U.S. alone.

Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 1.22 percent Tuesday. At the close, Britain's FTSE 100 regained 1.32 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.92 percent, and France's CAC-40 was up 0.97 percent.

The gain in equities and lingering inflation worries sent prices falling in the bond market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.53 percent from 4.51 percent on Monday.

The dollar was up versus the yen, but mixed against other major currencies, recovering after several days of steep declines. The rebound in global stock prices created renewed interest in yen-funded carry trades. Gold prices also rose.

Oil prices rose as strategists pointed to robust demand for gasoline and falling petroleum inventories. The price of a barrel of light sweet crude rose 60 cents to $60.67 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Tuesday's rebound was the first bit of light in a week for a volatile market. It also comes despite data that continued to show weakness in housing and production, and triggered some talk of inflation.

The Labor Department reported that worker productivity rose at a modest annual rate of 1.6 percent in the fourth quarter while wages and benefits soared. The Commerce Department said factory orders fell 5.6 percent in January after a 2.6 percent increase the previous month.

Scott Fullman, director of investment strategy for Israel A. Englander & Co., said the market wasn't shrugging off the pair of government reports. Instead, he believes investors have just had enough — and that the sell-off was overdone.

“I'm not convinced the bull market is over, I just think the bull is tired and needs to take a break,” he said. “There are opportunities out there so long as we don't see a major slip in the economy. We have to concentrate on that, how earnings are going to go, and obviously what the Fed does.”

And there were no new indications on how policymakers feel about the future of interest rates, or the impact of inflationary pressures. Bernanke, during a speech in Hawaii, did not talk about rates in a prepared speech.

Instead, he became the latest public official to chime in about defaults and delinquencies in the mortgage industry. He urged Congress to bolster regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and suggested limiting their massive holdings to guard against any danger their debt poses to the overall economy.

Fannie Mae shares rose $1.71, or 3.2 percent, to $54.83, while Freddie Mac rose 75 cents to $62.11.

Financial stocks as a whole trended higher after being battered due to the market plunge. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said credit issues linked to the U.S. housing slump will be limited, easing concern about the potential of rising defaults in subprime loans.

Mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp., which shed almost 70 percent of its market value on Monday, rose 46 cents, or 10.1 percent, to $5.02. Fremont General Corp. added 89 cents, or 15.1 percent, to $6.78.

Citigroup Inc. rose $1.33, or 2.7 percent, to $50.58 after the biggest U.S. bank offered $10.8 billion to buy Japan's Nikko Cordial Corp. The deal would rank as the largest acquisition of a Japanese brokerage by a foreign company.

AAA Washington

AAA Washington, based in Bellevue, has added insurance agents at its Bellevue and Seattle offices. The new agents are Daniel Gelhaye at the Bellevue Office, David Mercer at the University District office and Thomas Torgerson at the Seattle office.

Ontela

Seattle-based Ontela will open a new headquarters office in Seattle's Smith Tower and has announced several management changes. Mike Arcuri joins Ontela as director of product management. Arcuri was with Microsoft. Charlie Butt joins Ontela as vice president of North American carrier sales. Butt was with InfoSpace and was a founding team member of InfoSpace Mobile. Barry Roitblat is vice president of engineering. He was with Good Technology. Ontela provides technology infrastructure to wireless carriers and image service providers.

Transportation Solutions

Richard Hutchinson has been named design discipline manager at TSI. Hutchinson is responsible for overseeing design projects, including traffic signals, roadway channelization and roadway lighting projects. Hutchinson will also provide technical expertise for roundabout designs.

Säzän Group

Säzän Group recently added Gary Guloy to its electrical engineering department. Guloy is a senior electrical designer with more than 20 years experience in electrical engineering, communications and technology design. Guloy has worked on 75 school projects in eight Washington school districts, and has managed communications and technology upgrades for Washington Mutual bank at 500 sites nationwide. He is currently working on renovation projects for the Tacoma School District, the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and the Polyclinic.

Hopper Dennis Jellison

Hopper Dennis Jellison has added six employees. The land use planning department added planning manager J. Andrew Nuttbrock. Nuttbrock has seven years of progressive planning and management experience. The CAD department added Mitch A. Giesbers as the newest CAD technician. Giesbers is a graduate of ITT Technical Institute and has 15 years of drafting experience. Natalie Morgan is the new engineering assistant, and Jenna Straub is the receptionist/administrative assistant. Shelly Nieman joined as the firm’s bookkeeper. J. Brandon Waggoner joined the firm’s Pasco office as a design technician.

The Berger Partnership

The Berger Partnership promoted Anita Madtes to senior project manager and Dave Knight, Maziar Sahihi and Rachael Watland to associate project manager. Madtes, landscape architect, was promoted to senior project manager. She is involved in the design and management of residential and large-scale projects, such as the Swedish Orthopedic Institute in Seattle and Westpark, a mixed-use development in Bremerton. Watland, an associate project manager, has focused on large-scale residential projects and urban mixed-use projects, such as 2201 9th Avenue and Fifth & Yesler in Seattle, and Thornton Place in the Northgate neighborhood. Knight’s current projects include Magnuson Park, Colman Center, Seattle Tennis Club and Port Gardner Wharf in Everett. Sahihi has worked on large public parks and commercial projects, such as the Sheraton Hotel and Nordstrom stores.

Mar 06, 2007

The Feary Group

The Fearey Group, a Seattle-based public relations firm, announced the promotion of Natalie Quick to vice president and director of public affairs and Traci Paulk to vice president. The firm also announced new hires. Sarah Haeger is an account supervisor, she was a member of Edelman's public affairs group in the New York office. Richelle Kerns is senior account executive, she worked as a media publications coordinator for Northwest Harvest. Kate Miller is account coordinator, she was an intern with The Feary Group.

Venture Bank

Venture Bank hired Dee Chism as customer service representative at the bank's Downtown Redmond Financial Center. Venture Bank has 17 office in four Western Washington Counties.

Mayes Testing Engineers

Mayes Testing Engineers promoted Kevin Graham from inspector to senior project manager in Everett. In his new role, Graham is providing management, overseeing inspection staff and supervising on-site inspections. He has 13 years of testing and inspection experience, including seven years with Mayes.

Lease Crutcher Lewis

Lease Crutcher Lewis added Rachel Rodrick, Angela Murphy, Tyler Small, Dillon Eugenio, Matt Robinson, Simon Kim and Danielle Morello. Rodrick is an executive assistant in the Tacoma office. She holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Washington State University and has been in the construction industry for one year. Murphy is an executive assistant in the Seattle office. Small is an accounts payable assistant in Seattle. He has three years of business experience and holds a bachelor's degree in Latin American studies and Spanish from the University of Washington. Eugenio is a project engineer. He holds a bachelor's degree in construction management from Brigham Young University and has held internship positions since 2004. Robinson is a project engineer. He has been in construction since 1995 and holds a bachelor's degree in architecture/project management from Portland State University and a master's degree in construction management from the UW. Kim is a project engineer. He has spent 13 years in construction, and holds bachelor's degrees in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, and civil engineering from Purdue University. Morello is an operations assistant. She has been in construction for five years, and holds a bachelor's degree in business management from WSU.

Northwest Erosion Control

Northwest Erosion Control added Monte Speyer as vice president. Speyer has 25 years of experience in the landscape industry, including management of the landscape division at one of the largest landscape companies in the Pacific Northwest.

Quadrant Homes

The National Association of Homebuilders named Quadrant Homes a top winner in its inaugural Safety Awards for Excellence program. Quadrant received the Single-Family Builder Safety Program of the Year award among builders of 1,000 or more homes per year.