Optimistic investors spur Wall Street rebound
BY MICHAEL J. MARTINEZ
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — After three weeks
of losses, Wall Street enjoyed a
modest rebound Monday as in
vestors felt more optimistic about
the economy and indulged in a little
bargain hunting. Falling oil prices
and a strengthening dollar also
spurred buying.
The economy was foremost on in
vestors’ minds. There was no signif
icant economic data released Mon
day, so the market was anxiously
awaiting gross domestic product
and employment numbers later in
the week and hoping they would
show the economy has enough
strength to overcome inflation.
“Investors are cautiously putting
a foot back into the market," said
Michael Sheldon, chief market
strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC.
“The market appears to be oversold,
but investors are going to need
some sort of catalyst, whether it’s
falling oil prices or earnings or some
of the economic data coming out
this week, to really have the confi
dence to push things higher.”
The Dow Jones industrial average
rose 42.78, or 0.41 percent, to
10,485.65. The Dow has fallen more
than 1 percent in each of the last
three weeks.
Broader stock indicators also
gained ground. The Standard &
Poor’s 500 index was up 2.86, or 0.24
percent, at 1,174.28, and the Nasdaq
composite index climbed 1.46, or
0.07 percent, to 1,992.52.
Investors were also cheered as the
dollar gained ground against most ma
jor currencies, including the euro and
the Japanese yen. Crude oil futures
continued their slow retreat, with a
barrel of light crude settling at $54.05,
down 79 cents, on the New York Mer
cantile Exchange.
Bonds continued their slide, with
the yield on the 10-year Treasury note
rising to 4.64 percent, up from 4.59
percent late Thursday. Gold prices fell
as the dollar gained strength.
Analysts noted that Monday’s move
up came on very light volume, and the
advance-decline lines showed declin
es slightly ahead. And while the ener
gy sector continued to lead the market
for 2005, it was the worst performer of
the month so far, despite record crude
oil prices.
“Take that into consideration and
you’re looking at a very short-term,
leaderless kind of selling reprieve,
more than anything else,” said Bri
an Belski, market strategist at Piper
Jaffray. “People aren’t jumping up
and down to get back in to this mar
ket. They’re going to want to see a
few days of solid upside and some
real leadership from any sector, re
ally, before they get back in.”
GM was downgraded to “reduce”
from “neutral” by UBS due to con
cerns over the automaker’s liquidity
and questions about whether the
company could continue offering div
Dollars to the euro and the yen
The dollar rose against the euro and yen in Monday trading.
Dollars to one euro Dollars to one yen
SOURCE: Telerate
AP
idends to its shareholders. GM
slipped 93 cents to $28.37.
American International Group
climbed $1.41 to $57.02 after The Wall
Street Journal reported online that the
company would sever ties with former
Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.
The news came as the Securities and
Exchange Commission reportedly sub
poenaed as many as 12 A1G execu
tives. State and federal regulators are
investigating whether AIG used ques
tionable insurance transactions to ille
gally bolster its earnings reports.
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IN BRIEF
Petroleum leak threatens
city's drinking water
HAUSER, Idaho — Soil samples in
dicate there is petroleum contamina
tion outside the layers of containment
for a leaky refueling depot outside of
Hauser, the Idaho state Department of
Environmental Quality said.
The contamination was found
where leak-detection pipes penetrated
the underground liners meant to pro
tect the Rathdrum Prairie aquifer from
contamination from the Burlington
Northern Santa Fe railway station.
The station sits atop the source of
drinking water for 400,000 people in
northern Idaho and Washington state.
In tests conducted after the depot
was shut down last month by court or
der, most of the liner seals around the
detection pipes failed.
Marc Kalbaugh, site remediation
manager for the environmental depart
ment, said samples are being tested as
BNSF continues to repair the depot.
BNSF is eliminating 81 places where
pipes penetrated underground liners in
three main areas of the depot,
Kalbaugh said Friday. The liners will
still be penetrated in about 20 places,
but the boot seals will be replaced.
Burlington Northern spokesman
Gus Melonas said the railroad has 90
contractors working to repair the de
pot. The company is sealing cracks in
concrete containment basins with an
industrial resin and covering the con
crete surfaces with several layers of
sealant, he said.
“We’re confident we will not expe
rience a similar situation in the future,”
he said.
Barry Rosenberg, director of the
Kootenai Environmental Alliance, said
BNSF’s track record at the new site is
unacceptable.
“You can patch cracks, but that
means the underlying foundation is
still cracked,” he said. “If they are glu
ing this thing together, will it hold up
under the weight of these locomotives
and trains?”
Rand Wichman, Kootenai County
planning director, said BNSF is push
ing to be done with repairs before an
April 1 hearing in District Court.
Kalbaugh said much work remains
to be done before the hearing.
“A lot of different things have to be
demonstrated to the state with regard
to the integrity of the facility,” he said.
“It’s all being reviewed. ”
— The Associated Press
Pact: Agreement aims to assist
students in career aspirations
Continued from page 1
dean of marketing, recruitment and
college advancement for Southwest
ern Community College.
Sources who were familiar with the
program said the pact will save stu
dents money by allowing them to take
advantage of lower community college
tuition rates. In addition, access to ad
visers on both campuses should in
crease the number of community col
lege credits that students can use to
satisfy requirements for a bachelor’s
degree and give a students a better
idea of which courses will transfer, po
tentially enabling students to avoid
spending more time and money on
higher education than is necessary.
“Students can begin to work with
advisors (early on) to plan the trans
fer process,” Pitts said.
Johnson said a similar agreement
between Oregon State University and
Southwestern has been successful
and allows students to focus more on
studies and career aspirations.
Pitts added that the partnership
with Southwestern makes sense be
cause it increases the options avail
able to students who want to study at
the University-operated Institute of
Marine Biology in Charleston.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski commented
on the pact in a press release.
“This program represents the future
of Oregon’s community colleges and
four-year universities,” he said in the
release. “If we truly want Oregon to be
a leader in innovation and technology,
we must establish the kind of collabo
ration and partnerships exemplified
through this new program across the
state so that we can expand access and
strengthen educational opportunities
for all Oregonians”
According to the press release,
new freshmen and transfer students
are eligible to apply for the Dual
Admission and Enrollment Pro
gram. Students must meet all
applicable University admission or
transfer requirements. Co-enrolled
students may use credits from both
institutions to meet financial
aid qualifications.
“It’s a good deal all around,” John
son said. “We’re looking forward to
working with the University.”
•Miamcherry@dailyememld.com