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Contributors
Marce Edwards is the business editor. She has been at The News Tribune for seven years and has written about technology and big businesses in the South Sound including Weyerhaeuser and Russell. Before moving to Tacoma, she worked at The Idaho Statesman in Boise. She is a Northwest native who likes to garden and refuses to use an umbrella. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and two kids.
C.R. Roberts is a Tacoma native. Before joining The News Tribune, he worked as a freelance writer and part-time cowhand on a cattle ranch in Northern Idaho. He writes about small business, personal finance and other business issues.
John Gillie writes about the aerospace and airline industries, commercial development and consumer issues. During his 30-year-tenure at The News Tribune he has covered issues as diverse as the Native American fishing rights disputes, crime and the courts, the wood products industry and energy. He lived in Tacoma with his family for 25 years, but now lives in Kent because his wife heads a five-state non-profit foundation headquartered in Ballard, and it only seemed a sensible compromise to make considering their workplaces are 40 miles apart.
Kelly Kearsley has been a business reporter at The News Tribune since 2005. She covers the Port of Tacoma and international trade. Being born and raised in Spokane she’s used to living in cities with inferiority complexes and, in fact, prefers it. Prior to working at The News Tribune, she spent three years as a reporter for The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon and another year working stints for The Associated Press and Seattle Times. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University. She lives in Tacoma with her husband and miniature schnauzer.
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Never mind the Dow and the S&P 500, our own Russell indexes are soaring.
For the second day in a row, both the large-cap Russell 1000 Index and the broad-market Russell 3000 Index reached record highs at close.
The large-cap Russell 1000 index reached a new high of 820.89, which was a 1.86 point increase from its previous record close on Thursday. Overall, the index is up 6.97 percent year-to-date and 2.94 percent during the past seven years.
The broad market Russell 3000 Index closed at 875.77 today, after reaching an all-time intraday high of 877.91. The index is up 6.85 percent year-to-date and 3.37 percent over the past seven years.
Dennis Jensen, senior research analyst at Russell noted that the recent record levels for the Russell 3000 looks quite different from its previous high points seven years ago in March of 2000. “The P/E ratio of 30.7 back in 2000 definitely didn’t look as favorable as the current ratio of 17.8,” he said. “This time the record valuation is accompanied by an attractive P/E.”.
With four months behind us, it looks like 2007 is going to be strong for small business. So says the latest survey from SurePayroll, a nationwide payroll outsourcing firm.
April was the fifth consecutive month for hiring growth at small businesses, the data say, and year-to-date hiring has increased 1.5 percent. That's on track for a 4.6% gain for the year – quite good considering that 2006 saw a 0.2% decline.
Otherwise, SurePayroll reports that the average small business salary nationwide stands at $31,892, the highest since the firm began tracking the figure. April's increase of 0.3% was the twentieth consecutive increase in salary growth.
And the West continues to lead the country in both hiring and salary growth.
We're awaiting state data, and will post it as soon as it comes in.
Is there no end to this? Probably not.
The average price of gasoline in Tacoma hit another record on Friday, up more than two cents to $3.378 for a gallon of regular. On Thursday, the record was $3.353. And who can forget those salad days of early April, when the price hit $3.006?
Count yourself lucky that you aren’t buying gas in Bellingham, where Friday’s price hit a statewide high of $3.438, according to AAA. And then there’s Spokane, which hit $3.180 – also a record, but still the state’s lowest price.
Ominously, the nationwide average price climbed above $3 for the first time on Friday, up to $3.012 from $2.991. And except for the seafood, this is probably a good time not to be in San Francisco, where a gallon broke the $3.60 ceiling, settling at $3.602 for those drivers filling up for the weekend.
Shares of Yahoo! Inc., owner of the second most-used Internet search engine, jumped the most in 4 1/2 years after the New York Post said Microsoft Corp. wants to buy the company.
Yahoo shares surged $4.48 to $32.66 at 12:37 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, Bloomberg News reported.
Microsoft asked to start talks about a takeover and is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on a possible deal, the newspaper said, citing unidentified bankers. An agreement would triple its share of the U.S. search market to 38.4 percent, rivaling Google Inc.’s 48.3 percent, according to ComScore Inc.
Weyerhaeuser Co. said this morning it rebounded to a profit in the first quarter after combining its fine paper business with Montreal-based paper maker Domtar Inc, the Associated Press reported.
For the 13 weeks ended April 1, Weyerhaeuser said it earned $755 million, or $3.22 per share, compared with a loss of $576 million, or $2.34 per share, during the comparable period last year.
Weyerhaeuser also said it was considering whether to sell its containerboard, packaging and recycling business.
The company said its board of directors had authorized a broad strategic review of that division, and that alternatives included continuing to run that part of the business, selling it off or a combination.
If the company decides to sell its containerboard business and experiences success similar to the Domtar deal, Weyerhaeuser could pass significant gains on to shareholders, said Steven Chercover, an analyst with D.A. Davidson & Co.
