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Show TRW PAGES f I i WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER u BUSINESS EDfTOR Local Industry I Graa Leong 0 gleongOherakfextra.com 344-29- 1 THE DOLLAR EXCHANGING News & notes Dow Jones Nasdaq S&P500 Gold Silver Final 10,342.79 82.59 Final Final 1,858.56 14.08 1,12130 Per ounce $397.40 -- $3.10 Per ounce $6,199 -- $0,354 ' 7.67 8, 2004 Yen Euro British pound , Canadtadolar .Mexican peso 110.60 109.39 $1.2098 $1.7743 I.2876 II.5850 $U071 $1.7759 12988 115070 Small Business Conditions for Utah small businesres improve Small business owners in Utah saw a slight improvement in operating conditions last month despite lingering concerns about terrorist attacks, the upcoming presidential elections in November and high gasoline and oil prices. The Zions Bank Small Business Index, a monthly gauge of economic activity in Utah, rose 'to 101.9 in August versus a revised Federal deficit hits record $422B .. 100.8 in July 2004. THE The index, which factors in data such as jobless rates and employment growth, measures the Utah economy relative to 1997, the base year assigned a number of 100. A higher index number means business conditions are more favorable. "Barring new terrorist attacks on American soil prior to the elections, we expect the modest economic pause during recent months to give way to more impressive U.S. economic growth and stronger job creation," said Jeff Thredgold, an economic consultant to Zions Bank. Utah's unemployment rate the most heavily weighted comwas estimated ponent of the Zions Bank Small Business Index at 4.8 percent last month, up from the prior month's 4.6 percent rate. A lower unemployment rate is a negative contributor to the index as it implies decreased access to Utah labor. Total Utah employment showed a gain of 20,500 jobs over the the strongest gain since 2000. This growth compares past year to a revised gain Of 20,200 jobs in the prior period. Job gains were found in both goods producing and service providing industries in August. The U.S. manufacturing sector added 22,000 new jobs in August, with construction adding 15,000 jobs. year-over-ye- Alan Fram will be the fourth consecutive ASSOCIATED PRESS year in which the budget's well below the 6 percent peak reached under President Reagan. Many economists consider that ratio to be the most important measure of the deficit's economic impact. "Our policies are working to create a stronger economy, more jobs and a lower deficit," said House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, The $422 billion deficit forecast should prove largely accurate because the government's budget year has less than four weeks feft, running through Sept. 30. It does not include money Bush wants to help Florida recover from recent hurricanes $2 billion he tainable course for the counSen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the Senate Budget Committee' top Democrat. But Republicans noted that the forecast was better than the try,'' said bot- tom line has worsened. They linked the figure to the 900,000 net job loss since Bush took office and the recent announcement that Medicare's premiums $477 billion deficit congressionwill rise by 17 percent next al analysts predicted in March and the $445 billion gap the year. "W. stands for wrong, the White House expected in July. Coupled with other recent data, wrong direction for America," said Democratic presidential they said, the new numbers were evidence of an improving candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, invoking Bush's economy. middle initial. The improvement is 'a sign of the economic growth that is A $422 billion deficit would be the biggest dollar amount in a result of President Bush's history, though the shortfalls of leadership on tax relief," said Tim Adams, policy director for World War II were larger when the figures are adjusted to the Bush campaign. even out the impact of inflation. Such a deficit would equal 3.6 "This is absolutely an unsus percent of the U.S. economy, WASHINGTON The federal deficit will swell to a record $422 billion this election year but fall short of even more dire forecasts, Congress' top budget analysts projected Tuesday in a report that became instant fod-- , der for both political parties. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the shortfall would shrink to $348 billion next year still the third worst ever in dollar terms. Last year's $375 billion gap was the previous record.. The projections reverberated on the campaign trail, where Democrats immediately criticized President Bush for what See DEFICIT, D5 Appointment Utah County Realtors group names new president Randy Smith was appointed the new president of the Utah County Association of Realtors for 2005. Smith, who was to have assumed his new position in January, instead took office last week because the association's former president, Scott Hansen, resigned to take a job in Iraq. Smith, broker and manager of REMAX in American Fork, has been in the real estate industry since 1992. The Utah County Association, which has more than 1,500 members, is the second-largelocal Realtor board in Utah. st Technology American Fork computer training company opens office in China Certiport Inc., an American Fork computer skills training company, opened an office in Shanghai, China, as part of its plans to expand into the Chinese market. The new office, Certiport China, will focus on developing ter- certification initiatives tiary education and government-sponsorein Shanghai Tony Liu was named general manager of the Shanghai office and reports to Certiport board member, Randy Pierson. "With the world's largest population, China represents a tremendous growth opportunity for our programs," said David Saedi, president and chief executive of Certiport. "China has emerged as an important global resource for talented workers and exceptional technology products and services," said Jerry Dai, senior consultant to Certiport China. "In this role, Chi--' nese students and workers will benefit greatly from these globally recognized credentials, which prove the computer skills most needed in school and the workplace." d National briefing Invesco, AIM, to pay millions due to allegations DENVER Invesco Funds Group and its sister company have agreed to pay $376.5 million and surrender $75 million in fees to settle state and federal allegations of improper trading, with the money mainly going to investors hurt by the practices. Denver-base- d Invesco will pay $32 million to resolve litigation alleging it permitted excessive market-timinactivity in its funds, Attorney General Ken Salazar said. Its sister company, AIM Advisors Inc. of Houston, agreed to pay $50 million. g OPEC Oil supplies growing faster than demand Oil prices fell Tuesday as OPECs president WASHINGTON said supplies were growing faster than demand and traders breathed easier knowing that petroleum production in the Gulf of Mexico did not suffer as a result of Hurricane Frances. Light crude for October delivery dropped 68 cents to settle at $43.31 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. " Stocks of local Interest Yesterday's performance of selected publicly traded companies SYM COMPANY AA AJcoakK 33.07 022 MYGN Atatson's,lnc 25.16 0.12 NATO ABS LAST CHANGE COMPANY SYM LAST CHANGE Myriad Genetics Nature's Sunshine Prod 16.54 40.41 15.98 0.97 19.59 0.17 NETM NetMaiagelnc 5.13 033 33.08 0.17 N0VL Nwellnc 5.94 0.15 Group 72.66 0.90 NUS 59.92 039 NWN Nu Skin Enterprises Northwest Nature Gas 2639 31.90 026 045 6.63 0.10 PCG PG&E 0.13 14.59 0.00 PFE Corp Pfcer.lnc 2938 AWE Amgenlnc America. West Hoktngs'B' AT&TVWretesSva 32.74 0,19 BAC Bank of America 4427 0.66 PTZ Pulitzer 48.73 023 BLL BAR 37.60 0.01 Q Qv 3.05 0.01 51.62 4136 0.10 152 26.69 0.49 ABX BarridcGok) AEP Amer Electric AJG Amer mil AMGN AWA Pwr CORP Inc Corrmtnurjons BIS BefcouthCorp 27.46 0.40 RO. Royal BN 39.00 020 037 S Seais,Roebudc C BantaCorp Citigroup Inc CBAG CRESTED CORP CMCSA Comcast CVX 4721 . SBC SBC 028 2803 0.00 SC0X SCO 036 99.92 DAL ChevronTexacoCorp Delta Air Lines DtS DNEX Irrtl Dutch Petrol ADR Oxnnxncations 3.89 0.04 SB Group Smrthlntl 5823 0.15 SKO Shopko Stores 17.88 4.48 038 SKYW SkyWestlnc 1431 067 0.19 030 Disney (Wak) Co 22.69 032 SNT0 DionexCorp 48.91 0.52 SPI ' SentoCorp Scottish Power ADS 28.98 0.09 EPJCY Encsson(LM)Tet'B'ADS 2630 432 STA StPadTrawtersGs 3438 006 ETR Entergy Corp 61.05 0.47 STR 0.12 1.69 0.05 SWFT 18.00 043 GDW FrariditCowy Golden West Questar Corp Swift Transportation 40.65 FC 021 SY Sybase He 13.07 0.13 GE Genl Electric 3334 0.50 T AT&T 15.06 HCA HCAInc 39.15 027 TGT HRB Block (H&RJ 48.79 0.15 UCL Target Corp Unocal Corp HSC Scheii (Henry) 65.101.10 026 032 020 058 JCP ' Penney aC) Nordstrom, WON Kronoslnc he LUV longwn fibre luurtTedmoiogies Southwest Artnes MOC MCKESSON MB) Merrl Lynch MTTY MITY LFB UJ MMSI MSfT MU , CORP Enterprises Merit Meckal Systems Microsoft Corp Mcron Technology 6.44 ' Corp 4625 ' 3831 United UNH UnitedHealth Group 68.18 1.14 USB Ui. Bancorp 30.00 '0.46 3920 0.58 016 017 USEG U O03 0.92 U5NA J. Energy Corp USAM Health Sciences 2.17 39.87 29.63 42.94 0.92 UTMD Utah 1935 045 055 034 84.97 2065 tamonRllyTr 12.96 039 VZ Medal Products Vtaizori Comruiotons 3.13 0.08 WEN Wendy's Ml 3623-03- 14.45 WFC Wefcfargo 59.72 WMT WaFMart Stores 5329 WM Weider Nutrition X Ui. Steel 2736 020 038 129 018 O40 025 11.12 Oil 3133 '53.13 1607 17.40 XR Xcel 7J0N Zions Bancorp Energy 40.40 kitTA' ' 17.65 045 004 003 O40 011 63.14 O50 3.18 38.51 Utah County development agency to be May Wong - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS H-Jf- SAN CARLOS, Calif . For shoppers, a new alphabet reigns, and it starts with E for electronics. With camera cefl phones and the Apple iPod music player topping student wish lists, some of the hottest gadgets have little to do with pen or paper, much less studying. Altogether, electronics are expected to account for about a quarter of the estimated $40 billion U.S. parents and students will spend on items this season, more than textbooks, clothing, shoes, and any other category, according to the National Retail Federation. Just consider daudine Bula Marasigan, a junior at the University of San Francisco. In the last three weeks, she spent about $4,000 on electronics, $760 for a digital camera and printer, $1,600 on a new computer, and hundreds more on an external hard drive, DVD player, small portable TV and other gear making the $630 she spent on textbooks look like a bargain And the wasn't even done she returned last week with her parents to the Best Buy store in San Carlos to get printer cartridges, a surge protector, and a stylish polka wrist rest for her computer keyboard. "It's really expensive to send a child to school nowadays," said her father, BQ1 Marasigan; shaking his head under the retailer's bright lights. Portable laptop computers are increasingly becoming a student staple, especially for Sates this the college-bounseason are up about 30 percent from last year, according to ; the NPD Group market research firm. Any models with built-i- Wi-F- i are grabbing sales, analysts say, but some of the most popular include the Dell Inspiron 700M, the Apple iBook, and the Averatec C3500 Convertible, which combines a laptop and tablet PC with a display that swivels and folds down so notes can be scribbled directly onto the screen like an notepad. More than anything, students are clamoring for things that wfll enhance their lifestyle, if not their grades. e,.. back-to-scho- privatized A Grace Leong DAILY The Utah County Commission on Tuesday proposed to privatize UVEDA, or the Utah Valley Economic Development Association, a county agency that helps promote economic development in UtahVaUey. If the plan goes forward UVEDA could be operated as a private entity starting in January 2005. The Utah County Commission voted 30 on Tuesday in favor of privatizing UVEDA in a move aimed at addressing county budget constraints, making the agency more accountable and improvkig its ability to attract and retain .businesses in the county. "Economic development in UtahVaUey hasn't been as dynamic as it should be despite its population size and the large core of technology businesses we have in the valley," said Russ Fothering-- . ham, who has headed UVEDA since he joined the agency in November 2002. "That's because we haven't had the participation of the private sector in the economic development effort. We need their leadership and support," he said. "We also have a very small county budget for economic development. I am in favor of privatization because that could help solve these two problems." Igniting the debate on privatization was UVEDA's request for more funding to hire more workers, Commissioner Steve White said. The agency had two workers. "That made us consider what's the most efficient way to get things done: privatize or add more workers," he said. On Tuesday, the commission approved UVEDA's request for $15,000 in back-to-scho- . Max Burtin tries out ' PAUL SAKUMAAssociated Press a Gateway Computers laptop as another Gateway laptop with cat Apple Computers Inc. iPod advertisements is in the background at a Best Buy consumer electronics store chain in San Carlos, Calif., on Tuesday. - And though cell phones are already popular, students are upgrading to newer camera-equippmodels with sharper color screens and loads of other features that are being heavily promoted by wireless carriers. Max Butin of Santa Clara, a third-yea- r student at Foothill CoUege, nones to replace his current cell phone with the hot new Motorola V710, which features a camera, Bluetooth wireless technology, video capture and playback and an MP3 player. Butin, who already has a Bluetooth-equippe- d Tungsten T3 handheld computer from palmOne Inc., said he'd like his MP3 music players edged out cell phones to lead the list of items students wanted before returning to school on a recent online survey of 300 junior high and high school students by research firm InsightEx- - ed n The portable player every one seems to want is Apple g Computer Inc's iPod. Retailers say they cannot keep enough in stock to meet demand. The iPod phenomenon makes up the huge majority in that category," said Stephen Baker, an analyst at NPD, which tracks retail store sales. "People used to bring foot-hig- h speakers to their dorm rooms, but now all their musk just fits m their back pocket." top-sellin- See ELECTRONICS, HERALD D5 See D5 UVEDA, 0.04 U0R 19.89 MdCorp JWN 10820 FW WBusMachres BM MTC CTA' Gadgets top student wish lists Questar mulls plans to refund $25M in processing costs Grace Leong DAILY HERALD and May 2004 after the state decided the utility didn't use the most method to process natural gas. Last week, ' the commission approved a re--' quest by Questar Gas tore- move gas processing fees from its customers' future bills start-- v tag this month, ? y :$ : Several recomrnendafions were proposed Tuesday, including refunds in the form of , ' , vouchers and billing credits, said June Orchard, spokes' woman for the commission. ' The commission plans to cost-effecti- Questar Gas considered proposals Tuesday from several government entities and consumer advocacy groups on Y how $25 million in gas processing costs collected by the utility b to be refunded tons Utah ; .. customers. That Mows the Utah Public Service Commission's decision last week ordering Questar Gas to refund $25 million in rates collected between June 1999 . ' - , 221 ' schedule hearings in the next few weeks to find the best option to refund Questar's customers. The new gas rates may take effect as early as Oct. 1, she said. Questar Gas has 750,000 residential, commercial and in-dustrial customers in Utah including 115,000 in Utah County. '( The simplest way would be to CredS the $25 million back into the customers' gas costs ' balancing account since that's where the processing costs were collected, said Chad ' Jones, Questar's spokesman. , "That wfll have the effect of lowering customers' monthly gas bill by an amount that's yet to be determined." Other proposals include ghr-in- g a billing credit to each of Questar's customers, but that's deemed too complicated by the utility, he said. "It will be a horrendous bookkeeping task to figure out what each customer, especially residential ani commercial customers, will get in credit," ' See QUESTAR, D5 |