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Show The Salt LakeTribune BUSINESS K2 Your MONEY Consumer News ord increases rebates on twoofits models Ford Motor Co, the world’s econd-largest automaker, in creased rebates by $500for the ‘| aurus sedan and Escape small port-utility to clear 2008 vehi clesoff dealer jots and make room for 2004 models. The rebates roseto $3,000 for the Taurus, Ford's biggest selling car, and to $2,000 for the iseape, spokesman Jim Cain eaid Tuesday, The Dearborn, Michigan-based company also extended a $2,000 rebate on the focus small ear to the SVT Fo cus, a version with a more pow erful engine. (rateway moves into (ligital music players POWAY, Calif. Gateway Inc. said Tuesday that it would begin selling its own portable digital music players. Gateway saidits player with 128 megabytes of storage space, enough for about two hours of music in MP3 format,is available immediately at its stores for $130. \ 256-megabyte version will be available Aug. 14 for $170. The player weighs 1.5 ounces and is i half-inch wide. It connects to computers through a USB port. Wednesday, August 6, 2003 Boom was mostly gloom for broker got offthe treadmill to run a Utah Utahns were still flocking toit. Between 1999 and 2001, state records show the number of licensed securities pizzeria, and finds life a lot calmer brokers jumped by nearly 25,000. Taking stock: A former trader Michaei Hines, Utah Division of Secu rities director, says the bull market is one By MEENA THIRUVENGADAM reason the industry was so popular. “Any- The Salt Lake Tribune bodycould be a good stock picker,” he said. Theimage of Charlie Sheen as a hotshot stockbroker in the movie “Wall Street” is burnedinto his mind. Jonny White’s own experience as a stockbroker in Texas, however, was different from the exciting image of expensive apartments, high-priced art and freeflowing cash he saw in the movie. His lot resembled Sheen's only in that he lived a life of stress-filled days worrying about It wasn’t until 2002 that the number of Utah brokers began to drop. That year, state records show nearly 12,000 fewer brokers compared with 2001. The number of brokerage firms dropped by nearly 500. Those numbers have kept plunging. Preliminary figures for 2003 show nearly 7,000 fewer brokers and nearly 100 fewer brokerage firms. Nationally, the numberof brokers reg- own and operate Lotsa Hotsa Pizza and Pasta in downtown Salt Lake City’s Cross- istered with the National Association of Securities Dealers rose from 1999 until 2001, but dropped by 11,000 in 2002. “There was a serious loss ofconfidence in the securities market,” Hines said. “Less roads Plaza. He has taken a pay cut with an than honest dealings by some brokerage increase in job duties since leaving the securities industry on New Year’s Eve of 1999, but to him the trade is worth it. It’s a lot nicer to work with people when he isn’t charged with turning their dollars into even more dollars. “It’s so easy now,”he said. For some in the stock brokerage business, it was all too easy then. Just two weeks after White left the business, the Dow Jones industrial average hit an alltime high of nearly 11,723. As the year 2000 progressed, however, the Dow began to plunge. Nowit is working its way back up, closing at 9036 Tuesday. When White left the business, many firms,” led to that loss of confidence. Hines said the equity analysts whotell brokers how to advise their clients sometimes were being told to give favorable other people’s money. Now 27, White’s life is calmer than it was a few years ago. He and wife Mindy ratings to stocks that didn’t deserve them. The industry went from profitable to a tough way to makea living. Hines said “slashed incomes” after the market started declining pushed many brokers out of the market. Now someof those brokers are coming back to the business, Hines said. White, though, has noplans to return. It wasn’t smaller paychecksthat pulled him out of the business. He said his paychecks were going up along with the level Utrau BUSINESS In brief 4Life Research LC of Sandy said it acquired the Korean subsidiary of Nutrition for Life inc. (NFLJ) for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition includes the Korean distributor organization, of his frustration. “I was really getting fed up,” he said. “The turmoil in the financial world made mefeel outof control.” When White left the industry, his 10 year love affair with financial industry NFLI inventories, equipment was fizzling. That “love and infatuation” began and other assets. 4Life, which develops and markets supplements derived from eggs and cow colostrum, also will take over the NFLI corporate offices in Seoul, Korea. when White was 12 and first saw the movie “Wall Street.” At 18, without a high school degree, he got his brekerage license and went to work. He says it took about a month of studying and a one-week prep course to get him past the exam. In his early 20s, White witnessed day trading takeoff. Already working his way out of being a stockbroker, White worked in technical support for CyBerCorp Inc., an online brokerage service now known as CyberTrader, around the time the company was swapped for Charles Schwab stock worth approximately $488 million. White credits day trading and the Internet for “opening people’s eyes to what stockbrokers really do.” As both gained more popularity, he said, “the big myth McDonald’s on Fridaycelebrated the grand opening ofa redesigned restaurantat 10881 S. Redwood Road, South Jordan. The contemporary redesign features a full dessert bar that includes Dippin’ Dots ice cream and waffle cone sundaes featuring Breyer’s ice cream. A cloud- covered PlayPlace offers a wackyball area staffed by a referee during peak tires. began to unfold.” The International Association of Business Communicators and the Greater Salt Lake Public Relations Society of America said Aug. 15 is the deadline for submissions for the 2003 Golden Spike awards recognizing excellence in communications and public relations in Utah. The entry form, submission rules and Brokers aren’t trained in understanding the market, he said. “What they really are is salespeople.” Whenhereceived a financial windfall in 1999 as a result ofthe CyberTrader swap, he sawit as a wayoutof the business. After a lengthy vacation, White put some of that money into Lotsa Hotsa. It has been four months, and the restaurantis barely breaking even. But White categories are available online at prefers the new business venture. “We are http://utah.iabe.com and http://www.slcprsa.org.Infor- really in control,”he said. meenat@sltrib.com mation: Jeanne Shaw,801-6069453 or Burt Jepson, 801-567-3238. Delta execs meet with pilots to maketcase efornecessity ofpay cuts WestValley City’s ClearOne CommunicationsInc. has be- gun shipmentof several new models of its DocCam Pro line. By LYNNE MAREK Bloomberg, News Delta Air Lines Inc.’s top executives are stepping up efforts to reduce pilots’ hourly pay 22 percent, meeting with employees at the carrier's U.S. bases to stress financial and competitive hurdles. Chief Executive Leo Mullin met with Atlanta and Cincinnati employees ‘Tuesday and will meet again today, including a session with Cincinnati pilots that follows President Fred Reid's meeting Friday with Atlanta pilots. Atlanta-basedDelta, which operates a hub in Salt Lake City, seeks to follow pilot pay cuts at larger rivals American Airlines and United Airlines, and fend off lower-cost Reid met Friday with a group of 150 pilots and their spouses to begin the executives’ tour of U.S. employee bases. The level of executive attention so early in the talks has surprised Delta’s Air Line Pilots Association, union spokesman Mike Pinho said. The turnout for the Reid right thing for the company,” meeting wasn’t very good for a Pinho said. The union repre- base with 4,000 pilots, he said. The pilots “want to do the sents 8,000 active Delta pilots and1,310 who havebeenlaidoff. The document cameras are designed for use with ClearOne, Polycom or Tandberg videoconferencing products. =}SprintStore’ The PCS Center The BIG PhoneSale. carriers, Talk about the best savings of the year. “Our danger lies in fact that the competition has either through bankruptcy or by standing on the brink of bankruptcy realigned their costs more closely with that of the low-cost carriers, who are quite busy taking over the industry,” Reid told pilots before the meetings. Delta in April askedthe pilots Save 50% and moreinstantly on select PCS Phones. union to consider a pay cut. The airline is vulnerable to competition from lower-cost carriers such as AirTran Holdings Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co. because its pilot costs are the industry’s highest and its annual operating expense exceeds rivals by as much as $700 million, said Goldman Sachs analyst Glenn lngel, who rates Delta a “hold.” | Maleie And save 25-50%on select accessories. 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Utah inn keepers, already weathering an economic downturn, hoped for an ongoing economic boost from the Winter Games — a so-called Olympic halo. Utah hotels managed to do well in 2002, even when the direct impact of the Games was factored out, but since January rates generally have been run- ning under last year’s figures, despite reduced nightly rates. glenwarchol@sltrib.com Certified PCS Vision™ Specialists, for complete demonstrations: =}SprintStore MURRAY LAYTON OREM SALT LAKE CITY 6556 S. State St 293-1900 852 W. Hill Fiekd Ad 444-1900 1587 S. State St. 225-6500 Ere 05 The PCS Center eee for foe delvery with phone purchase and actvation ee www.sprintpes.com =a 1-800-480-4PCS lr F 5 =o senate | 3 i ‘oi & a s ff OE 8 588 Seath "Taxes, surcharges (including a USF charge of 2.37% and cost recovery fees of $1.50), or other fees that vary by market, not included. Cost recovery fees are not taxes or government-required charges. 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