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10A Daily News – Saturday, February 2, 2013 Furniture Depot 235 So. Main St., Red Bluff 527-1657 MON.-FRI. 9:00-6:00 SAT. 9:00-5:00 • SUN. 11:00-5:00 Dow ends above 14,000 for 1st time since Oct. 2007 NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow closed above 14,000 on Friday for the first time in more than five years. It was just a number on a board, but it was enough to raise the hopes of some investors and cause others concern about an overheated market. And it brought reminders of a different era, back before the financial crisis rocked the world economy. The Dow Jones industrial average, a stock market index that is traditionally considered a benchmark for how the entire market is faring, had been rising fairly steadily for about a month. On Friday, strong auto sales and optimism about U.S. job growth pushed it over the mark. The Dow is now just 155 points away from Wall Street its record close. ''There's a newfound enthusiasm for the equity market,'' said Jim Russell, regional investment director at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis. But market watchers were divided over what the Dow milestone — or even what a potential new alltime high — really means. To some, it's an important booster to hearts and minds, making investors feel optimistic and thus more willing to bet on the market. ''The Dow touching 14,000, it matters psychologically,'' said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. ''It attracts smaller investors.'' LASSEN STEAK HOUSE 2nd Annual Super Bowl Chili Cook-Off Free to enter: Be there by 1pm with one pot of cooked chili To judge: Cost is $5.00, and includes one domestic draft beer Judging will be from 2 – 3pm, Winner announced at half-time We will also have other Super Bowl Specials!! Call 530 839-2838 Corner of Hwy 99E & Vina Rd. And those investors, until recently, had been shying away from stocks. Since April 2011, investors have pulled more cash out of U.S. stock mutual funds than they've put in, according to the Investment Company Institute. In the past three weeks, though, that trend has reversed, which could make January the first month in nearly two years where stock-focused funds had a net inflow. To others, though, Dow 14,000 is nothing but a number, a sign more of how traders feel than of the economy. And it's not even the best number on the board, some traders say. Professional investors usually pay more heed to the Standard & Poor's main index, which tracks 500 companies compared to the Dow's 30. The Dow garners attention, they say, because it's more familiar to the general public. Joe Gordon, managing partner at Gordon Asset Management in North Carolina, wasn't celebrating Friday. He thinks the gains won't last. The fact that small investors are finally piling back in the stock market, he said, is not a reason for optimism but a sign that it's getting overhyped and due to fall. After the Dow hit its alltime record in 2007, it fell almost steadily for the next year and a half. It lost more than half its value before starting to tick back up again. ''It is good trivia to talk about on television and the radio,'' Gordon said, referring to the 14,000 mark. ''It's meaningless to the average professional.'' And for workers still unemployed by the financial crisis, he said, ''it really means nothing to them.'' If there is dissent over what Dow 14,000 signifies, what's undeniable is that it's a rarefied event. Before Friday, the Dow had closed above 14,000 just nine times in its history. The first time was in July 2007; the rest were in October of that year. The last time the Dow closed that mark was Oct. 12, 2007, when it settled at 14,093.08. It had reached its all-time record, 14,164.53, three days before that. For the average investor, that was all back when the stock market still seemed like a party. Housing prices were starting to ebb but hadn't cratered. Jobs were abundant, with unemployment at 4.7 percent — compared to 7.9 percent now. Lehman Brothers still existed. So did Bear Stearns, Wachovia and Washington Mutual. The Dow ended Friday 149.21 points higher to 14,009.79. The other indexes were also up. The S&P 500 rose 15.06 to 1,513.17. The Nasdaq composite index was up 36.97 to 3,179.10. Auto sales helped. Toyota, Ford, GM and Chrysler all reported double-digit gains for January. The government jobs report that pushed stocks forward was mixed, but traders chose to focus on the positive. The U.S. said it added 157,000 jobs in January, which was in line with expectations. Unemployment inched up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December. Many economists, though, were encouraged because the government now says that hiring over the past year was higher than originally thought. The jobs number is based on a survey of employers. The unemployment rate is based on a separate survey of households, which is why they can diverge. Authorities release photo of accused Ala. abductor MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) — The standoff between police and a gunman accused of holding a kindergartner hostage in an underground bunker dragged into a fourth day on Friday, as authorities sought to continue delicate conversations with the man through a pipe and worked to safely end the tense situation. Police said Jimmy Lee Dykes shot a school bus driver to death, grabbed a 5year-old boy off the bus and slipped into an underground bunker on his property in rural Alabama, where the pair has been since Tuesday. There were signs the standoff could go on: the shelter has electricity, food, TV, and $ 7,44757 police have delivered the boy's medication through a 4-inch-wide ventilation pipe leading to the bunker. Hostage negotiators have used the pipe to talk to the gunman, but investigators have been tightlipped about their conversations. Former FBI hostage negotiator Clint Van Zandt said authorities at the scene shouldn't rush to resolve the standoff as long as they are confident that the boy is unharmed. He cautioned against any drastic measures, such as cutting the electricity or putting sleep gas inside the bunker because it could agitate Dykes. The negotiator should try to ease Dykes' anxieties over what will happen when the standoff ends, and refer to both the boy and Dykes by their first names to humanize them, he said. ''I want to give him a reason to come out,'' Van Zandt said, ''and my reason is, 'You didn't mean that to happen. It was unintentional. It could have happened to anyone. It was an accident. People have accidents, Jimmy Lee. It's not that big a thing. You and I can work that out.''' in Discount Coupons were published last week in the DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY … And that does not Count all the ads offering percentage discounts, two-for-ones and Free-with-Purchase offers! This ad co-sponsored by DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY Don't miss a Day of it! Subscribe Today 527-2151 It pays for itself. With Guest Performers: Gloria Muñoz Maricela Ibarra from LA, CA Vanessa Del Fierro from San Antonio Tx El Original Grupo Ladino Symplemente Bella Live Mariachi Saturday, February 2, 2013 7:00 PM Tickets $20 Adults, $10 age 12 and Under Tickets available at Sky River Music, Wink Fashion Salon, at the door, and online at www.statetheatreredbluff.com