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10B Daily News – Tuesday, March 13, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks struggled for direction Monday, unsure of what to make of news about Greece's debt work- out and eclectic announce- ments from a few well- known U.S. companies, such as mattress maker Sealy and luxury retailer Michael Kors. The Dow Jones industri- 'Schizophrenic' markets shrug off Greek deal Wall Street al average and the Standard & Poor's 500 ended the day higher, but the Nasdaq fell. Trading for the latter two indexes was choppy, as they wavered between small gains and losses for big chunks of the day. The Dow was the most stable, staying above Fri- day's close for all but a few minutes and closing up 37.69 points to 12,959.71. That marked four straight days of gains for the Dow, only the second time that has happened so far this year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq spent much of the morning and early after- noon in the red, then bounced between gains and losses for the rest of the day. The S&P ended the day vir- tually unchanged at day's end, up 0.22 points to 1,371.09. The Nasdaq fell 4.68 points to 2,983.66. ''The market is going to continue to feel very schiz- ophrenic,'' said Carol Pep- per, CEO and founder of Pepper International, a money management firm in New York. ''Some days it's depressed, some days it's excited, some days it's terri- fied.'' The 10 industry groups in the S&P 500 were even- ly split between gainers and losers. Utilities, which tend to attract nervous investors because of their relatively stability and generous divi- dends, rose the most. Mar- MON.-FRI. 8AM-6PM SAT. 8AM-5PM kets in Europe were also divided. Germany did bet- ter than others, rising 0.3 percent. Greece fell 2.5 per- cent. The news out of Europe seemed only to make pre- dictions on where the mar- ket is heading more foggy. Greece persuaded private investors to agree to big losses on their bond hold- ings, which should help the country stave off default later this month. But the country is still in a severe recession. Jeff Sica, president and chief investment officer of SICA Wealth Management in Morristown, N.J., said Greece is only a distraction from other deep-rooted problems throughout Europe, including brewing debt burdens in Portugal and Italy. Presidential elec- tions in France add another layer of uncertainty because a new leader could backpedal on fiscal com- mitments made by Presi- dent Nicolas Sarkozy. The struggling Euro- power that has pushed the world economy forward even as other countries flagged since 2008, announced that its growth slowed at the end of last year. LESS SCHWAB.... RED BLUFF 614 WALNUT ST. 530-529-1612 pean countries also can't cut spending, which they'll likely need to do to avoid bankruptcy, without anger- ing their citizens. On Sun- day, hundreds of thousands of people in Spain took to the streets in dozens of cities to protest cuts in gov- ernment spending. Greece has ''become a touchstone for people to say, 'Okay, things are get- ting better,''' Sica said. ''But they had to force pri- vate investors to take losses, the European Central Bank has swelled their balance sheet, it's going to be impossible to impose aus- terity on these countries. They haven't really accom- MORE BOB!!! 825 South Main St. 528-1688 Bob's Tire Center CORNING 1723 SOLANO ST. 530-824-4929 EASY CREDIT! 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(behind Food Maxx) Since 1950 530-527-2649 WE ACCEPT ALL INSURANCE COMPANIES Voted BEST in Tehama County '06, '07, '08, '09 & '10 We understand you have a choice, thank you for choosing us! plished a single thing except buying time.'' News about the U.S. economy has also been opaque, with every sign of economic recovery met with another sign of eco- nomic slowdown. While the unemployment rate falls, some analysts raise questions about the quality of the new jobs being creat- ed, and others worry that the high price of gas will prevent people from spend- ing on non-necessities, which is crucial to an eco- nomic recovery. The aver- age price for a gallon of gasoline jumped nearly a nickel over the weekend, to $3.80. China, the super- Large Ham Steak Breakfast The market's knee-jerk nature has been highlighted in the past two weeks. The Dow powered positive news headlines when it closed over 13,000 on Feb. 28, a milestone it hadn't reached since May 2008. But it's failed to close above that line again. On one day last week, it plum- meted more than 200 points over concerns about Greece, more than double its second-biggest loss so far this year. ''Everybody is stepping back and assessing whether the ride is over,'' Sica said. ''It's almost as if investors get to a point where they scratch their head and say, 'Does the market deserve to be here?''' Several companies made big moves: — Defibrillator maker Zoll Medical Corp. jumped 24 percent to $92.94 after its board agreed to a buyout offer of $93 per share from Japan's Asahi Kasei Corp. — Mattress maker Sealy Corp. climbed 6 per- cent after its second- largest shareholder, an investment firm called H Partners Management, asked the company to shuffle its board and blamed the company's problems on the largest shareholder, private equity firm KKR & Co. 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