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10B Daily News – Saturday, March 17, 2012 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 *"no sales tax" in reference to discount given equal to the amount of calculated sales tax. NEW YORK (AP) — It was a mundane end to an electrifying week on the stock market. Stock indexes wavered indecisively between small gains and losses Friday before closing mixed. Ear- lier in the week, the Stan- dard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite index were on a tear, hitting lev- els that hadn't been reached in years. On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq both ended the day down. The Dow fell 20.14 points to 13,232.62. The Nasdaq fell 1.11 points to 3,055.26. The broader S&P 500 index edged up 1.57 points to 1,404.17. Despite Friday's losses, the three major indexes were all still up more than 2 percent for the week. The Dow had its first down day after seven straight gains, ending its longest winning streak since February 2011. Investors were weighing competing reports about the health of the U.S. econ- omy. A key measure of consumer sentiment came in lower than expected, and high gas prices continued to weigh down hopes about a recovery. On the plus side, prices for other goods, including food, stabilized. Telly Zachariades, a partner at The Valence Group investment bank, said the market appears to be on the upswing, even if it's marred by a few off- days. ''It's almost like today was a spring training game that ended up getting rained out,'' he said. Others think the mar- ket's rise earlier this week only masks underlying problems in the economy's fundamentals, like uncer- tainty over oil prices and tax policies and the coun- try's burgeoning deficit. ''The market is giving us a free pass on our unsus- tainable fiscal positions through the presidential election,'' said Barry Knapp, head of equity strategies at Barclays Capi- tal. ''But in 2013, we're going to have to deal with this.'' ''What we've seen SALE throughout the store US stocks waver, then end the day mixed Wall Street today,'' Knapp added, ''is a little bit of a warning sign.'' The market's back-and- forth pattern this week was caused partly by conflict- ing news about the econo- my. The University of Michigan's closely watched consumer senti- ment index came in below analysts' expectations, dri- ven by worries about rising gas prices. The Labor Department also noted that gas prices soared 6 percent in February. Many analysts think the higher gas prices will crimp the U.S. economy by shrinking the amount of money that people have to Local Flight Instructor Irwin Fust will conduct an Aviation ground School course for those interested in pursuing a Sport Pilot or Private Pilot License. The course will cover all of the topics necessary to take and pass the FAA written Knowledge Test. The course will cover all of the neces- sary elements: Airplanes and Aerodynamics, Aircraft spend on discretionary pur- chases. Gas is currently selling for an average of $3.83 per gallon in the U.S., 31 cents more than a month ago. The price of gas has spiked as Iran's nuclear program sows tension in the Middle East. Some ana- lysts also blame the Feder- Aviation Ground School Starts on March 22, 2012 engines, instruments and systems, Federal airspace, Airports, Air Traffic Control, Aviation weather and weather services, Navigation and Cross coun- try flight planning. The class begins on Thursday, March 22nd at 6:00pm at the Red Bluff Airport. To sign up for the course call Irwin Fust at 530-351-8203 or email him at ifust@digitalpath.net. al Reserve, which has pumped cheap money into the economy in an attempt to help it recover. That has also put pressure on the U.S. dollar. When the dol- lar falls in value, it takes more of them to buy the same amount of oil. The Labor Department also noted that inflation in other sectors seemed under control. Food prices, which have been rising, were unchanged for the first time in 19 months. Positive signs from bonds and the European markets added to the con- fusion about where the market was going. The yield on the 10-year Trea- sury continued to rise, reaching 2.30 percent late Friday compared with 2.03 percent the week before. That's the highest level since October and a sign that investors are more con- fident in the economy. Markets in Europe also fin- ished higher. The earlier part of the week was an exhilarating ride for the stock market. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 crossed key milestones. The Nasdaq closed above 3,000 for the first time since December 2000; The S&P closed above 1,400 for the first time since June 2008. On Tuesday, the Dow, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all recorded their biggest percentage gains of the year. Lift in Dave's Honor The euphoria was brought on by what investors saw as encourag- ing news about employ- ment and retail sales. Some cautioned that the improve- ments were incremental and unconvincing, driving short-term market surges but little else. ''It's becoming so much of a sound bite economy,'' said Ziad Abdelnour, CEO of private equity firm Blackhawk Partners. In the U.S., Bank of America led the Dow high- er, rising more than 6 per- cent after a report that its proportion of delinquent loans fell in February. Buf- falo Wild Wings fell more than 3 percent after a Wed- bush analyst lowered his rating to the equivalent of hold from buy, noting the high cost of wings.