The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page B006

COLORFINAL B6 THE PALM BEACH POST REAL NEWS STARTS HERE I SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 2013 Business Business editor: Carolyn DiPaolo (561) 820-3704 or pbbusinesspbpost.com palmbeachpost.combusiness THE MARKET REPORT DOW 13,649.70 53.68 NASDAQ 3,134.71 1,485.98 5.04 RUSSELL2000 892.80 2.44 GOPtalkfuels gains World equity and oil prices rebounded Friday after House Republican leaders said they would seek to break a budget impasse next week. The yen hit a 31-month low against the U.S. dollar. The Dow and the 500 posted five-year closing highs. 10-YR NOTE CRUDEOIL 1.84 $95.56 0.01 $0.07 FEDERAL RESERVE Transcripts a window on crisis ings about the extent of the Fed's powers and about the limits of appropriate action.

At times they even would reverse course, most importantly in standing by as Lehman Brothers collapsed the following year. But it is now widely accepted that their efforts helped to arrest the economic chaos unleashed by the financial crisis. The Fed's most dramatic steps did not begin until December 2007, when it created the Term Auction Facility, the first in a series of new programs intended to pump money into the financial system, and arranged to pump dollars into the European financial system in partnership with the European Central Bank. ing the growth of the broader economy. Just three days later, the Fed's chairman, Ben Bernan-ke, convened an early morning conference call to inform them that the central bank had been forced to start pumping money into a financial system that was suddenly seizing up.

More than five years later, the system remains heavily dependent on those pumps. "The market is not operating in a normal way," Ber-nanke said on that August call. "It's a question of market functioning, not a question of bailing anybody out. That's really where we are right now." The actual conversations from the Fed's meetings are released once a year after a five-year delay. With a wealth of detail beyond the terse statements and formal minutes issued in the hours and weeks after the meetings, the transcripts provide fresh insights into the debates, actions and judgment of policymakers.

August 2007 was the month that the Fed began its long transformation from somnolence to activism. Bernanke and his colleagues would continue to wrestle with misgiv- hiring at Jupiter center growing reputation, better economy led to 16 rise in 2012. Worries about financial markets dominated August 2007 meeting. By Binyamin Appelbaum NewYorkTimes WASHINGTON Federal Reserve officials in August 2007 remained skeptical that housing foreclosures could cause a financial crisis, just days before the Fed was jolted into action, according to transcripts that the central bank published Friday. Worries about the health of financial markets dominated a meeting of the Fed's policymaking committee Aug.

7, but officials decided there was not yet sufficient evidence that the problems were affect- Record El Sol director says By Jodie Wagner Palm Beach Post Staff Writer JUPITER A stronger economy and greater community awareness helped spur a record increase in the number of workers hired at the El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center last year. In all, 10,616 workers were hired in 2012, an increase of 16 percent in jobs filled, said Jocelyn Skolnik, the center's executive director. The previous high was 9,129 in 2011. El Sol, which opened in 2006, connects workers with employers and homeowners needing day labor. "It's a combination of things," Skolnik said of last year's hiring increase.

"It's a sign that the economy is improving, but there's also word out in the community that the workers at El Sol are very reliable. People come here to hire them because they know that they'll do a great job." The majority of jobs were temporary in nature, including landscaping, painting, moving, lawn care, house cleaning, shutter installation, construction and general labor, Skolnik said. About 10 percent of the workers hired were women. An average of 99 workers were available daily in 2012, with 30 percent being hired, up from 25 percent in 2011. The number of available workers has decreased in recent years, leading to a greater placement rate, Skolnik said.

"Back in 2008-2009, we used to get up to 200 more people," she said. "I think people are finding more permanent employment as well, so there's not such a high need for day labor. Less people are coming in. It's a great thing." The El Sol center, on Military Trail just south of Indi-antown Road, provides vocational training to improve workers' skills and increase BROADCASTING Miami International celebrates record year MIAMI Miami International Airport said 2012 was a record-breaking year for passenger and cargo traffic. Last year, the number of passengers increased 3 percent to 39.5 million, while cargo volume jumped 4.6 percent to 2.1 million tons.

International passengers showed the most growth, up 5.2 percent to 19.4 million; domestic travelers increased 1 percent to 20.1 million. The airport credited the growth to its largest carrier, American Airlines, adding six new routes as well as the addition of five new airlines, including LAN Colombia, Inter-jet, Dutch Antilles Express, Aeroflot and GOL. Norwegian Cruise Line jumps on 1st trade day EW YOR Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line shares skyrocketed in its first day as a publicly traded company. The cruise operator's stock gained $5.79, or 30.5 percent, to close at $24.79 on Friday. It opened at $25.10, 32 percent above the $19 offering price.

The pricing of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings initial public offering of about 23.5 million shares came in above the expected range of $16 to $18 per share. The offering raised about $446.5 million. Norwegian joins other publicly traded cruise operators including Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Carnival Corp. The company said in a regulatory filing that it plans to use the offering's net proceeds to redeem or prepay outstanding debt as well as pay expenses related to the IPO.

Overcharged batteries reviewed in 787 fires WASHINGTON It's likely that fires on two Boeing 787 Dreamliners were caused by overcharged lithium ion batteries, aviation safety and battery experts said Friday, pointing to developments in the investigation of the Boeing incidents as well as a battery fire in a business jet more than a year ago. An investigator in Japan, where a 787 made an emergency landing earlier this week, said the charred insides of the plane's lithium ion battery show the battery received voltage in excess of its design limits. GE earnings rise on emerging markets NEW YORK General Electric Co. has been re-energized. Performance at all of the conglomerate's industrial segments is improving thanks to cost cutting, a shift in strategy and growth in emerging markets.

GE, based in Fairfield, reported an operating profit per share of 44 cents, a penny higher than analysts polled by FactSet expected. Perhaps more importantly for shareholders, GE's revenue rose 4 percent to $39.3 billion and beat Wall Street expectations. Shares rose over 3 percent Friday. Treasury announces plan for GM stock WASHINGTON The U.S. Treasury Department says it has come up with a plan on how it will sell the remaining 300.1 million shares of stock it owns in General Motors.

The process will bring to an end almost four years of partial government ownership. Treasury said Friday that the plan would be implemented by JPMorgan Securities and Citigroup Global Markets, the financial firms it has hired to sell its remaining GM stock. Treasury would not reveal specific details of the sales plan or provide further information on timing. But officials said that the timing has not changed from December's announcement that it would sell the remaining stock shares over the next 12 to 15 months, subject to market conditions. Waiting day laborers practice English and listen to lessons about the life of the Rev.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Thursday at the El Sol Neighborhood Resource Center in Jupiter, photos by thomascordy the palm beach post A worker enters El Sol. The center, which opened in 2006, connects workers with employers and homeowners needing day labor. ELSOLBYTHE NUMBERS The number of workers hired at El Sol Resource Center has increased over the past three years.

JOBS AVAILABLE MEALS YEAR FILLED DAILYHIRED SERVED 2010 7,253 107 workers20 25,288 2011 9,129 103 workers25 22,295 2012 10,616 99 workers30 16,276 job opportunities by attracting more employers. Vocational training courses include landscaping, painting, pressure cleaning, housekeeping, hurricane shutter installation and others. Workers also have acquired on-the-job training in various skills such as roofing, painting and landscaping through volunteer work on Habitat for Humanity home construction and other community service improvement projects. "We're really focusing on vocational training right now, so the workers that come here have skills that they can offer their employers," Skolnik said. El Sol's day-labor service is open to all Jupiter residents, although employers come from throughout the county.

For information on hiring workers orvolunteeringatEISol.call (561) 745-9860 orgo online to www.friendsofelsol.org. jwagnerpbpost.com of directors heard this week. WXEL Public Broadcasting led by CEO Bernie Hen-neberg, obtained a $1.5 million loan to buy the Boynton Beach-based television station. In 2002, NBC agreed to pay WXEL $6.4 million to settle a signal conflict with NBC-owned Miami station WTVJ WXEL wants to renegotiate 2002 deal Channel 42 purchasing group might save up to $100,000 from lump-sum settlement with NBC. borrowed to buy the station.

That could save WXEL as much as $100,000 in interest, Greenbaum said. The board directed Greenbaum and board member Marta Batmasian to research the idea. The new 15-member board had an organizational meeting in November, but this was its first operational gathering, Henneberg said. ekleinbergpbpost.com Channel 6. NBC would pay $2 million of it immediately, about $300,000 in 2004 and the rest spread over 15 years.

At a directors' meeting last week at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, board member Thomas Greenbaum suggested WXEL negotiate with NBC to pay out some or all of the remainder about $1.45 million in a lump sum, which WXEL would use it to pay down the $1.5 million it By Eliot Kleinberg Palm Beach Post Staff Writer WEST PALM BEACH The group that bought public broadcasting station WXEL Channel 42 from Barry University this summer might renegotiate a loan and a lawsuit settlement to save as much as $100,000, its board Palm Beach Post wire reports.