Daily News from New York, New York • 146

QUOTH OF THE DAY We will try to evolve It Into a South Street Seaport with a Latino flavor. NICK LUGO, wh will oversea the renovation and promotion of La Marqueta in East Harlem DAILlf oSJ IrDtTDDD mM i'l ua i Saatchi to have room to grow in News Building By PETER GRANT Hill V1! HlHHi since the office opened. The old Saatchi Saatchi, which changed its name to Cordiant in the aftermath of Saatcbi's departure, has annual billings of about $11 billion. The expansion of Saatchi puts to rest, for now, some of the skepticism that was expressed when Maurice and his brother Charles Saatchi started their own firm with seven other former Saatchi Saatchi ex Daily News Business Writer Saatchi, the startup advertising firm formed last year following the spectacular blowup of Saatchi Saatchi, is about to increase the size of its New York office. The London-based firm, which was founded by Maurice Saatchi after he was ousted as chairman of the world's fifth-largest agency, is I'll; 5811 pTtMl Hit "I Hit AIL 7.

Si 9 rnrn: mymr 3c ecutives who jumped ship. At that time, many advertising industry experts expressed doubt the fledgling firm would be able to compete in New York, where the Saat-chi name does not carry as much weight as it does in London. close to leasing more than 15,000 square feet in The News Building at 220 E. 42d St For the past year, the firm's New York office, which handles such accounts as British Airways and Qan-tas Airways, had been operating out of about 1.1 INI 'nJ MAT III IllftHlflll llll Ill lllilllllnf aSaftq BRANCHING OUT: Saatchi is close to leasing 15,000 square feet in The News Building on E. 42d St 4,000 square feet of sublet space at 304 E.

45th St But it has needed more space as it has picked up such big-ticket clients as" Packard Bell Electronics. "We started with four people and now we have over 20," said Don Morrison, a partner in the firm's New York office. Morrison declined to comment on billings by the New York office but said they have grown by five times It was partly out-of-control expansion at Saatchi Saatchi that led to the boardroom coup that sent Maurice packing. In 1970, Maurice and Charles founded the original London firm, which soon grew into a global powerhouse. But their advertising empire began to unravel under the $1 billion in debt they accumulated in the go-go 1980s.

Real estate industry sources said that Saatchi's lease includes op- buying Manhattan office property, is scheduled to close later this month on its $115 million acquisition of the 37-floor building. The building, the home of the Daily News until the paper moved to W. 33d St. in 1995, is charging rents in the low $30 per square foot range, according to brokers. Stellar and JAG officials could not be reached for comment tions that would allow it to triple in size during the course of the deal.

Morrison declined to comment on the specific transaction, but he said that the deal will give the firm "the growth opportunities we need." The deal will be the first lease to be concluded by the new owners of The News Building, a group including Stellar Management and JAG Capital. That group, which has been active Even after some stomach-settling inflation data, the best news last week may have been that mutual fund investors have decided to come home. The welcome revelation that new stock fund investments soared to $19 billion last month after slumping to $5.8 billion a month earlier might be a major reason why the Dow Jones Industrial Average has more than erased all of July's fretful plunge despite some largely similar circumstances. Earlier this past week, in fact the market was On -Main Street market's no bull DES MOINES Wall Street's bull market, almost written off as the summer began, is roaring back and setting reeords. But does it matter on Main Street? "It doesn't make any difference to me," retiree Alice Cross said while she waited for a bus in downtown Des Moines as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rising to new heights.

Asked if she owns stocks, she replied, "Are you kidding? Why do you think I'm riding the bus?" But many Americans own stock either assembling their own portfolio, or leaving the investment management decisions to mutual funds or retirement plans. The Securities and Exchange Commission estimates one in three U.S. families has money in the stock market Some are thrilled with the stunning rebound from the July sell-off. "We've been doing great the past two years," said Maryanne Shamoun, 31, of Kennesaw, Ga. "We invest 17 of my husband's income in the stock market I think that will show you the effect it would have on our lives," she said.

And with the new optimism on Wall Street she said she's ready to take even more risks on stocks. "Ninety-five per cent of our stocks are high risk, maybe 5 medium risk," Shamoun said. Asked if she's ready to call her broker and invest anew, she replied, "We would probably dump the lower-risk stocks and buy more higher-risk ones." The Associated Press 'ft 5 it treated to a grim reminder of that period when Motorola, which helped set off July's tumble with a poor earnings report, warned of another disappointing quarter. But the market held its collective head high this time, as if there was nowhere to go but up. With all that gloom and doom in the air, why have so many individual investors decided that the stock market is a safe bet after all? Many investors chose to ride out the market's recent gyrations with nary a buy or sell.

That sort of stoicism may have helped avert a steeper drop in July. But the accompanying slowdown in new stock fund investments a key driving force behind the bull market of this year and last may have worried money managers more than any inflationary storm cloud. "The bears were convinced the little guy would get scared and stuff it in the mattress," said William Le-fevre, senior market analyst at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum. "There was enough stuff going on in July to scare anybody. But they didn't sell so much as step over to the sidelines and satisfy themselves that the long-term picture hadn't changed." And faced with discouraging alternatives an index of U.S.

government bond funds tracked by Lip-per Analytical Services is down 2.19 this year, while an index of growth stock funds is up 6.53 many stock fund investors may have decided there are few greener pastures. "There's money on the sidelines coming into mutual funds and other areas that has to be put to work, and it's creating a positive atmosphere," said Ricky Harrington, technical analyst at Interstate-Johnson Lane in Charlotte, N.C. "The strength of the market can be traced more to technical factors than to -r -The Associated Press -j AN OUTSTANDING FINANCIAL OPPORTUNITY IN THE PREPAID CELLULAR WIRELESS SERVICE INDUSTRY bw us irum men mn Bitot a hui liireami mi nil cram nsssn En HUM! nIit. KMBUl XCV FBI miTSiO Bvnuum Miasm riara SIX SDCm UCAT1CHS UY.P. (ESS) 764-4221 TUES.

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