The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 18

oEie Money B8 The Sun SUNDAY, November 22, 1987 ECONOMY Small businesses are booming; further improvements expected 6, A 1 3 NV I i WASHINGTON America's small businesses are having a banner year and expect further improvements in 1988 despite the stock market plunge, according to a survey released last week. Arthur Andersen the accounting firm, said it surveyed executives of 8,000 small businesses with annual sales of between $1 million and $120 million and found that the majority of companies had enjoyed increases in sales, profits and employment in the past year. The survey said nearly 70 percent of the companies reported an increase in sales over 1986 with half of those companies posting sales increases exceeding 10 percent. Almost 40 percent of the companies surveyed reported they had increased their employment this year while only 13 percent reported layoffs. For 1988, 46 percent of the companies surveyed said they expected to hire more people.

The growth in employment varied sharply among regions of the country. The Northeast, with its concentration of high-technology industries, had 46 percent of companies reporting increased employment levels this year. By comparison, only 27 percent of companies increased employment in the South, a region that has suffered because of depressed conditions in farming and energy. .11 xwr ur" HO 1 if I 1 'fAC Benz at the Southern California Auto 1 1 Lj a. "4 fyw' va 'ri i ALEXANDER GALLARDO The Sun Auction in Fontana.

auction I 1 Contractors: State's infrastructure lagging Auctioneer Kenneth Cullum, upper right, takes bids for a late-model Mercedes ales drive Fontana car Expansion to make auto mart largest of its kind in the world chased last Dec. 31, sold 53,000 cars and trucks last year to gross $9.7 million, according to GE. So far this year, about 70,000 vehicles have been sold, Corigliano said. The market for used cars and trucks varies by region, according to Corigliano. So auctions are a good way for dealers to sell cars that they would be hard pressed to sell on their lots.

They also can pick up cars that are better for their markets. "A convertible would do better out here than in the Midwest," he said. "In other states, dark interiors are big sellers and in California they don't do as well." Every Thursday, vehicles cue up in six See AUCTIONB7 that was formed two years ago as an offshoot of GE's auto leasing business. The auction is only open to auto dealers, who come to sell as ell as to buy. "We're like a hawkshop," said assistant general manager Jeff Corigliano.

"We never acquire any ownership interest in the cars that sell." Profits come from commissions and fees, paid by both the buyer and the seller, which are based on a scale that slides according to the value of a vehicle. The company declined to detail the fee structure. In addition, the auction charges for such optional services as auto detailing and deliveries. The Fontana auction, which GE pur By NENA BAKER Sun Assistant Business Editor FONTANA Tedd Rice, a car dealer from Walnut Creek, leaned against a wall, nodded half a doen times at an auctioneer and, with that, bought a 1985 silver Camaro for $7, 150. This particular sale and most others at the Southern California Auto Auction here the No.

1 volume holesale auction in the country took less than a minute to transact. Small wonder, considering on this day some 2,500 cars were consigned for sale at the auction, which is owned by GE Credit Auto Auctions, a division of General Electric Co. SACRAMENTO A builders' association said Friday construction of roadways, water systems and other services necessary for development in California is increasing, but not as fast as the population. Al Shankle, president of the Associated General Contractors of California, said infrastructure construction rose 11.3 percent to $3.2 billion in the first three quarters of 1987, largely due to new federal funds for transportation and water projects. Californians will buy SACRAMENTO Most Californians say the recent plunge in the stock market and the dollar's dropping value overseas won't change their spending habits, according to a new poll.

But the pollster said plans by 13 percent of consumers to put off major purchases or travel plans could be significant enough to create a mild recession. "You have to measure against those who had spending COMPANIES Coastal Commission IRVINE A compromise seaside development plan struck with the approval of environmentalists in Orange County has been approved by the state Coastal Commission. The decision clears the way for construction of four resort hotels interspersed among swanky shops and other commercial developments, two 18-hole golf courses and residential Fortune magazine picks 13 products of the year "Despite such increases, California's investment in infrastructure is not keeping pace with its expanding population growth," Shankle said. A 10-year projection made by a governor's task force in 1984 said California needs $7.8 billion in annual infrac-structure construction to catch up with its growth. The state's 27.3 million population is expected to jump 20.1 percent to to 32.8 million by the end of the century.

despite stock drops plans before the crash, which is about 47 percent," said Steve Teichner, hose firm conducted the poll for The Sacramento Bee, KCRA TV in Sacramento and KABC TV in Los Angeles. "Now, you find about one in four no longer have those plans." Another 47 percent of those surveyed said they hadn't intended to make any big-ticket purchases or vacation overseas anyway. Thirty-four said they don't intend to postpone purchases or trips. OKs Irvine project tracts on a parcel between Newport Beach and La-guna Beach. The commission's approval last week was the last major hurdle facing an Irvine Co.

development plan that was scaled dow to appease environmental groups. The planned Irvine Coast community would make use of the last open stretch of seaside property in the county. "Our experience with the world's only certified operational TCAS system has clearly indicated that it is now time to move from the evaluation phase into full operational use of collision avoidance systems," said William G. McGee, Piedmont's chairman, president and chief executive officer. The system was part of a joint venture between the FAA and two instrument manufacturers.

president of PSE consultant to the chairman after Gallagher's resignation takes effect on Jan. 19, 1988. Gallagher was responsible for overseeing the development of a new options trading floor in San Francisco and establishing a new location in Los Angeles. From Sun News Services A look at statistics from the Inland Empire economy distribution 1987 inn Piedmont Airlines planning collision devices Rise and fall of convicted ex-newsman NEW YORK (AP) R. Foster Winans recalls wearing sculled loafers and a $28 blazer the night a broker in a Brooks Brothers suit seduced him into regularly divulging his unpublished stock-market gossip column in a get-rich conspiracy.

That was in October 1983, when the former Wall Street Journal reporter lived in a fifth-floor Manhattan walkup, rode a subway to work, fretted about expenses with his live-in male lover and spent much time with people who made more in one stock trade than his entire salary. "It had occurred to me that a hole lot of people ere making a whole lot of money on Wall Street and that I wasn't one of them," Winans wrote later in a book about the conspiracy that shattered his life. The small-town Pennsylvania boy who dreamed of becoming a famous newsman now has a criminal fraud conviction, an 18-month prison term to serve, $200,000 in legal fees and the scorn and pity of colleagues who once respected him. His behavior helped focus at- WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. A computer system that alerts pilots of the potential for midair collisions will be installed in nearly half of Piedmont Airline's jets by 1991, Piedmont announced last week.

Piedmont took the lead among U.S. airlines in March when it installed the traffic-alert and collision avoidance systems, known as TCAS, on one of its Boeing 727 jets. MARKETS Gallagher resigns as SAN FRANCISCO James S. Gallagher has resigned as president of the Pacific Stock Exchange, the PSE's chairman and chief executive officer, Maurice Mann, reported. Gallagher, who has been president of the exchange since January 1981, will continue as a Dn numknyo Dy ine nUlTlDgrS Motor vehicle license fee By California county, Oct.

1 987 ft NEW YORK (AP) There are consumer whims, and there are company innovations, and occasionally the twain do meet. Fortune magazine has found 13 products unleashed in 1987 that neatly catered to buyer taste while boosting the bottom line for companies with the foresight to fill a subtle niche. Fortune's seventh annual Products of the Year, unveiled in the Dec. 7 issue, includes hat on the surface appears to be the mundane like cars and carpeting; the eyecatching, as in miniskirts; throwaway items like cameras and condoms, and perhaps best of all, a new credit card to pay for it all. The 1987 gallery of goods includes: Honda Motor Acura Legend Coupe.

Citing the car's sleek styling and quick handling, Fortune's vote echoed Motor Trend magazine, which named it the 1987 Import of the Year. Stainmaster Carpeting. This chemically treated carpet inhibits the pentration of common household liquids. E.I. Du Pont De Nemours Co.

is cleaning up as easily as carpet owners with this product, whose sales are expected to reach $400 million. the group's assets, is free to adjust the portfolio the way he sees fit. It is a system that apparently has worked well. Since the club formally organized almost five years ago, the value of its shares has gone from $40 to $97. The portfolio has never made less than 18 percent in a year.

John Snider, president of the Los Angeles Council of the National Association of Investment Clubs, said Staples' arrangement is unique. Normally, Snider said, club members are encouraged to take an active, direct role in deciding how their dollars are invested. "If Elgin gets run over by a truck, then what happens to the portfolio?" The Devore group is more like a private mutual fund than a club, Snider said. Staples said club members have a say on investment policy. They decide each year whether to retain him as manager of the portfolio.

The club also has monthly meetings to discuss its investments. Anyone can become a mem Disposable Cameras. Both Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. and Eastman Kodak Co.

introduced cameras in plastic boxes that can be dropped off at the developer. LifeStyle Condoms. Supposedly they're the strongest condoms on the market because of their unique molecular structure. Ansell Inc. calls its product "the killer condom" because it is lubricated with a deadly spermicide.

Interplak. This $99 electric toothbrush massages gums and removes twice as much plaque as ordinary brushing. Dental Research Corp. of Tucker, has sold over 400,000 Interplaks this year to aging baby boomers. DAT Machines.

Digital audio taping machines are selling for $1,400 each in Japan but are hard to come by in the U.S. because of strong lobbying efforts by record companies that claim the devices will hurt their industry. People Meters. These electronic audience-measuring devices that monitor viewing habits ill be used this fall by three major networks. Miniskirts.

They may not be as daring as their 1960s predecessors, but minis are outselling longer skirts 4-to-l in many stores. berall you need is a minimum 1 ,000 investment to toss into the ring. "We're probably the only club in the nation with that high an initial investment," Staples said. "This is a club for the more serious investor." Some are more serious than others, judging from their stakes. One member has about $175,000 invested in the club.

Several others have close to $100,000. Staples himself has about $90,000 in the portfolio. With so much at stake, Staples said he spends virtually all his waking hours reading business publications and watching television news and business shows. So where does he see the stock market headed? Staples expects a 100- to 200-point drop later this month and more shaky ground in December as individual investors sell stocks to take losses for tax purposes. "I really don't see much positive happening with the market until January.

So I'm more or less sitting on the sidelines. Perez is business editor ol The Sun. 1:1 R. Foster Winans Former Wall Street Journal reporter tention on Wall Street ethics, the temptation of greed and the inner workings of the Journal, which regards the Winans scandal as the worst crisis in the history of the prominent business newspaper. Up until last Monday, the 39-year-old Winans had been optimistic the Supreme Court would overturn his conviction on grounds that he broke no law, although he violated the Journal's employee conflict-of-interest code by using advance knowledge of the "Heard on the Street" col-See WINANSB7 percent from the market and then watched from the sidelines as the financial world went beserk.

Since then, the club's portfolio has gained about 2 percent in value. As manager of the portfolio, Staples, 64, is in a unique position. Most investment clubs hold regular meetings to decide how each dollar is invested. Not so ith Devore Investment Associates. Staples, a retired credit union manager, calls practically all the shots.

Although he works within the overall investment guidelines shaped by the club, Staples, who is paid a fee of about 4 percent of 1 Ait Rob y4 Perez Devore investment club beat Black Monday PCALIFORNIA 0 Elgin Staples can rest easy at night. Although the Devore resident still pores over all the financial periodicals he can get his hands on and is up at 4 a.m. each weekday to keep tabs on financial markets overseas, his mind is at ease. "I can relax and forget about the market for a little hile. I've taken almost all our funds out of stocks." Staples is secretary-treasurer of Devore Investment Associates, the largest investment club in California.

With a portfolio of about $1.5 million, the club's 75 members mainly San Bernardino County residents have turned over management of the portfolio to Staples. So far, he hasn't let them down. Two days before last month's disastrous 508-point market plunge, Staples decided to take 80 percent of the club's money out of stocks and harbor the funds in a safe money-market account. As trading began on Black Monday, Staples pulled another 10 rj $533,136 ($302,530 Oct. San Diego Riverside Orange Los Angeles $1,086,681 San Bernardino $459,289 Source: Office of the Controller.