Sun-News from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina • 29

YOUR MONEY Indulgences really add up Cut out daily habits to save for big expenses PACE 20 MYRTLE BEACH SOUTH CAROLINA MYRTLEBEACHONLINECOM I SATURDAY AUGUST 4 2007 itoefe plunge over credit turmoil Investors skittish as economic indicators show some weakness day triple digit gains in the Dow This time the catalyst for a aharp skid waa Bear Stearns Coa Chief Financial Officer Sam Molinaro who described turmoil in the credit market as the worst seen In 22 years Stocks started the day with a decline after the government said jobs growth was not as strong as expected last month and a trade group reported that the service sector grew By Tim Paradis 77ie Associated Press new you Wall Street plunged anew Friday hurtling the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 280 pointa after commenta from a mqjor invest ment bank exacerbated the feara of a widening credit crunch The drop at more than 2 percent in major stock market indexes waa a fitting end to two volatile weeks on Wall Street and followed back-to-back late- LEAP IN LODGING COASTAL' BUSINESS MYRTLE BEACH New NBC affiliate to renovate building The new NBC affiliate that plans to go on air by fall 2008 will set up ahop on Frontage Road in Myrtle Beach in the former SunCom building Raycom TV Broadcasting which will operate WMBF Channel 32 will renovate the 17 200-squa re-foot building at 918 Frontage Road install needed towers and move in next year is a lot of construction that needs to go said Barry Ahrendt acting marketing manager The station plans to start airing only digitally in time for the fall 2008 TV season Ted Fortenberry is the general manager The coverage area will extend about 20 miles up the NC coast 15 miles south of the Georgetown County line and west to cover Kingstree Lake City Pamplico Marion andLatta The channel will replace the signal on the Grand Strand of the Raycom-owned affiliates in Columbia and Wilmington NC MYRTLE BEACH Plantation Federal elects new leader David Torris has been elected president and CEO of Plantation Federal Bank Torris 42 joined Plantation parent company Plantation Financial Corp in August 2006 as executive vice president and chief operating officer Since then the bank has added an office in Myrtle Beach and the assets have grown to $360 million thrilled at the potential that our bank has in the Grand Strand Torris said recent expansion into the Myrtle Beach area has gone welL Our management team looks forward to the growth opportunities for serving customers across our region and Torris also has been elected as a director of the board of Plantation Federal Bank and a director of Plantation Financial Corp of Pawleys Island Torris replaces Ed Norris who was one of the bank's founders in 1986 and was recently named chairman of the board of Plantation Financial Corp the parent company Norris also will continue as chairman of Plantation Federal Bank NORTH MYRTLE BEACH Construction starts on McKenzie Square Construction has begun on McKenzie Square a 13500-square-foot retail center on SC 90 at the intersection of the Main Street Connector Sales and Leasing will occupy 9000 square feet Space ranging from 1500 to 4500 square feet is also planned said Van Davenport broker-in-charge of HB Springs Co Heal Estate which is leasing the property From staff wire reports I EXTRA kVtc 1 ECONOMY Mw l'-v 1 A 'i Experts keep eye on Hate loan parents The downturn of the subprlme mortgage market is drawings 4 attention to sometimes' overlooked gauges on the -s economy's dashboard: thosaW £1 that trade consumers falling I behind on loan Economic forecasters Investors and the Federal Reserve are I watching closely to see whether -y delinquencies are spreading' 1 beyond subprime borrowers I Find out more on the OiOne Extras page at MyrtleBoachOnltnocom SECTION 0 think there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty with regard to the credit markets and how the situation will ultimately arid Mike Malone trading analyst at Cowen Sc Co Investors remain worried that problems in aubprime mortgages those made to borrowers with poor credit See STOCKS I Page 3D MB fan parkin top 10 By Dawn Bryant The Sun News The Grand only remaining amusement park Family Kingdom is among the top 10 parks in the country outside of Orlando Fla beating out the likes of Coney Island and Carowinds in rankings by Family Kingdom at Fourth Avenue North in Myrtle Be ach took the No 5 Spot in rankings from the travel Web rite which allows travelers to post reviews of the places they stay eat and play and share photos and atories of their trips Hershey Park in Hershey Pa took the top spot followed by Busch Gardena in Tampa Fla and Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky Ohio Coney Island ranked ninth followed by Carowinds in Charlotte NC rounding out the top 10 The rankings based on popularity among travelers and input from editors of wwwtrip advisorcom said Family Kingdom well worth the See PARK Page 3D CRUDE OIL Terex Corp: B240 -456 Photos by Tim Hoix 77m Sun New A construction vehicle working on a small rental community on Second Avenue 5outh Is overshadowed by high-rise hotel Private ipmdng on hotel construction Is 65 percent ahead of last year the US Census Bureau saye at a slower pace than expected in July Then credit concerns which have dogged investors for months and have roiled markets since last week forther weighed on investor sentiment Standard Ratings Services lowered its credit outlook on Bear Stearns to negative from stable because of the investment exposure to the distressed mortgage and corporate buyout markets Deciding just what technological extras to put into a vehicle is a tough call for global automakers One analyst predicts that more than half of ail new vehicles within seven years will be equipped with technologies that will connect them with the outside world Yet automakers have to find a way to deliver interactive See AUTOS Page 3D SO-YRBOND -24838 Scant: 3753 -172 Sonoco: 3491 -151 South Financial: 2071 -078 Synovus Financial: 2650 -150 Construction of hotels booming After hiatus solid industry growth returns A crane looms over the Farris wheel at Family Kingdom Amusement Park In Myrtle Beech ByRyanChittum The Watt Street Journal After several years of dormancy hotel construction ia ramping up again as developers hope to benefit from rising room rates Private spending on hotel construction is running 65 percent ahead of last year according to the UfL Census In May private hotel construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $278 billion compared with $168 billion in 2006 If construction spending continues at current levels 2007 will smash the industry record set in 2000 when construction spending totaled an inflation-adjusted $195 billion Lodging construction spending ia growing at a much higher rate than other commercial real-estate See HOTELS Page 3D At a glance The lump in hotel construction playing out across the US Is most pronounced in the southeast The region which indudes Florida Georgia Virginia and the Carolinas typically outpaces others because of Its numerous resort locations By the numbers Rates for hotel rooms have been rising between 6 percent and 8 percent annually for the past four yean In June average hotel room rates were $10124 Automakers race to add high-tech gizmos Not all buyers care By JeffKaroub The Associated Press Detroit As automakers race to inject as many safety secur ity navigation and entertainment features aa possible into their vehicles they ought to keep Mark Evangelista in mind MARKET WATCH vd bed tfocfci AVX Coqu 1550 -045 BEAT: 3751 -150 Beach First: 1756 -050 Btaegraen: 713 -055 for bells whistles The 45-year-old owner of a suburban Detroit construction company says had General Motors OnStar service installed on several cars but he subscribed or taken advantage of its one-year-free trial On a Denali he just leased for hia business he skipped the in- NASDAQ W64'73 SAP BOO First Financial: 2659 -157 Golf Trust of America: 245 -055 HMom 4414 -052 Honeywefc 5818 -057 daah navigation system because it would have added $25 to his monthly payment and limited the CD player to holding just one disc instead of six And forget about plugging an iPod into his ride someday not dummies we know how to use the Evangelista says driving' a car is driving a car for us not about playing AMEX RUSSELL 3552 1-2857 75542 International Paper: 3456 -073 McCfatdiy 2279-045 IMienoU: 2553 -124 Marriott: 4155 -176 CROSSWORD 6D INSIDE STOCKS 1 4D MONEY MARKETS 1 5D COMICS 6-7D TV8D.