Bargain hunt boosts stocks

NEW YORK--Placing some bets despite their worries about theeconomy, bargain-hunting investors sent the stock market highertoday.

Wall Street enjoyed a healthy advance in late afternoon tradingafter investors spent much of the day pondering what the FederalReserve's seventh interest rate cut will mean for the economy.Investors had been alternating between worries that the quarter-point cut, which the Fed made Tuesday, won't be enough toreinvigorate the economy and relief that the central bank didn'tthink the economy needed a bigger cut.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 102.76, or 1 percent, at10,276.90.

"Contrary sentiment was getting overdone," said …

Spanish guard Rubio will join Timberwolves

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Ricky Rubio is making his long-awaited move to the NBA and will join the Minnesota Timberwolves next season.

The highly touted 20-year-old Spanish guard ended two years of speculation Friday, saying "I have finally decided to start the journey" to the NBA.

"It is my dream and I want to fulfill it," he said. "After thinking about it a lot, the time has arrived."

The Timberwolves chose Rubio with the No. 5 pick in the 2009 NBA draft. But his $6 million buyout clause at his first Spanish pro team, Joventut — of which an NBA team could pay only $500,000 under league rules — made him stay in Spain until it came down to a more manageable $1.4 …

Iran warships to begin Suez Canal passage Tuesday

CAIRO (AP) — Suez Canal officials say two Iranian naval vessels are expected to start their passage through the strategic waterway early Tuesday.

Canal officials say the ships are expected to pay a fee of $290,000 for the crossing. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

If the ships make the passage, it …

JIM NOIR: JIM NOIR

JIM NOIR: JIM NOIR

Despite the name, the music of this self-titled album isn't all dark. Bouncy English pop-rock mixed with a healthy dose of electronica permeates this disc from top to bottom. It could almost pass for a dance album if it wasn't for the nagging feeling that something heavier and more significant lurks behind the catchy hooks and sometimes formulaic songwriting. While Noir's music might bring to mind carefree smiles and long-awaited reunions, the overall vision is indeed a dark one. Jim Noir is a concept album about a doomed spaceman. And in the tradition of fellow English pop-rocker David Bowie's Space Oddity, Noir's spaceman isn't making it back home. Or so I …

ValueClick to Pay $2.9M in Spam Case

Online advertiser ValueClick Inc. will pay $2.9 million to settle charges that it made deceptive claims in e-mails and online ads, a government agency said Monday.

Westlake Village, Calif.-based ValueClick had said last month it would pay the fine to settle the matter, without admitting that it violated any laws. The company said in February that it took a $2.9 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings to account for the settlement.

The fine is the largest ever imposed for a violation of the federal CAN-SPAM Act, the Federal Trade Commission said. The act, approved by Congress in 2003, bars deceptive practices in e-mail advertising.

…

State Senate saves free rides for seniors

Regardless of their income, senior citizens can continue riding Chicago area mass transit for free after the state Senate Wednesday preserved what a GOP critic called one of impeached, ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich's "last and most impulsive acts."

A Democratic-led Senate panel narrowly rejected a Republican push to prevent affluent seniors from skirting fares on buses and trains and tying the free-rides program to a retiree's income.

"This is common sense," said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno (R-Lemont), the legislation's chief Senate sponsor.

"It's the poster child for ineptness and mismanagement," she said of the perk. "And if we can't do something this simple as a means test for free rides for seniors, we shouldn't be here."

Under her plan, which had passed the House, seniors who qualified for the state's Circuit Breaker program could still have received free rides. A single senior would have to have income of less than $27,610 to qualify for the free ride. Those above that threshold would have been entitled to half-price fares.

The RTA pushed for Radogno's legislation, noting that Blagojevich's program that began in 2008 will cost cash-strapped transit agencies under the RTA up to $50 million a year -- far more than the $20 million that had been forecast by the ex-governor.

"This will become an unsustainable burden to the system in the future," RTA Executive Director Steve Schlickman told the Senate Executive Committee.

But Democrats on the panel argued it would be unfair in a bad economy to now prevent senior citizens from riding on CTA buses and trains, Metra or Pace at no cost.

"It's outrageous that in these tough economic times that we would allow anybody -- CTA, RTA, the rest of them -- to come and try to take this one . . . itty bitty little thing away from our dear, poor, struggling senior citizens at a time of economic crisis," said Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago).

Comment at suntimes.com.

Photo: Richard A. Chapman, Sun-Times / Seniors will continue to ride local transit free, regardless of income.

Another great year for area home buyers

It is the best of times, and the worst of times - if you asksuburban home builders.

Interest rates are at historic lows, but where are all thebuyers?

Because of the cut-throat competition for those buyers, thedeals on new homes have never been better. So while new-home salesin the area have been very good this year, builders believe recordsshould be set. They won't be. Why?"There is no pent-up demand," said Dan Star, Centex Homes. "Allthe people who needed a home have bought a home."Ed Havlik of United Homes sees it another way. "There's so muchto choose from right now," he said. "Buyers are taking longer tomake up their mind."In other words, there's no urgency to buy a house.And that's frustrating builders. "No builder that I am aware ofwill tell buyers `no, what you see is what you get'," said DavidCraft of Ryland Homes. Basically, he said, all builders have becomecustom builders. "Buyers are getting so much more than they havebefore."We've reacted to the market and have to be more flexible," hecontinued. "There was a day when you built it, and that was it. Nomore.""We can't afford to say no," added Patrick Beirne of PulteHomes. "When you have slower (buyer) traffic, you have to customizemore to get buyers. The builder has been forced to personalize thehome to get more traffic," he said.One response is the design center. "Virtually every largebuilder has one," Star said. "It sprung out of a need to satisfybuyers' greater needs. There are hundreds of selections," he said.Not that this has been a painful development for builders. Thedesign centers have become a nice profit opportunity. "Buyers arespending a lot more money in this stage (choosing products)," Starsaid. Often "$10,000, $15,000 to $20,000 are spent in upgrades.It's been a very significant trend in the last couple of years," hesaid.Yet there has been a buyer segment this year that has deliveredstrong housing sales - so much so that builders are rushing to designnew products. It's the empty nester.Builders are calling this the Del Webb effect. ThePhoenix-based builder's splashy and successful entry into Huntleywith its Sun City development turned heads among local builders.Sun City, a hot seller this fall, is competing with the area'sbest-selling development, Cambridge-at-Carillon in Plainfield,another empty-nester development. Both Sun City and Carillon areage-restricted developments. At least one spouse must be 55 years ofage or older to live there.The rush of builders into the empty-nest market don't want tobuild age-restricted developments."Carillon and Del Webb heightened awareness of the market," saidRyland's Craft. "Age restricted is not for everyone. There's a lotof market out there."Ryland is introducing ranch floor plans to target the emptynester, Craft said. At a new development in Antioch, Ryland willbuild only ranch plans with full basements.Havlik's United Homes also is experimenting. Many empty nesterswant 1-bedroom houses, he said, "with a large master bedroom and abig, open living area. And perhaps a small room for a craft orhobbies," he said. But the key to this 1-bedroom house is thebasement. "It's a finished lower level with guest space," he said."But we're just on the edge of what we'll see with aging babyboomers," he said.Like every consumer-goods provider, builders are adapting to themarket's needs. For home shoppers, the overriding message of 1998won't change next year: It's a great time to buy.