C M Y K A12
DAILY 03-02-10 MD RE A12 CMYK
A12 R KLMNO TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 2010
WASHINGTON BUSINESS
Gifford’s ‘scoop shops’ sold to investor
Gifford’s ice
cream shop in
Chevy Chase.
The chain,
the business in two for some anonymity because they were started in 1938,
Ice cream chain to seek
time. worried about losing their jobs, has been
Under the new arrangement, said workers were not told about through a few
expansion apart from finalized recently, Lieberman the change of ownership and ownership
wholesale business
maintains control of the manu- were concerned about the chain’s changes since
facturing and distribution of Gif- stability. the original
ford’s ice cream. Baltimore in- Lieberman said that the goal owner’s death
by Ylan Q. Mui vestor Luke Cooper, who runs of spinning off Gifford’s retail op- in 1983. The
the private-equity firm DealMet- erations was to improve the po- new owner is
Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy, a rics, owns the scoop shops. Coo- tential for growth. He said Coo- looking into
longtime Washington favorite, per did not respond to several per recently signed a lease for a expansion in
has sold its eight stores in Mary- messages seeking comment. new scoop shop in Baltimore and Baltimore and
land and the District to a Balti- “That will hopefully enable is working on additional deals, Northern
more investor for an undisclosed both of us to be more successful,” with a particular focus on North- Virginia.
sum. Lieberman said. “It was just a lit- ern Virginia.
Owner Neal Lieberman said tle much, and the businesses Gifford’s was founded in 1938
the business had grown increas- were so different from each oth- in Silver Spring by John Gifford
ingly unwieldy in recent years as er.” and boasted a loyal fan base that
the 72-year-old chain has expan- In 2008, DealMetrics bought included President Dwight D. Ei-
SUSAN BIDDLE/THE WASHINGTON POST
ded its wholesale division, sell- the Boston ice cream chain Brig- senhower, Jacqueline Kennedy
ing Gifford’s legendary ice cream ham’s, with 28 stores and a 90- Onassis and Goldie Hawn. But by lo Ramagem and his father, Ser- rather than retail, and the daily any changes under the new own-
to supermarkets and restau- year history in the area. Accord- the time Gifford died in 1983, the gio. In 2002, Lieberman bought headaches of running the stores ership structure — except one.
rants. That made it difficult to fo- ing to news reports, Cooper chain’s finances were in sham- Sergio’s interest and focused on — false security alarms, broken “The big thing that’s going to
cus attention on its retail stores, eventually shut a number of bles, forcing it to shut down. launching the wholesale division freezers and employee theft — change is hopefully there’s going
or “scoop shops,” some of which stores. The chain was revived by in- and opening new scoop shops. distracted him from expanding to be a lot more places for them
were losing money. Lieberman At Gifford’s, two employees, vestors in 1987 and then sold in But Lieberman said his back- the business. Lieberman said he to buy Gifford’s,” he said.
said he had considered splitting who spoke on the condition of 1999 to longtime manger Marce- ground is in marketing and sales hoped customers won’t notice
muiy@washpost.com
LOCAL DIGEST
Now as ever, your money makes the Street go round
EARNINGS Maher cut his rating to “hold”
USEC settlement
from “buy.”
— Associated Press
Rather, I want to show you close) and the tech-stock-laden another meltdown looms.
nearly doubles profit
how, even though popular (as we used to say) Nasdaq down In hindsight, the Fed and the
MERGERS &
perceptions of Wall Street and a sickening 55 percent, Treasury were way too nice to
USEC said Monday that its ACQUISITIONS
markets and the government’s America’s love affair with stocks big Wall Street firms. But there
fourth-quarter profit nearly dou-
role have changed, the has long since turned to hate. was a panic going on, and the
bled, lifted by the settlement of a
AOL sells affiliate
institutions involved haven’t, People also hate Wall Street, for government did the best it
trade dispute.
DEALS
and probably never will. As an obvious and understandable could. It wasn’t great, by any
marketing Web site
The Bethesda provider of en-
investor — or just a plain old reasons. During the bull market, means, but better than having
riched uranium said it earned AOL has sold the parent com-
Allan Sloan citizen — you’d do well to we all got a piece of the Street’s the financial world collapse.
$49.5 million for the quarter end- pany of
Buy.at, its affiliate mar-
remember that. action. But now, with millions of Regardless of how much
ed Dec. 31, compared with keting business, for an undis-
Here’s the deal. For a people still hammered by the “financial reform” is passed in
$25.1 million a year earlier. Rev- closed price to British company
G
et out your calendars, generation — August 1982 Great Recession, the Street is Washington, the Street will find
enue totaled $467.6 million, up Digital Window, which runs a
folks. It’s time to celebrate through March 2000 — U.S. pigging out, barely bothering to ways to profit at your expense.
from $431.9 million. network of sites that steer cus-
— or perhaps mourn — the stocks had their greatest run pay even lip service to the U.S. That’s what it does. To counter,
For the year, USEC earned tomers to online businesses in ex-
10th anniversary of one of the ever. The S&P 500 returned taxpayers who saved it by you have to watch out for
$58.5 million, compared with change for a cut of sales.
epic financial events of our time: almost 20 percent a year, rescuing the world financial yourself, and remember that
$48.7 million for 2008. AOL, with operations in the
the peak of the great stock compounded, including system. there’s no such thing as low-risk,
— Associated Press D.C. area, bought
Buy.at in 2008
market bubble in March 2000. reinvested dividends. You But you should neither love high-return investments (can
for an undisclosed amount.
That’s the month when the doubled your money in less than the Street, as people did a you spell Madoff?) or free
Nasdaq composite index, the four years, quadrupled it in a decade ago, nor hate it, as many lunches. Don’t get too greedy, as
Loss, downgrade
It is trying to streamline and
build itself into a content and ad-
Standard & Poor’s 500-stock little more than seven. It’s the do now. Just understand that many people did late in the bull
for DiamondRock vertising business.
index and the Wilshire 5000 all kind of thing people could get Wall Street’s goal is to make market because stocks had done
— Associated Press
reached new highs, then headed used to, and over a generation, money for itself, not to help you so well for so long.
Shares fell 6 percent on Mon-
south, big time. (The Dow Jones many did. Rising stocks helped or the country or the world. The market wasn’t benign
day for DiamondRock Hospital- REAL ESTATE
industrial average peaked that pay for retirement, college Similarly, the Federal Reserve during the bull market years,
ity, a Bethesda real estate in-
January, but who cares? It’s just tuition, and balancing state and — beloved during Alan and it’s not malignant now. It’s
vestment trust, after the com-
LaSalle to sell
a crummy 30 stocks.) federal budgets. We didn’t save, Greenspan’s glory days and just the market. It takes care of
pany reported weak results and
No, this isn’t yet another but who cared? The market was demonized now — remains itself. And you’d better take care
5.35 million shares
an analyst downgraded its stock.
article about the “decade from making us rich. what it has been since it was of yourself by living below your
DiamondRock said Friday that LaSalle Hotel Properties, a real
hell” and the $3.6 trillion of That all came to a screeching founded in 1913: guardian of the means, doing your homework,
fourth-quarter funds from opera- estate investment trust that owns
stock market value that halt a decade ago, even though financial system. This has come and being careful and skeptical.
tions were 18 cents per share. upscale hotels, said Monday that
Wilshire Associates calculates the S&P 500 and Wilshire 5000 to mean keeping giant That, my friends, is the true
Analysts polled by Thomson it plans to sell 5.35 million shares
has vanished since the Wilshire briefly set new highs in 2007 institutions alive. That’s what lesson to take from this
Reuters expected 22 cents per to the public.
5000 peaked on March 24, before tanking again. Now, with the Fed did two years ago, when anniversary.
share. Funds from operations add The firm also announced that
2000. (The S&P peaked the the Wilshire and the S&P 500 we came close to a worldwide
asloan@fortunemail.com
some items back to net income; it it has acquired the luxury hotel
same day, two weeks after the down 21 percent and 27 percent, financial meltdown that would
is a widely used gauge of real es- Sofitel Washington D.C. Lafayette
Nasdaq reached its highest respectively, from their 2000 have cost millions of jobs. And Allan Sloan is Fortune
tate performance. Square for $95 million.
value.) highs (as of Monday’s market that’s what it will do again, if magazine’s senior editor at large.
Collins Stewart analyst Bryan — Associated Press
Monitor your investments at
washingtonpost.com/markets.
THE MARKETS
Data and graphics by
Daily Stock Market Performance S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot Commodities
Daily YTD
Index
Daily Daily
Close % Chg % Chg
Daily
Industry Group % Chg
–6.0% 0 +6.0% Futures Close % Chg Close % Chg
Dow Jones Industrial Average 10,403.79 +0.8 –0.2
Automobiles 5.10
Copper $3.3330 +2.0 Orange Juice $1.5060 +4.8
11,000 Internet & Catalog Retail 5.06 Corn $3.7075 –1.9 Silver $16.45 –0.3
Building Products 4.48
Crude Oil $78.70 –1.2 Soybeans $9.5250 +0.2
9500 Paper & Forest Products 3.89
Gold $1118.30 –0.1 Sugar $0.2226 –5.7
Real Estate Mgmt & Dev 3.02
Natural Gas $4.68 –2.8 Wheat $4.9275 –2.7
8000
Consumer Finance –0.49
Power Prodct & Enrgy Trdr –0.49
Value of $1000 invested for the past: day month
Daily
6500
Industrial Conglomerates –0.57
Exchange-Traded (Ticker) % Chg $700 $1000 $1300
Construction Materials –0.92
Coffee (COFF.L) 0.6
Nasdaq Composite Index 2273.57 +1.6 +0.2
Thrifts & Mtge Finance –1.37
Copper (COPA.L) 2.2
2400 Corn (CORN.L) –1.0
International Stock Markets Cotton (COTN.L) 3.1
2000
Crude Oil (CRUD.L) 0.3
Daily YTD % Chg
Americas Close % Chg –8% 0% +8%
Gasoline (UGAS.L) 0.2
1600 Brazil (Bovespa) 67,227.93 1.1
Gold (BULL.L) 0.2
Canada (S&P/TSX Comp.) 11,728.06 0.8
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) –0.9
1200 Mexico
Silver (SLVR.L) 1.2
(Bolsa) 31,765.14 0.4
Europe
S&P 500 Index 1115.71 +1.0 +0.1
Eurozone
Gainers and Losers from the S&P 1500 Index
(DJ Stoxx 600) 248.69 1.2
1175
France (CAC 40) 3769.54 1.6
Daily Daily
Gainers Close % Chg Losers Close % Chg
1075 Germany (DAX) 5713.51 2.1
OSI Pharmaceuticals $56.25 51.9 Scientific Games $15.52 –8.1
975
U.K. (FTSE 100) 5405.94 1.0
Tetra Technologies $11.74 16.5 Commercial Metals $15.37 –6.3
875
Asia Pacific
Enzo Biochem $6.07 16.1 DiamondRock Hospt $8.40 –6.0
Australia (ASX 200) 4686.50 1.1 EW Scripps $8.66 13.6 Hanmi Financial $2.27 –5.8
775
China (CSI 300) 3324.42 1.3
Infospace $11.31 12.2 Tower Group Inc $21.48 –5.7
675
M A M J J A S O N D J F
Hong Kong (Hang Seng) 21,056.93 2.2
QuanexBuildingProd $17.45 12.0 WorldAcceptanceCorp $39.64 –5.1
Japan
SanDisk $32.63 11.9 MSCI Inc $28.59 –4.6
(Nikkei) 10,172.06 0.5
Dow Jones 30 Industrials
GibraltarIndustries $13.01 11.4 AES Corp $11.17 –4.4
Tuesday Morning $6.35 11.2 FirstMidwestBancorp $13.00 –4.1
Daily YTD Daily YTD
Cross Currency Rates
Millipore Corp $104.90 11.1 Penford Corp $10.72 –3.8
Company Close % Chg % Chg Company Close % Chg % Chg
3M 80.58 0.5 –2.5 IBM 128.57 1.1 –1.8
US $ EU
American Vanguard $7.15 10.9 Helix Energy Sol $11.11 –3.5
€ Japan ¥ Britain £ Brazil R$ Canada $ Mexico $
Alcoa 13.31 0.1 –17.4 Intel 20.87 1.7 2.3
ION Geophysical $5.07 10.7 Genoptix Inc $31.50 –3.2
AmExp 38.13 –0.2 –5.9 J&J 63.39 0.6 –1.6
US $ per 1.3557 0.0112 1.4990 0.5569 0.9596 0.0785
Interpublic Group $8.26 10.1 Qualcomm $35.56 –3.1
AT&T 25.00 0.8 –10.8 JPMorgCh 41.83 –0.3 0.4
EU € per 0.7376 0.0083 1.1056 0.4103 0.7078 0.0579
Sotheby's $26.51 9.1 Tetra Tech $20.28 –3.1
BoA 16.71 0.3 11.0 Kraft Foods 28.72 1.0 5.7
Boeing 64.00 1.3 18.2 McDonald's 63.98 0.2 2.5 Japan ¥ per 89.1100 120.8200 133.5700 49.5880 85.5100 6.9940
Brightpoint Inc $7.76 8.8 Aqua America $16.66 –2.7
Caterpillar 57.85 1.4 1.5 Merck 37.27 1.1 2.0 Patriot Coal $18.08 8.5 Dynegy $1.46 –2.7
Chevron 72.81 0.7 –5.4 Microsoft 29.02 1.2 –4.8
Britain £ per 0.6672 0.9046 0.0075 0.3713 0.6401 0.0524
Century Aluminum $13.18 8.2 Kopin Corp $3.70 –2.6
Cisco 24.60 1.1 2.8 P&G Co 63.51 0.4 4.8
Brazil R$ per 1.7978 2.4375 0.0202 2.6932 1.7243 0.1411
Coca-Cola 53.27 1.0 –6.5 Pfizer 17.75 1.1 –2.4
Micron Technology $9.77 7.8 Palm Inc $5.93 –2.6
DuPont 34.03 0.9 1.1 Travelers 53.08 0.9 6.5 Canada $ per 1.0422 1.4129 0.0117 1.5622 0.5800 0.0818
New York Times $11.75 7.4 BB&T Corp $27.80 –2.6
Exxon Mobil 65.40 0.6 –4.1 United Tech 69.64 1.4 0.3
Federal Signal $8.23 7.3 KeyCorp $6.97 –2.5
GE 15.90 –1.0 5.1 Verizon 28.99 0.2 –12.5
Mexico $ per 12.7415 17.2762 0.1430 19.0989 7.0870 12.2260
Home Depot 31.43 0.7 8.6 Wal-Mart 53.90 –0.3 0.8
HP 51.54 1.5 0.1 Walt Disney 31.54 1.0 –2.2
Treasury Performance Over Past Three Months
Interest Rates
10-year note 2-year note
Other Measures
Consumer Rates
3.25% 5.08%
Yield: 3.61 Yield: 0.80
Index Close Daily % Chg YTD % Chg
Money market funds 0.84 Bank Prime 30-Year fixed mortgage
5-year note 6-month bill
DJ Total Stock Market Index 11,588.83 1.2 0.8
6-Month CDs 0.84
Yield: 2.28 Yield: 0.18
1-Year CDs 1.26
0.25% 4.46%
Russell 2000 642.65 2.2 2.8
5-Year CDs 2.65
Federal Funds 15-Year fixed mortgage
Post-Bloomberg DC Area Index 191.52 1.4 2.2
New car loan 6.28
0.25% 3.68%
Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market rate, which can vary from the federal
target rate. LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of
CBOE Volatility (VIX) 19.26 –1.2 –11.2 Home-equity loan 8.00 LIBOR 3-Month 1-Year ARM
4:30 p.m. New York time.
C M Y K A12
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