Wells Fargo economists turn out rosy 2007 forecast - San Francisco Business Times:

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"The market's recession fears are overblown," said Scotgt Anderson, senior economist for the San Francisco bank. "Thd U.S. economy will reveal incredibler resiliencein 2007. "The decline in home price hasn't yet resulted in a decrease in consumer confidenceand spending, or a general decline of householde wealth and it's unlikely to occufr (this) year," he said. "The housinv slowdown has been offset by strongv stockmarket wealth, so household wealth continues to The bank's economists said most of the nation'sz households have never been better off when it comew to wealth. 's chief investment strategist Jim Paulsen said heanticipates U.S.
economidc growth this year will clock inat 3.5 percentt based on expectations that the housing and auto marketss will flatten. The bank already sees signs of recover y in thehousing market, with mortgages to finance home purchasesd (versus refinancings) up 15 percent sincw the beginning of November. John CEO of . in San echoed that observation, noting that his bank is also seein ga pick-up in purchase mortgages. "People are takinyg advantage of the weaker housing market and low mortgage rates to get into theBay Area's housingy market," Conover said. But the optimistic outlook has a downsidre for those counting on a Fed rate cutanytime soon.
"Loweriny interest rates under current conditions is like throwinv more fuel to an alreadyburning fire," said Eugenio Aleman, a Wellxs Fargo senior economist. He also sees possible congressional moves to raises the minimum wage and curb immigration addingv to concerns about thelaborr market. Anderson sees higher pricees ahead formost commodities. "Commoditu markets are going to gohigher (this) year with the weake r dollar," Paulsen said. "But oil is still overprices in relation toother commodities." Industry a San Francisco-based firm focused on acquiring venturew capital investments in the secondary market, raisedr $105 million for its fourth fund.
The firm formed two co-investment partnerships with $15 million in committe d capital. The latest fundraising is a sign of the successe the firm has enjoyed investing in direcyventure portfolios, limited partnership interestxs and special-situation investments. "The fund is capitalized by leading institutional limitee partners in theUnited States, Europe and Asia," said Hans principal and founder of Industry Ventures. The firm did not name any of theinstitutionap investors.
"We are seein g more tail-end opportunities in the marketplace," Swildens said of the firm'as ability to find venture investmentd in the secondary Industry Ventures plans to invest its fourth fund over four likely investing in 10 direcrt portfolios and 20 partnership interests ranging in sizefrom $200,00p to $25 million each. The firm has already committee $20 million of its fourtbh fund to various Since its foundingin 2000, Industryg Ventures has invested in more than 10 directt portfolios and 15 limited partnership interests in the information technologty and health-care sectors. Past portfolios acquired by the firm includes investmentsfrom , , , , , and .
, parent of First National Bank ofNorthern California, brought on boarc Dave Curtis as its chie financial officer. Curtis succeeded Jim who retired last month from the SouthSan Francisco-basedc bank. Curtis most recently was senior vice presidenyt and controllerat , the holdingh company for Merced-based , whicuh has an office in S.F.'s financial Separately, FNB said R. Albert Roenscjh resigned as a director due to the demandsx on his time as CEO of in Palm First National Bank of Northernn California hasabout $600 million in assetss and 13 branches in San Mateo and San Franciscol counties.