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U.S. markets post gains Monday

WASHINGTON, March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. markets posted gains Monday after the Department of Commerce reported that consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in January.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average added 78.53 points, 0.76 percent, to 10,403.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 added 11.22 points, 1.02 percent, to 1,115.71. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.58 percent, 35.31, to 2,273.57.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,418 stocks advanced and 633 declined on a volume of 4.5 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury rose 2/32 to yield 3.612 percent.

The euro fell to $1.3557 from Friday's $1.3617. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 89.09 yen from Friday's 88.84 yen.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose 0.45 percent, 46.03, to 10,172.06.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.96 percent, 51.42, to 5,405.94.

Personal incomes were up 0.1 percent for the month and savings slowed, the Commerce Department said.

The department said spending on private and public construction dropped 0.6 percent in January. The Institute of Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity rose in February for the seventh consecutive month.

In Europe, talk of international help to support Greece's effort to reduce its national dept gave investors more confidence.

Crammers slide charges past unwary public

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1 (UPI) -- Two brothers in San Francisco allegedly bilked consumers of $19 million in five years by sneaking charges onto phone bills, court documents say.

The practice of sneaking charges onto phone bills is becoming more prevalent as phone bills become more complicated, The Washington Post reported Monday.

In a case filed by the Federal Trade Commission, the brothers, Roy and John Lin, allegedly set up telemarketers to offer a variety of services, but the real purpose of the call was to get permission to slip charges onto phone bills.

Phone companies are paid a portion of the charges, making them reluctant to ferret out frauds that collect their money through phone bills, said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director for U.S. Public Interest Research Groups.

"The telephone companies are happy to take their money," he said.

The frauds also flourish because laws prohibit the Federal Trade Commission from investigating complaints about phone companies, which are handled by the Federal Communications Commission.

The head of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Joel Gurin, said the agency is studying the issue "as part of a broad-based inquiry we launched in August."

"Our goal is to ensure the consumers are protected," he said.

GM hesitant about early release of Volt

DETROIT, March 1 (UPI) -- Getting a jump start on the launch of General Motors Co.'s electric vehicle, the Volt, has run into snags, sources close to the U.S. automaker said.

Putting a limited number of Chevrolet Volts into circulation before the established launch date in November, an idea promoted by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ed Whitacre Jr., is looking unlikely due to "a number of problems," one source said, the Detroit Free Press reported Monday.

That source said the car was not one of the problems, but some are concerned that an early release of the Volt could end up as negative publicity if there are initial problems that need to be fixed, the newspaper said.

In the shadow of Toyota Motor Corp.'s massive recalls, GM executives are aiming for the smallest possible number of post-launch glitches.

As it is, "there's a lot of hard work that needs to be done between now and November, but the team remains on target to deliver," said GM spokesman Rob Peterson.

Study: Ads can turn a 3-year-old's head

ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 1 (UPI) -- Children as young as 3 years old are influenced by advertising, pointing to the need to adjust U.S. nutrition policies, authors of a new study said.

Prior to the study, it was thought "brand symbolism does not develop until age 7 or 8," said Bettina Cornwell, a kinesiology sports marketing professor at the University of Michigan, who co-authored the study along with researchers at the University of Wisconsin.

The results of the study were published by the scientific journal Psychology & Marketing.

The study found that 3- to 5-year-olds scored as high as 92 percent on recognition of 50 brands with the highest scores associated with fast food brands.

Lead author Anna McAlister, a post-doctoral student at the time the study was completed, said the study "showed us that preschool children really do understand the differences between brands like Coke and Pepsi."

"As we more fully understand how and when children develop brand knowledge, we will know when they should be shielded from advertising pressures," McAlister said in a news release.

"It's clear from the fast food branding segment of this study that we need public policies that address the development of eating habits very early on in a child's life," Cornwell said.