A Week's Worth: Quick takes on the world of work and money

Dow has a great quarter; why do 44 percent of consumers put their car title in the glove box? Stockholders say they note a company's ethics.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed last week with a 48.36-point gain. For the April-June quarter, it advanced 8.5 percent, the most since October-December of 2003.

• If you'll be one of the estimated 34.7 million people taking a trip by car over Independence Day, the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler offers this advice: Don't keep the title in the glove compartment. That's a mistake that 44 percent of owners make, Dodge says. But it means that a thief can change the name on the title to his and operate the vehicle as though it belonged to him. Or he can sell it and pocket the money.

• Even if a company they're invested in has been acting legally, 65 percent of respondents to a new survey say they'd "move" their shares if they learned its behavior was unethical. And, Pepperdine University's School of Business and Management found, it wouldn't matter whether the return on investment was high. Of 482 investors polled, two-thirds said they keep very, or at least somewhat, close tabs on the ethical standards of companies whose stock they hold.

• A business whose suppliers are owned by women is especially appealing to consumers who are female, according to a nationwide poll by the SB Services consulting group and the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. Eighty percent of the 1,200 women surveyed said they'd be "compelled" to buy in such a case, and 51 percent would try such a store or service again even if it let them down the first time.