Ticker Talk: Optimism about U.S. stocks jumped...

Ticker Talk: Optimism about U.S. stocks jumped to a level not seen since 1987, the year the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 23% in one day, according to a poll by Investors Intelligence newsletter. The percentage of newsletter editors who considered themselves bullish, or optimistic, about U.S. stocks rose to 61.6% in the week ended Friday from 60.7% the previous week. Optimism hasn’t been that high in 12 years, Investors Intelligence editor Michael Burke said Wednesday. . . . The Pacific Exchange, the No. 3 U.S. stock options exchange, has named former mutual fund company executive Philip D. DeFeo as its chief executive effective Monday, the exchange announced. DeFeo will replace Robert M. Greber, who told the exchange board in January that he wanted to leave in 2000. Greber will remain chairman of the Pacific Exchange’s board of governors, as DeFeo becomes chairman of the executive committee, the exchange said Wednesday. . . . The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the biggest U.S. pension fund, will invest in small fund companies to benefit from their new ideas and profit as they grow. Analysts believe the move by Sacramento-based CalPERS is the first time a pension fund has sought to take equity interests in the managers it hires to invest its money. CalPERS, which has more than $150 billion in assets, said Wednesday it will commit $4 billion to the manager development program, spreading the money among 10 to 30 managers.