Small biz blues

You can almost hear California's small business owners murmur: Grow, dammit. A new survey by American Express finds that 39 percent expect their businesses to grow over the next six months, regardless of the economy. Even so, almost half say they'll need to postpone retirement, 46 percent say healthcare costs are jeopardizing their companies, and only 25 percent say they expect to do any hiring over the next six months. What's interesting is that 78 percent describe themselves as optimists and generally see the glass as "half full."