If you’re looking to buy, or sell, a small business, now might be a decent time.

The trend lines in terms of sales volume and prices are going in the right direction, according to a report by BizBuySell, an online business marketplace in San Francisco.

As reported by brokers in the five Bay Area counties the study considered (San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin), the number of businesses sold or listed for sale increased significantly in the second quarter, as did their median price and revenue numbers.

While the number of sales (11) is too small to draw firm conclusions, the number listed for sale – 275, an increase of 12 percent over the first quarter – is indicative of an upward trend that began earlier in the year.

The median asking price rose 9 percent, to $235,000, while revenue of those listed stood at $476,000, an increase of 7 percent.

“This paints a picture of a sector in recovery,” said the company’s general manager, Mike Handelsman. “Owners believe they are now in a better position to sell their business, and for a higher price.”

Elsewhere, the recovery is a little rockier. Transactions across the country fell by 1.7 percent in the second quarter, and the median sale price for small businesses dipped slightly, to $236,750. “I see it as a bump in the road, much like the broader economy,” Handelsman said. “And, we know we’re in a bubble in the Bay Area.”

But it’s no bed of roses. Despite touting their increased lending to the sector, banks remain very tight with their money, refusing to lend without some seller financing in the transaction, Handelsman said.

Still, for those who can pull together the capital, the prices are attractive. And while valuations are not what they were before the recession, they are steadily improving.

One additional reason owners might want to sell now and embark on that long-awaited retirement in Arizona: If President Obama has his way, some may have to pay more capital gains tax if they wait until 2013.

If, on the other hand, you’re thinking of starting a small business but are concerned about Obama’s plan to end the Bush-era tax cuts for households making more than $250,000 a year, consider this:

Judging by the median cash flow of mom-and-pop enterprises in the San Francisco area – $105,000 in the second quarter – not too many are likely to attain that level, despite assertions to the contrary in certain circles.

According to a U.S. Treasury analysis of 2007 numbers, only 4 percent of small business owners would be hit with the increase.

— If you’re interested in what’s for sale and the asking prices in the Bay Area, check out the BizBuySell list at sfg.ly/LVgOoc.

Dismal indeed: Compared with its 7.5 percent benchmark, bloody awful might be a better description of the 1 percent return on investments announced by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System on Monday.

Stock-picking didn’t seem to be its money handlers’ forte, with investments in the public sector, here and overseas, down 7.2 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30. Forestland (actual land with trees for products and funds that manage timberland) didn’t do so hot, either, down 11 percent.

Ironically, one of the brighter spots was real estate – up 15.9 percent – where CalPERS had taken a bath in the recession years.

“It’s a clear reminder that we must remain focused on performance, risk and internal controls in today’s financial environment,” said Joe Dear, chief investment officer of the $234 billion fund, the largest public pension fund in the nation.

It’s also a reminder that public pensions will be a front-burner issue confronting state and local agencies, and their employees, for the foreseeable future.

Dividing the pie: Assuming the $7.25 billion settlement with Visa, MasterCard and a handful of banks over price-fixing of credit card “swipe fees” passes muster with a federal court, who gets what?

Off the top, $1.25 billion is being set aside to pay for eight months of reductions in swipe fees for merchants.

That leaves $6 billion – minus the $4.5 million in attorneys’ fees, plus expenses – to be split among the 7 million plaintiffs on whose behalf the suit was filed. Or more.

“The damages class includes new merchants accepting Visa or MasterCard since Jan. 1, 2004, as well as merchants who have gone out of business or dropped Visa/MC acceptance since that time,” said Craig Wildfang, the plaintiffs’ co-lead counsel and partner at Robins, Kaplan, Miller Ciresi in Minneapolis.

That averages out at several hundred dollars per plaintiff. However, (A) it depends on how many merchants actually file a claim, and (B) the formula will probably be based on the amount of swipe fees paid by the individual merchants from January 2004 until “sometime in October,” when the deal is expected to be approved, Wildfang told me.

In other words, the bigger the merchant, the bigger slice of the pie. That includes Pleasanton’s Safeway, which gets a piece of a separate settlement reached with the major supermarket chains.

Who pays? San Francisco’s Visa, which is on the hook for $4.4 billion; MasterCard, $790 million; and 13 banks, including San Francisco’s Wells Fargo, which divide up the rest.

No, really, who pays? Us shoppers, some say, in the form of higher credit card charges. Others doubt that Visa, MasterCard and the others would dare.

“I’m confident the benefits of this settlement will accrue to consumers,” Wildfang said.

Right.

 

Andrew S. Ross is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: bottomline@sfchronicle.com Blogging: www.sfgate.com/columns/bottomline Twitter: @andrewsross Facebook page: sfg.ly/doACKM