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The current issue of the magazine “Museum News” optimistically reports that in the wake of October’s stock market crash, the endowment of J. Paul Getty Museum and Trust “only sank from $3.1 billion to $2.9 billion because the museum had sold most of its stock before the market’s nose-dive.” Joseph Kearns, the trust’s vice president and treasurer, confirmed the report Tuesday, quickly adding that the endowment is now up to $3 billion. That, for non-arithmetic sorts, is a mere $100 million. And how did the trust know to leave the market when it did? “We’ve had a very basic conservative approach all along,” Kearns said. “We didn’t do it overnight; it was over an 18-month period.”