Quotes of the Day from Charles Schwab

A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
Charles Schwab

I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among men the greatest asset I possess. The way to develop the best that is in a man is by appreciation and encouragement.
Charles Schwab

I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.
Charles Schwab

HAPPY FRIDAY FROM MYRNA AND MOLLY

G O B U C K S!

Happy Friday from Optimum!

Why Use PDF Files?

WHY USE PDF FILES?

Streamlining! PDF stands for "Portable Document Format". With so many un-compatible software packages there needed to be a way for each end user to communicate with one another. PDFs are a common file format that all users can open and read.
PDFs provide a more consistent and reliable file for hi-res imagesetters. They allow for fewer delays from missing components or unstable files.
PDF files contain all fonts, graphics and page layout information necessary to display and print the file exactly as it is laid out. Of course, there are certain rules to go by when creating the perfect PDF. As long as the graphics are hi-res and the fonts are imbedded, you can't go wrong with the file.
The key benefits of PDF files are page, platform, application and device independence. Most programs today can create a PDF file. Making it possible to share your electronic documents easily with different end users.

Anita D. Pasco
PrePress Technician

The store of YOU

Why buy off the rack when you can customize? Modern shoppers design everything from clothes, candy and even credit cards. Personalization has come a long way from those checks with Looney Toons on them that your grandmother had.

This is good news for the nonconformists, the sports fans, the gift givers. In order to get that competitive edge marketers must pay attention to this growing trend - the store of YOU and add something different, something personal to their branding options.

Driven by increasingly demanding consumers empowered by the Internet and new technology such as digital printing and online ordering systems, the shift to personalized production represents such a departure from tradition that the retail industry has been forced to come up with new terminology to describe it.

Owning one-of-a-kind sneakers, clothes, jewelry, wine, and even credit cards goes beyond keeping up with the Joneses. It is the need for individuality, expressing your own personal taste, personality, and lifestyle is the new sign of success and luxury.

At the same time, personalization is a form of frugality which is well suited to the current economic downturn. By customizing, shoppers can get the most out of less frequent splurges. This trend is not restricted to those with money—it spans ages, income groups, and regions.

Custom-made products were once so labor intensive, he says, that only the wealthy could afford them. While the printing and ordering technologies to customize for "the masses" have been available for at least a decade, only now is the trend really taking off as customers have come to realize it's available. Customers are no longer satisfied with generic items when they can get everything from M&Ms to shoes and even furniture distinctly tweaked to their liking.

This "me-tailing" instead of retailing has been a growing market for at least a decade. Visit Optimum's logomall to get a better idea of the thousands of customizable personalized products available.

Center Bancorp Q3 earnings up

Even in these trying financial times, not everything is doom and gloom.

According to banking-business-review.com; Center Bancorp has reported third quarter earnings which have amounted to $1.5 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008, as compared to $1 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007. The corporation recorded net interest income on a fully taxable equivalent basis of $7.1 million for the quarter, as compared to $5.9 million for the comparable quarter in 2007.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, net income was $4.1 million, a growth of $819,000 as against the comparable nine-month period ended September 30, 2007. Diluted earnings per common share for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 were $0.32, as compared with $0.24 for the same period in 2007. Net interest income on a fully taxable equivalent basis was $20 million for the period versus $17.7 million in the prior-year period.

The corporation had total loans of $661.2 million at September 30, 2008, representing a $29.9 million, or 4.7%, increase on a linked-quarter basis and a $109.5 million, or 19.8%, increase from December 31, 2007.

At September 30, 2008, non-performing assets totaled $654,000, or 0.06% of total assets, as compared with $4.4 million, or 0.43%, at December 31, 2007.

There is still a profit to be made even in troubling times. Apple computer's fourth-quarter earnings conference call was made a bit more lively due to its unusual guest star: CEO Steve Jobs.

Steve had the following to say about the economic future:

"We may get buffeted around by the waves a little bit, but we'll be fine, and stronger when the waves recede in the future."