Posted: 16 Oct 2009 06:56 PM PDT

Bank continues to streamline operation

By James Moore

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First state-worker furlough felt across Salem, elsewhere - Statesman Journal

Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:46 AM PDT

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"They opened for business as usual (at 7:30 a.m.) and closed at 11 (a.m.) because they had only made $50," said Tiffany Peterson, the Sassy Onion's floor supervisor.

As a result, Two Doors Down will be closed on each of the remaining furlough Fridays, she said.

—Thelma Guerrero-Huston

At the Sassy Onion Grill, where booths and tables are at a premium on weekdays, there was no one waiting to be seated, a sign the furloughed workers were missed.

"Business is definitely slow today," Peterson said. "When the booths are empty, you know it's a slow day. I've worked here six years, and I've never seen it like this."

The eatery isn't looking forward to the next nine state employee furlough days.

Peterson said the restaurant's owners, Dave and Vicki Boyles, would wait to see how business fared out at the end of the day, before making any decision on whether the eatery would be open during the remaining furlough days.

"We may just give one employee the day off," Peterson said.

About a dozen customers were at the restaurant during the noon hour.

"Service was very fast today," said Karen Lamont, a legal secretary. "Sometimes, you have to wait a bit because so many people come here for lunch. I kinda like it."

—Thelma Guerrero-Huston

Inside the Safeway on Center and 12th streets NE, customers enjoyed short lines at the deli counter.

"Of all the times I've come here to pick myself up something to eat, I have never not had to wait in line," Stephanie Moran, who works near the Safeway, said after leaving the store.

"Today, I was in and out, just like that," she said, snapping her fingers. "I read that (some) state employees were off today. So yeah, maybe that's why things ran so smooth in there today."

On any given weekday, a host of state employees can be seen eating a meal from the deli, sitting in a lunch area with a high ceiling, bright lights and large windows.

On Friday, the lunch area was completely empty.

The workers' absence represent the type of business losses that restaurants who draw state employees for breakfast or lunch are worried about.

Even so, they're bracing themselves for nine more furlough days to come.

—Thelma Guerrero-Huston

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Banking battlefield - NJBIZ

Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:46 AM PDT

A series of takeovers gave two big banks an enhanced South Jersey presence. Now, Wells Fargo Bank NA-Wachovia and TD Bank NA appear to be getting ready to square off — and when the dust settles, the victor will be local businesses, according to some industry insiders.

"Our top competitor by market share in southern New Jersey is TD Bank," Brenda Ross-Dulan, the new South Jersey regional president of Wachovia Bank, told NJBIZ at a recent meeting in her Trenton regional headquarters. Her institution is using the name "Wachovia, A Wells Fargo Company" until the two banks are fully integrated under the Wells Fargo name in 2011.

"We're looking to expand the range of financial services and products offered to our customers," she said.

TD Bank's reply: Bring it on.

"We welcome the competition," said Michael Carbone, regional president for TD Bank's Metro Philadelphia area. "We'll keep executing our strategy. Competitors say they'll match our hours and other services, but they don't actually do it."

TD Bank's $9.9 billion of deposits in the eight-county South Jersey region, from Ocean to Cape May, give it a 22 percent market share, the highest in the area as of June 30, 2009, the most recent data available from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Wells Fargo-Wachovia snared second place with $5.4 billion of assets, or a 11.9 percent market share, according to the FDIC.

The faceoff has been in the works for some time, but picked up steam earlier this year, after Wells Fargo brought in Ross-Dulan from Los Angeles, where she also was a regional president.

When TD Bank bought Cherry Hill-based Commerce Bank in March 2008, the Canadian-based institution already had a beachhead in New Jersey, but beefed up its South Jersey exposure by a considerable amount.

Under the watch of Commerce founder Vernon Hill, the then-regional institution used a fast-food model of long hours and plenty of locations to build up a commanding share in the region. His efforts benefited businesses and individuals, even if they didn't bank at Commerce, one expert said.

"The fact is that when a strong banking competitor comes along you either meet the challenge or fold," said Peter J. Ostrowski, a former analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston who is now a now a managing director at Ostrowski & Co. Inc., a Cranford-based bank consulting firm.

"Commerce has been very influential in New Jersey," he said. "Even when a Commerce branch was rumored to be opening nearby, existing banks would take a second look at their operations as they compete for customers," which can benefit businesses and individuals.

There's no doubt that TD's takeover made Commerce stronger, Ostrowski added. It appears the bank's innovative spark survived the departure of Hill, its founder and cheerleader who left in June 2007 after a federal investigation.

For example, the financial institution scored top honors in the Mid-Atlantic region, which includes New Jersey, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. Wells Fargo had no retail branches in New Jersey until it acquired Wachovia.

In a conversation with NJBIZ, Ross-Dulan denied singling out TD Bank for particular attention. But during an early October meet-and-greet in the bank's Trenton office, she used language that was very similar to the style Commerce Bank used for years.

For example, she referred to Wachovia branches as "stores," and noted that local branch hours are being extended until 5 p.m. on weekdays to make it easier for customers to come in for face-to-face transactions.

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Indian shares end flat; traders book gains from rally - Reuters

Posted: 17 Oct 2009 08:17 AM PDT

By Pratish Narayanan

MUMBAI, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended little changed on Saturday after a special one-hour session to mark the start of the new Hindu accounting year, as rich valuations following the market's 80 percent rally this year pushed investors to cash in profits.

No. 1 software-services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.BO) climbed 1.6 percent to 608.65 rupees, a day after it beat forecasts with a 29 percent rise in quarterly net profit helped by demand from recession-hit financial customers. [ID:nBOM345538]

Declines in financials ICICI Bank (ICBK.BO), HDFC Bank (HDBK.BO) and Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC.BO) weighed on the main index after it opened 0.7 percent higher.

"People's optimism about the market was reflected in the opening, but the reality that the market is overbought is what we are seeing at the close," Arun Kejriwal, strategist at research firm KRIS, said.

The 30-share BSE index .BSESN ended up 0.02 percent, or 3.19 points, to 17,326.01 -- its highest close since mid-May last year -- with losers and gainers evenly matched at the end of the 60 minutes of trade that began at 1245 GMT.

It had earlier gained nearly 1 percent to 17,493.17 points, its highest level in more than 17 months, as homes across Mumbai were lit in kaleidoscopic colours and firecrackers graced the evening sky to mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

The special session is held every year on Diwali during a period considered auspicious, following a ceremony at stock exchanges to worship the Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.

"One should not be too euphoric right now. The market has already factored in a lot of the good news coming out," said Amitabh Chakraborty, president of equities at Religare Capital.

The market has more than doubled since last year's special session, a possibility that seemed unrealistic at the time as the world financial system was haemorrhaging in the wake of the collapse of U.S. investment bank, Lehman Brothers.

The main index lost more than half its value in 2008, making it one of the worst-performing in the world. But since early March this year, it has been a riding a worldwide rally in stocks on hopes the global economy is on the steady road to recovery.

"It always happens that what falls the most, rises the most. There was extreme pessimism last year," Chakraborty said.

Traders expect the good run to continue in the long term, but have warned of short-term consolidation as the rally since March has stretched valuations.

The BSE index trades at 18.9 times forward earnings, much higher than benchmarks in other emerging markets such as South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand that trade at multiples of 12-16, but below the 22.2 times multiple for the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC.

Brazil trades at about 16.1 times forward earnings, while Russia trades at a multiple of just 7.9.

Still, a surge of liquidity flowing into emerging markets is expected to sustain the market and prevent a significant decline. Foreign funds have ploughed in more than $13.5 billion into Indian stocks this year after they withdrew about $13 billion last year. Continued...

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