The Record, Bergen County, NJ

N.J. Briefs

Continental is planning EWR-Sacramento flights NEWARK - Continental Airlines will offer once-a-day non-stop flights to Sacramento, Calif., this spring and summer, beginning May 2, in anticipation of vacation travel demand. It is the first time the Houston-based carrier has served Sacramento from its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, a spokesman said during Monday's announcement.

A Survival Guide for the Jobless ; Harvard Grad Writes From Experience

Those lucky enough to be employed are hopefully smart enough to realize that these days, no job comes with a lifetime guarantee. It's a message Harvard Business School grad Michael B. Laskoff knows from experience. In his first book, the newly published "Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass: A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed" (Three Rivers Press, $14), he gives some practical, been-there, survived-that advice to all those whose fruitful employment has suddenly soured.

National Briefs

2003 sets a record in home sales WASHINGTON - U.S. sales of previously owned homes increased to a 6.47 million annual pace in December, concluding a record year, an industry report showed. The median sales price rose 7.5 percent in 2003, the biggest rise in more than two decades. Existing-home sales rose 6.9 percent during the month, from a revised 6.05-million-unit rate in November, the National Association of Realtors said. A record 6.1 million homes were sold in 2003, shattering the record...

Rival Makes Hostile Bid for Aventis ; a Preemptive Move by Sanofi

PARIS - French drug maker Sanofi-Synthelabo SA unveiled a hostile bid of more than $60 billion Monday for Aventis SA, its larger rival, in a deal that would create the world's third-biggest drug concern. Aventis urged its shareholders to reject the bid, saying Sanofi undervalued the company.

Movers and Shakers

Howard Rauch, of Ramsey has joined Amper, Politziner & Mattia, certified public accountants and consultants, as manager of the Litigation and Valuation Services Group. Rauch is a certified public accountant with 20 years' experience in public and private accounting, including more than nine years as a forensic accountant. He graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Also joining the firm is certified public accountant Gary Lewis, as a manager in the Tax Department. Lewis has 15 years' ex...

Nurses to Receive Back Wages for Ot ; Staffing Firm Agrees to $219,000 Payout

WAYNE - A health-care staffing company has agreed to pay almost $219,000 in back wages to 36 registered nurses who were underpaid for overtime, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The registered nurses were employed by CritiCare LLC, and worked at hospitals in New York and New Jersey.

The Children's Place Names Former Gap Exec As President

The Children's Place - the kids' clothing chain credited with one of the best retail turnaround performances of 2003 - welcomed a new top executive Monday to help steer the company in 2004 and beyond. Ezra Dabah, chairman and chief executive officer of the 693- store chain, named Neal Goldberg, 44, a former Gap executive, as president.

Find Right Mix of Stocks, Bonds

Asset allocation - the way an investor divides holdings among stocks, bonds, and cash - is widely viewed as the most important factor in long-term results. The idea is to get the bigger returns historically provided by stocks, while reducing your overall risk by putting some money into bonds and keeping a super-safe reserve in cash, which means bank accounts or money markets.

Use This Tool to Assess Stock Before Investing

Whenever a company generates earnings, there are four main things it can do with that profit. It can pay shareholders a dividend, pay down its debt, buy back shares of its company stock, or reinvest in operations. Return on equity reveals how effectively reinvested earnings (and capital that shareholders originally invested in the company) are used to generate additional earnings. For example, profits might be used to acquire another company. Or a new factory might be built, increasing the fi...

Briefly

Profit optimism drives Dow up U.S. stocks advanced as reports by companies such as Safeco Corp. and Lexmark International Inc. spurred optimism that corporate profits will exceed investors' expectations. The Dow Jones industrial average reached its highest since June 2001.

Martha's Panel ; Jurors Selected for Stewart Stock Case

NEW YORK - Women outnumber men eight to four on the jury that will decide Martha Stewart's fate - a panel that includes a clergywoman, a man who lost money because of Enron's collapse, and a woman who says the government should move faster to prosecute corporate scandals. The jury, culled by lawyers from a pool of hundreds, was seated Monday to decide whether Stewart lied to investigators about a well- timed stock sale in 2001. Opening statements were set for this morning.

Greenspan Speaks, Wall St. Peaks ; Dow Rises 134 to a 31-Month High

NEW YORK - Encouraging words from Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan sent stocks soaring Monday as investors looked forward with renewed enthusiasm to upcoming earnings reports. The Dow Jones industrials reached a 31-month high, rising more than 130 points. The markets got a late-day boost from Greenspan, who told an economic conference in London that he was confident that jobs lost during the recent recession could be replaced. He also warned U.S. policymakers against putting up protect...

Blacks Paying Most for Loans at Car Dealers, Report Says ; Markup Said to Cost All Buyers $1b a Year

Car buyers are paying as much as $1 billion a year when auto dealerships mark up interest rates on their loans, a consumer organization said Monday. Hardest hit are African-Americans and Hispanics, the Consumer Federation of America said.

Schering's Quarterly Decline Is 2nd in Row ; Hepatitis Drug Sales Fall; Company to Cut Jobs

Schering-Plough Corp. posted its second straight quarterly loss Monday and said it would cut jobs this year to reach cost-saving goals. Hurt by lower sales of its hepatitis C drugs, the Kenilworth- based drug maker reported a $181 million loss in the fourth quarter, compared with $313 million in net income in the similar period in 2002. The company reported a $92 million net loss for 2003, the first full-year loss since the merger that created Schering-Plough more than 30 years ago.