Today's Number: 16.7 million
       How many people were employed in manufacturing in 2000, essentially unchanged from 1999, according to a recent Census Bureau report.
       — THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER

Today's Career Talk

               Barry J. Farber, author of Dive Right In, says in his book that offers 101 steps for personal achievement that work is a lot like shoveling. You can dig a hole or create a mountain, he says. “Realize that you're shoveling either way,” Mr. Farber says. “No one breezes through life. Everyone does their share of shoveling. What you end up with depends upon you.”
       — John Eckberg

Today's Money Tip

               Giving stock as a gift? Making it from your IRA instead of a taxable account could be more worthwhile for your recipient.

        Because traditional IRAs are tax-deferred, stock holdings there don't assume a cost basis until they are distributed. Regular brokerage holdings, however, carry the basis related to when you initially bought the stock.

        Gifted stock retains its original cost basis, whether it comes from the value when distributed from the IRA or from the purchase price in a regular account. Given gains in the stock market, IRA stock typically will have a higher cost basis.

        So it could benefit a recipient more to get stock from the IRA to reduce capital gains taxes once the shares are ultimately sold.
       — Amy Higgins

Today's Company
F&W PUBLICATIONS
               MAKING ITS IMPRINT: In business since 1913, F&W fueled growth by expanding into several specialty markets. Its products included special interest magazines and books as well as independent study courses.

        PRESSING ON: By the late 1970s the company began to build on the success of its popular niche publications Writer's Market and Writer's Digest. It first entered the art market, then the how-to market, increasing its staff tenfold over 20 years. In December 1999, F&W was purchased by Citicorp Venture Capital. It has since acquired David & Charles Group Ltd., a publisher based in the United Kingdom, and Memory Makers magazine.

        CATERING TO THE CREATIVE: F&W has 10 magazine titles, seven book imprints, six special interest book clubs, a variety of educational products and a growing e-commerce presence. Its most visible titles include Writer's Digest, Family Tree, HOW magazine, I.D. Magazine, The Artist's Magazine, Popular Woodworking, Personal Journaling and Memory Makers.

        NEW DIGS: F&W occupies the art-deco style former Coca-Cola Bottling Plant in Evanston, but the company's rapid growth has dictated a midyear move to a larger facility in Kenwood.
       — Jenny Callison

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