Today's number: 13.4% - The vacancy rate for offices in downtown New York City at the end of September, down for the first time since Sept. 11 last year but up from 6.4 percent a year earlier, a study by real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield found.

Today's Career Talk - For Steve Wilson, a former Gannett News Service reporter and author of Real People Real Crises: An Inside Look at Corporate Crisis Communications, most executives think they can wing it when it comes to interviews with reporters, even though the interview may have extremely high stakes or offer great opportunity for the company. "How many business executives go into media interviews unprepared?" he asks in the book. "The answer is scary."

Today's Money Tip - Take advantage of the bear market by converting your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The basic difference is when you pay taxes - when you put the money in or when you take it out. You might be able to put $2,000 pretax in a traditional IRA, but you'll pay ordinary income tax when you take it out. Money goes into Roth IRAs after being taxed, but then the gains can be withdrawn tax-free. You can convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, but you'll have to pay tax on the rollover amount. But that bill could be much lower today than 36 months ago because of a slimmer portfolio.

Today's Company: McCLUSKEY CHEVROLET

TRUCKIN': Dan McCluskey established his Chevrolet dealership in 1973. Several years later his son Keith joined the company, focusing on big truck sales. As a result, the company sells its medium-duty trucks to customers across the United States and in Puerto Rico. The trucks are delivered directly to their destination from manufacturing plants in Wisconsin and Michigan.

ALL SHAPES AND SIZES: Medium-duty trucks have bed sizes of 8 to 28 feet and range from 10,000-pound to 63,000-pound capacity. McCluskey sells dump trucks, box trucks, fire trucks, moving vans, flatbeds, bucket body trucks and stainless steel tank trucks.

HITTING SALES TARGETS: Having sold more than 600 units so far this year, McCluskey's truck division is on track to meet its goal of 800 sales in 2002.

WINNING WAYS: McCluskey has been named Chevrolet Motor Division's No. 1 volume dealer for customer satisfaction. It was also a national small business finalist for the 1997 National Quality Cup Competition, sponsored by USA Today and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Send your tips and questions to Bill Ferguson, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; fax 564-6991; e-mail bferguson@enquirer.com