Don't be a Scrooge

Tis the season to be...optimistic. It's been a tough year, and while we're not out of the woods yet, U.S. consumer confidence is up for the first time since 2007 and holiday sales declines are not expected to be as dramatic as last year's 3.4 percent drop. As you leaf through the 2009 Consumer Goods Registry (Page 12), you'll notice that several of the top 100 publicly-traded companies experienced losses in 2008. But we at CGT tried our best to focus on the positive by highlighting the strategies that helped companies prosper despite the economy. Also, check out the winners of our Innovation, Business & Technology Awards on Page 22 for inspiring success stories. All in all, we hope this issue helps you to be a little more optimistic about the future because -- in all honesty -- there's no where to really go but up. Happy Holidays!