AmeriServ Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASRV) reported third quarter 2008 net income of $1,149,000 or $0.05 per diluted share. This represents an increase of $275,000 or 31.5% over the third quarter 2007 net income of $874,000 or $0.04 per diluted share. For the nine month period ended September 30, 2008, the Company earned $3,894,000 or $0.18 per diluted share. This also represents an increase of $1,784,000 or over 84.5% when compared to net income of $2,110,000 or $0.10 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2007. The following table highlights the Company's financial performance for the both the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2008 and 2007:

TD Canada Trust lowers prime lending rate

TD Canada Trust today announced that it has lowered its prime lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.50 per cent, effective October 9, 2008.

"Like all financial institutions, we have been watching the key lending rates very closely. Continuing market turmoil has steadily driven up the cost of borrowing for financial institutions. This makes it challenging to match the Bank of Canada rate cut at this time. We recognize the efforts the Bank of Canada is making and, despite the fact that our cost of funds remains high, we have decided to reduce our rate by 25 bps. We see this as a balanced move in managing our funds and passing along the intended benefits to our customers," said Tim Hockey, President and CEO, TD Canada Trust.

"We will continue to carefully watch the effect of central bank actions and key lending rates, as well as the market's reaction and the competitive landscape, all of which we will take into consideration for future rate setting," added Hockey.

Wachovia Statement: Wachovia's Board Approves Wells Fargo Merger Proposal

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) last night presented Wachovia with a signed and Board-approved offer to purchase Wachovia Corporation as an intact company and without government assistance in a stock-for-stock merger transaction. Under the Wells Fargo proposal, each share of Wachovia common stock will be exchanged for 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo common stock, representing a value of $7 per share, based on Wells Fargo's closing stock price on Oct. 2, 2008.

Prior to receiving this proposal, Wachovia had been negotiating with Citigroup to complete a transaction supervised by the FDIC that included assistance from the government. Wachovia's Board approved Wells Fargo's offer last night.

Ciena Capital LLC Voluntarily Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) announced that Ciena Capital LLC, a portfolio company of Allied Capital, voluntarily filed for bankruptcy protection today. Ciena has continued to experience significant deterioration in the value of its assets as a result of increasing uncertainty in the financial markets, decreasing bid prices and a reduction in the number of loan buyers. Ciena, therefore, believes that the value of its assets is insufficient to cover all of its liabilities and it is insolvent. Ciena believes that by filing for bankruptcy protection it will be able to proceed with an orderly sale of its assets over time in more favorable market conditions in the future and thereby maximize the value of its assets and reduce costs in order to repay its debts.