Samsung Electronics in talks with Sony (BusinessWeek)
DEC. 26 12:01 P.M. ET Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chip maker, confirmed Monday that it is in talks with Sony Corp. to supply NAND flash memory chips.

MY DUMBEST INVESTMENT (The Charlotte Observer)
In February 2004, I bought 1,100 shares of fiber-optic communications company RCN Corp. The firm had some loans at high interest rates that it could not refinance, so it ended up filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. My stock was deemed worthless, as the firm simply issued new stock. Is it right to assume that if a company wants to raise money, all it has to do is void its stock and issue

How to keep college too costly (San Francisco Chronicle)
FACED WITH BILLS for the Iraq war and the Katrina rebuild, Congress is doing exactly the wrong thing. It’s cutting both the budget and taxes at the same time. No reforms, no new money — just cuts and tax breaks.