That's when the stock market began its biggest rally in years, propelling the bellwether Dow Jones industrial average through a record close that had had stood unchallenged for more than six years. The Dow soared through the 12,000 barrier and kept going, closing at a record high 21 times at last count. Over five months the broad Standard & Poor's 500 jumped more than 15 percent, leaving the market poised for its best year since 2003, when it was bouncing back from an awful three-year bear market.
Much of the rally was driven by wealthy individuals pouring money into hedge funds, which snapped up dozens of publicly held companies and drove share prices higher. By year's end, Wall Street executives were rolling in greenbacks, with at least two CEOs raking in more than $40 million each in year-end bonuses.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","2. Housing slump","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_housingMarket.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Tim Boyle", "Getty Images", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "2. Housing market slides after long boom
The era of Americans using their homes at ATMs ended this year as the housing market’s rapid cooling. With sales and appreciation rates falling or leveling in most markets, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in May flatly declared “the boom is over.”
As BusinessWeek reported in October, there was some cause for optimism. That month the National Association of Home Builder’s housing-market index ticked up from 30 to 31. Mild as the gain was, it did end 12 months of declines from 68 a year earlier. Homeowners have also had the advantages of relatively low mortgage rates. Though as the year ended there was a rise in the amount of late payments -– and the specter of adjustable mortgage rates adjusting up for those who used them to get in on the mad rush to buy a home.
As 2007 approached there was cause for some optimism amid the bleak outlook. BusinessWeek reported that interest rates should stay at historic lows and predicted -– for those in it for the long haul –- the market might actually be poised for a 2009 comeback. The magazine noted, however, that home prices will continue to fall and price appreciation will slow in most markets throughout 2007.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","3. HP spy scandal","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_dunn.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Lawrence Jackson", "AP file", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "3. HP’s Dunn’s resigns after corporate spying scandal
Hewlett-Packard Co. found itself suddenly in the scandal spotlight. In September, HP disclosed it hired investigators who lied to gain access to phone records and other information about board members who discussed company business with journalists. Congress passed a law outlawing this practice, known as pretexting, days after the company agreed on Dec. 7 to pay $14.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer accusing the company of unfair business practices.
\"If I knew then what I know now, I would have done things very differently,\" former board chairwoman Patricia Dunn, picured above, told a congressional panel investigating the scheme. Still, she said, \"I do not accept personal responsibility for what happened.\"
Prosecutors aren't buying her excuses. They've filed criminal charges against Dunn and four others. Dunn resigned in September.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","4. Enron's final chapter","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_enron.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Jessica Kourkounis", "AP file", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "4. Enron’s final chapter: Lay dies, Skilling jailed
Another high-profile business case unfolded in Houston where former Enron chairman Ken Lay, pictured above, and CEO Jeffrey Skilling were convicted in May of defrauding investors.
Convictions of the two executives looked like the final act of the Enron drama, but Lay died in Aspen before he was sentenced and federal judge vacated his conviction, halting a federal effort seeking millions from Lay’s estate. Skilling, 53, reported to a Federal prison in Minnesota Dec. 13 to begin a sentence of 24 years and four months.
\"Our stockholders and our owners knew exactly what they needed to know,\" Skilling said during his testimony at the four-month trial. But he failed to win the jury's sympathy and was sentenced to more than 24 years in jail.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","5. Motown struggles","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_ford.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Rebecca Cook", "Reuters file", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "5. Struggling Ford, GM shed thousands of jobs
2006 was a year of promises for the U.S. automotive industry, with General Motors and Ford pledging to repair their ailing businesses with massive restructuring programs to compete with fierce competition from overseas rivals like Japan’s Toyota. Both U.S. companies pressed forward with plans to pare vehicle production, shutter plants and cut thousands of workers.
GM appeared to reap the benefits of its turnaround plan in the fall when it reported a much narrower quarterly earnings loss of $115 million for the third quarter, compared with $1.7 billion a year earlier. By contrast Ford, which began its restructuring later than GM, still looked in danger, with its new CEO Alan Mulally admitting in October that it lost $7 billion during the first nine months of the year and is unlikely to return to profitability until 2009.
The Big Three domestic automakers got another boost in October when consumers, lured by lower gas prices, started buying trucks and sport utility vehicles again, halting a yearlong slump in sales. But analysts caution more work lies ahead for Detroit in 2007, with thorny union negotiations ahead and Toyota expected to overtake both GM and Ford, becoming the world’s top automaker.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","6. Gas prices soar","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_highGasPrice.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "James A. Finley", "AP", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "6. Gas prices soar to record, approaching $4 a gallon
As the summer driving season approached, a combination of lingering refinery outages from the 2004 hurricane season -- along with a shift to new environmental rules on fuel blends -- brought bigger-than-normal spikes in gasoline prices. Despite promises for relief from the White House, the price of a gallon of gas shot past $3 a gallon and stayed there for most of the summer.
But the seasonal, end-of-summer price drop also came faster and harder than usual. From mid-August to Halloween, the average price of a gallon of gas fell nearly 30 percent, as lower oil prices sparked a sell-off by market speculators that had a hand in the original price run-up.
Though lower winter demand has helped stabilized prices, don’t be surprised by price spikes again in 2007, say analysts.
“My bet is that the market is going to continue to be extraordinarily bipolar,” said Tom Kloza at Oil Price Information Service after this fall’s price plunge. “And the difference between the lowest price you pay in any calendar year is going to be more than a dollar. And that could mean $1.75 to $3.50.”";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","7. Wal-Mart assailed","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_walmart.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Charles Rex Arbogast", "AP", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "7. Wal-Mart assailed for business practices
It seemed a week didn’t go by in 2006 where mega-retailer Wal-Mart wasn’t in the news. Increasingly targeted by unions, politicians and community activists, the nation’s largest retailer spent the year continuing to defend itself about its labor practices, its reliance on low-cost products imported from China, and its never-ending expansion plans that some say hurts small local businesses.
But with all the attacks from the outside, the biggest news concerning the retailer in 2006 was the damage Wal-Mart did to itself – ahead of the key holiday shopping season, the discount chain decided to add more upscale products and a hipper line of apparel offerings.
The result: Wal-Mart’s holiday sales badly missed its targets, forcing it to resort to deep price cuts to move inventory.
On the positive side, Wal-Mart rolled out a program to offer $4 generic drugs through its in-store pharmacies that created some much-needed positive PR for the company. But 2007 will likely bring even more scrutiny of the world’s largest retailer about its impact on the U.S. economy.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","8. Backdating scandal","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_steveJobs.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Dima Gavrysh", "AP", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "8. Scores of companies caught in backdating scandal
News that executives and directors manipulated their option grants to inflate their gains rocked the executive suite. At least 195 companies disclosed Federal or internal investigations and at least 59 senior executives or directors have left their companies as of Dec. 19. Among the highest profile to fall were UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s William McGuire, who was pushed out as the company’s chairman and CEO, and Jacob “Kobi” Alexander, the former CEO of Comverse Technology Inc., who fled to Namibia, where he is fighting extradition.
Not even Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs, pictured above, was able to avoid the scandal.
Allegations of such questionable behavior first hit in March, and like a virus quickly spread.
\"The backdating of stock option grants is akin to picking lottery numbers on the day after the winning numbers are announced,\" said a shareholder lawsuit against Caremark Rx Inc., one of the companies being investigated. Caremark officials have denied any wrongdoing.
The toll of the stock options timing affair -- corporate America's scandal of the year -- has been heavy. Federal officials say more prosecutions will be brought in 2007 over manipulation of the timing of stock option grants to enrich top company executives.
The Justice Department will \"continue to be engaged for perhaps years to come, as we work these cases out,\" U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan, who heads a task force in northern California pursuing options timing cases, said recently at a gathering of attorneys. \"The final chapter hasn't been written yet.\"
Among the wide swath of companies caught up in internal or government investigations: Apple Computer Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc., Caremark Rx Inc., Costco Wholesale Corp., Gap Inc., The Home Depot Inc., McAfee Inc., Monster Worldwide Inc., Restoration Hardware Inc., Staples Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","9. Gates to step down","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_gates.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Robert Sorbo", "Polaris", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "9. Gates announces plan to step down from main role
Everybody saw it coming. But Bill Gates, pictured above, made it official on June 15, announcing he will transition away from a daily role at the software company he co-founded to focus on the charitable work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gates, 50, will continue on as the company’s chairman after transferring his duties over a two-year period.
“This was a hard decision for me,” said Gates, who founded the world’s largest software company with childhood friend Paul Allen in 1975. “I’m very lucky to have two passions that I feel are so important and so challenging. As I prepare for this change, I firmly believe the road ahead for Microsoft is as bright as ever.”
Gates philanthropic work got a big boost 11 days after his retirement announcement when fellow billionaire Warren Buffett said that he would donate $30 billion, the bulk of his fortune, to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. ";
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("","10. Fed snaps streak","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061214/bizten_bernanke.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Jae C. Hong", "AP file", "273", "360", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i-1].body = "10. Fed, under new chief Bernanke, stops hiking rates
New Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke took over just where Alan Greenspan left off, raising short-term interest rates by a quarter-point at each of the first two meetings he chaired. And then, after 17 straight rate hikes over two years, the Fed rested.
At first it looked like a temporary pause, but now it appears the central bank has found a sweet spot for short-term rates, including rates paid for many consumer and business loans. Meanwhile longer-term rates, including 30-year mortgage rates, have fallen, raising concerns because some investors believe the so-called inverted yield curve signals a recession ahead.
But many economists think Bernanke has helped orchestrate a smooth transition after Greenspan's legendary 17-year tenure, bringing the economy in for a so-called \"soft landing\" of continued moderate expansion."; bizyrender_061220_toptenstories[i++] = new Array("TopBizStoryVote","VOTE","","","","", "lv2", "", "", "", "", "", "", "40", "1", "", "", "", "", ""); // END editorial data