Industry News
Portfolio.com keeps you up to date on industries that affect all businesses, big and small.
The New Risk: Pretty Much Like the Old
Portfolio.com's financial columnists have spent the last 16 months exploring whether we've learned anything from the financial crisis. Here's a distillation of what they found—and a warning that the next crisis may already be taking shape. Read more
Banking and Finance
Banks Sow Seeds of Next Crisis
Banks are doing their best to revive the excesses of 2006, which led to the financial crisis and recession. Despite a plethora of new laws and regulations, regulators have given financial institutions enough wiggle room and loopholes to have their way.
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Wall Street Earns Its Lump of Coal
Large financial institutions are profitable again, even if they are cutting bonuses—if only to avoid the unemployed pitchfork brigade. Here's a look at how bankers, traders, and their supposed overseers in government can be rewarded for the holidays. Read more
We, the Debtors
When all is said and done, the federal debt doesn't really belong to the government. It's the peoples' debt, and the people are going to have to cut it and share the sacrifice.
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Advertising and Marketing
Smile, You’re F-ing Famous: Lady Gaga Demos Polaroid Camera Shades
Wearing a subdued—for her—all-black outfit and veil, Lady Gaga did her big Polaroid reveal at the CES show in Las Vegas, with a line she created that included sunglasses that take and display photographs.
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Kansas Gov Gets His Own Brew…Who’s Next?
Welcome to the governorship, Sam Brownback: Now here’s a pint of something cold, frosty, and named just for you, and we’re not talking a strawberry smoothie.
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'Tis the Season to Return
Retailers dread post-holiday returns, but the way your business handles an unhappy customer can make the difference between creating a lasting and prosperous relationship or burning a valuable bridge.
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Health Care
Could Salvia’s Next Trip Be as a Cure?
With teen pop star Miley Cyrus now among the experimental users of salvia, the herb is under a fresh critical microscope. But researchers say the natural psychedelic can be put to good use.
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An Air of Legitimacy
Seth Ginsberg believes medical marijuana is an important drug for patients with certain diagnoses, and he's inviting doctors and other experts to explain how pot can help those who need it most: the sick. Read more
Better Drugs by Design
Deciding which drugs to develop for human testing is a costly and largely flawed endeavor. But a small company is using high tech and Google’s algorithm model to make the process more successful. Read more
Media
Business Goes to the Movies
In an era of high drama for the business world, filmmakers find material for a range of movies. Here's a look at some of their most memorable efforts for 2010.
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Following a More Private Path
If Facebook is about the breadth of your social network, newly launched iPhone app Path is about its depth. And with the backing of two social-networking veterans—Napster's Shawn Fanning and Facebook's David Morin—the project has the potential to break through a crowded landscape. Read more
Meet Pakistan's Real Revolutionaries
Pakistani entrepreneurs are in business not just for themselves, but also their country. And some have even been able to sell Silicon Valley on their homeland.
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Technology
Facebook's $50 billion Valuation
Top business news: An infusion of cash from Goldman Sachs values Facebook at $50 billion, and lawmakers prepare for debt showdown.
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Zuckerberg Steams Through Controversies
Mark Zuckerberg steered his company past the 500-million-user landmark, as Facebook added revenue and its valuation soared. But 2010 wasn't all smooth sailing, and Zuckerberg's skill in steering through the storms landed him in a place poised for continued growth.
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Bezos Steers Amazon at Warp Speed
Amazon.com, fresh off setting a new record with Kindle sales and a strong year in the midst of economic chaos, owes plenty to the leadership of its Star Trek-loving CEO, landing Jeff Bezos the title of Executive of the Year from the Puget Sound Business Journal.
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Sports
Small Business, Big Game
Small businesses in and around Dallas are getting help in landing work around Super Bowl XLV through the NFL's Emerging Business Program.
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A Different Kind of Football Score
The New Orleans Saints may have won the Super Bowl, but the Dallas Cowboys took top honors as the NFL's most successful franchise last season. Read more
'A Unique, Utterly American Character'
Ken Burns, the noted baseball documentarian, reflects on the legacy of George Steinbrenner and offers a few lessons for entrepreneurs built off the late Yankees boss' approach.As for his skills as an entrepreneur, Burns said there were
contradictions, as in everything else about the man.
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500 Startups Hits New York
Dave McClure's brainchild makes its way to New York and introduces East Coast money folks to some intriguing new companies. View Slideshow
