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February 08, 2008
Insider Newsletter A weekly summary of the best in BusinessWeek and BusinessWeek.com

NEWS THIS WEEK'S TOP STORY

Will Yahoo! Feel
the Love?

Steve Ballmer's
$45 billion
marriage proposal
is fraught with risk.
But Microsoft
can't let Google
go on unchecked

Editor's Memo

This week everybody was talking about Microsoft's bid to buy Yahoo!. Our Insider top story covers the challenges that lie ahead for Steve Ballmer as he tries to drag the sleeping giant into the future. And from BusinessWeek magazine, a special report: Credit on the Edge. Now that the credit party's over, who's got clean-up detail?

We also cover innovative design, from supersonic jets to a collapsible bike, and we review the Super Bowl ads from last week's game. Click on the featured slide show to watch them again and compare your opinions with those of our reviewers. And don't miss our latest stock screen from Standard & Poor's: What Would Buffett Buy?
-- Katherine Davis

FROM THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OF BUSINESSWEEK

COVER STORY
Sinking Credit
The lending industry lowered standards too far. Now it's raising them abruptly, choking consumers when they need credit the most

IN DEPTH
On the Border: The 'Virtual Fence' Isn't Working
Presidential candidates talk big about security to the south, but so far electronic surveillance costing millions is doing little to keep illegals out

COVER STORY
Over the Limit
Americans accustomed to cheap and easy money—and an economy geared to their free-spending ways—face a harsh new reality as banks raise rates and lower ceilings on credit cards

FROM BW.COM'S TECHNOLOGY CHANNEL

NEWS ANALYSIS
Cisco's Down, and So Is Tech
Investors fear that the gearmaker's bearish forecast in the current quarter is a harbinger of slower tech growth overall

TECHNOLOGY
MySpace Users Build Up Ad Immunity
While News Corp. is thrilled about its social network's ad-revenue growth, Google and advertisers say marketing messages aren't getting through

FROM BW.COM'S SMALLBIZ CHANNEL

SALES & MARKETING
Creative Artists Confront Sales Anxiety
From jewelry designers to painters, many creative artists recoil from salesmanship. But making a living from your work requires some hard-nosed marketing savvy

NEWS
A Food Fight Over Calorie Counts
Public health officials want caloric content listed on menus. The restaurant business is biting back

SPECIAL REPORT -- RAISING CAPITAL
Your Startup on a Shoestring
How much money do you really need to start your business? Probably not what you expect, and certainly less than before the Internet

FROM BW.COM'S ASIA & EUROPE CHANNELS

CORPORATION
Poison Dumplings Kill Japanese Merger
A scandal over pesticide-tainted gyoza imported from China sparks a row and stops a deal between Japan Tobacco and Nissin Food Products

LUXURY GOODS
The People Want Champagne and Watches
Luxury goods purveyors such as LVMH are offsetting slowing sales in the U.S. with healthy profits from emerging markets like Russia and China

FROM BW.COM'S MANAGING CHANNEL

THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL HEADHUNTERS
The World's Most Influential Headhunters
BusinessWeek brings you the Top 50 within the business world

FROM BW.COM'S INNOVATION & DESIGN CHANNEL

SUPERSONIC DESIGN
A Ferrari for the Skies
Aerion's engineers have devised a radical new design for a high-flying, luxury supersonic business jet. Now, they just need a partner to make it

DESIGN • From I.D. Magazine
A Really Good Collapsible Bike
Strida 5.0 is the newest iteration in a series of foldable bikes by British designer Mark Sanders. Long available in Europe, the line finally landed in the U.S.

FROM BW.COM'S INVESTING CHANNEL

TOP NEWS
A Credit Card You Want to Toss
Bank of America abruptly notified cardholders in good standing their rates would skyrocket if they didn't opt out fast. Is BofA greedy or needy?

ON THE ISSUES
The Economy: Good News for Dems, Right?
Economic woes usually favor the challenging party in a Presidential election. But this may be one more pattern the 2008 campaign upends

S&P PROMISING GROWTH PORTFOLIO • From S&P
What Would Buffett Buy?
S&P's latest screen tracking the Berkshire bigwig's investing criteria uncovers 60 attractive names

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