Top Business Stories of 2006
Housing slump on top, corporate scandals dominate

The slowdown in US housing market – marked by a sudden stall in home sales, home construction and home prices - has been voted as the top business story of the year by U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by the Associated Press. The world has been keenly watching as to what the housing slump means for the economy and how the US Fed is going to respond. Also, how all this will affect the rest of the world economy.

Stories relating to corporate scandals dominate the list – Enron, options backdating scandal and the HP spying case. While the climb of Dow Jones to a new peak features at no. 10, the troubles of US automakers are ranked higher. Other stories included in the list of top 10 business stories are the surge in oil and gas prices, a pause in the interest rate hikes by US Fed and China's economic growth with burgeoning trade surplus with the US. Here is the top 10 list –

1. Housing slips
2. Enron's final act
3. Backdating scandal
4. Auto woes
5. Oil prices
6. Fed halts
7. Gas prices
8. HP spying
9. China tiger
10. Record Dow

Besides top 10, these are some other important stories listed by the survey - private equity on a buying spree, Warren Buffett's philanthropy, sagging sales at Wal-Mart, steping down of Bill Gates as chief software architect at Microsoft, Google's purchase of YouTube and AT&T -BellSouth deal .

A list of top 10 business stories selected by MSNBC.com features the stock market surge as its top story and housing slump at number two. Here goes the complete list-

1. Wall Street surges
2. Housing slump

3. HP spy scandal
4. Enron's final chapter
5. Motown struggles
6. Gas prices soar
7. Wal-Mart assailed
8. Backdating scandal
9. Gates to step down
10. Fed snaps streak

While saying that “2006 was a wild year” - from Wall Street records to soaring gas prices, MSNBC has this to say on its top story:

"As recently as mid-July, it was looking like another ho-hum year for Wall Street. After a dispiriting spring slump in the stock market, the major indicators were barely above water for the year. The economy was showing signs of slowing, and gas prices were driving energy sharply higher.

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 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.”

The other big story of the year is “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 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.”

My Wish List for 2007

As we enter 2007, I hope that the US economy will escape the looming recession, rest of the world will find ways to offset the effect of the US slowdown, there will be fewer scandals in the corporate world, less volatility in the financial markets, more wealth creation with progress towards more equitable distribution, steps to contain the climate shifts and of course fewer wars.