The MLB Network springs to life Thursday evening, a lavish $54 million network venture, direct from Secaucus, N.J.

There was good news in the early hours for tiny tots in New York, Los Angeles and other large cities: The ?Sponge Bob? blackout has been avoided.

Reuters - Commodities, until six months ago the darling of investors and an out-performing asset class, sealed their worst year on record with accelerating losses in the fourth quarter of the year, data showed on Thursday.

The Russian monopoly shut the entire flow of natural gas for Ukraine?s consumption after negotiations unraveled.

Mr. Hofmann acted as an informer for the Allies while serving on the staff of the German commandants and later became a foreign correspondent for The New York Times.

Russia stops gas supplies to Ukraine after the collapse of talks to resolve a row over unpaid bills and gas prices.

Reuters - Wells Fargo & Co said it has completed its roughly $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp, a big bet that it properly assessed the risks in Wachovia's huge book of mortgage and real estate loans.

BusinessWeek Online - When times are tough, people tend to hold on to what they have that much more tightly. But for those who can get beyond that psychological response, there's a silver lining in today's combination of depressed asset values and low interest rates: Transferring assets to the next generation has rarely been less costly.

As concern about student debt rises, promotional relationships between schools and banks have sounded alarm bells.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp completed its purchase of Merrill Lynch & Co on Thursday, creating the largest U.S. bank and perhaps one of the biggest challenges yet for longtime Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis.

There was good news in the early hours for tiny tots in New York, Los Angeles and other large cities: The ?Sponge Bob? blackout has been avoided.

The Russian energy monopoly Gazprom shut the flow of natural gas in a move that could spell shortages for Europe.

AP - Playing it safe paid off in 2008 for Tom Forester and David Ellison, two standout mutual fund managers in a year when winning meant losing less money than the competition.

Russia assures EU countries they will face no disruption after it halted gas supplies to Ukraine in a row over payment.

Reuters - Oil prices fell 3 percent on Friday, kicking off 2009 on a weak note as traders bet a late-day rally that drove up prices 14 percent on Wednesday was overdone.

The steel industry, a bellwether for the state of the nation?s economy, is looking to government for a huge public investment program: up to $1 trillion over two years.

Dairy farmers have a dilemma: what to do with cows and a growing glut of milk as prices drop sharply.

An executive with knowledge of the negotiation said that Time Warner had given in and agreed to pay a higher fee to MTV Networks for its 20 cable networks.

French aristocrat and professional investor Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet committed suicide after struggling with his role in the fraud.

An indicator of the economic doldrums in South Korea: Seoul?s obsession with plastic surgery is waning, and once-crowded clinics are closing.

Maurice Lévy, chief executive of the Publicis Groupe, is facing a difficult economic environment with acquisitions in digital media and developing countries.

With the United States, Western Europe and Japan all in recession and unlikely to emerge quickly, whatever meager growth there is will be concentrated in emerging markets.

The chemicals maker, controlled by the investor Len Blavatnik, is looking to restructure debt that financed its $12.7 billion merger a year ago.

In tough economic times, bypassing the agencies can make good sense.

The Swiss bank agreed to sell a stake in its global investors business to Aberdeen Asset Management for 250 million British pounds ($361 million) in stock after losses at the unit.

India?s exports fell for a second consecutive month, adding pressure on the central bank to cut interest rates.

Hungary?s current-account deficit widened more than expected in the third quarter as imports increased faster than exports and investors took money out of the country.

Australia is beginning a spending program of 17 billion Australian dollars ($11.8 billion) to stimulate the economy amid the global financial crisis.

The Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings are still struggling to fill their stadiums for this weekend?s wild-card games. If they fall short, the games will not be shown on local television.

After a catastrophic year for global markets, analysts are cautioning investors not to expect the big rebound that usually follows a sharp downturn.

The story of Liu Yongxing ? a former factory worker who is now listed by Forbes as the wealthiest person in China ? is a peek into the changes facing China.

An indicator of the economic doldrums in South Korea: Seoul?s obsession with plastic surgery is waning, and once-crowded clinics are closing.

Downloadable applications available for new cellphones can be fun, quirky and even useful.

Reuters - Oil prices fell more than 4 percent on Friday, kicking off 2009 on a weak note as traders bet a late-day rally that drove up prices 14 percent on Wednesday was overdone.