Citigroup

British retailer Tesco entered the U.S. market only last year but already it has managed to put Wal-Mart, the world's No. 1 retailer, on the defensive. Tesco fired the first salvo, in a battle that retailing analysts expect will intensify, by launching Fresh & Easy, a chain of 10,000-square-foot convenience stores, in cities across California, Nevada, and Arizona in November 2007. Eleven months later, Wal-Mart returned fire, taking on Tesco in Arizona with the debut of the similar-size Marketside, its first new store format in a decade.

During the tech industry's last big slump, software and hardware vendors were slow to cut costs as falling demand pummeled profits.

This time around, Oracle isn't taking chances. Oracle, the world's No. 2 software company, hit Wall Street's earnings target when it reported fiscal second-quarter results on Dec. 18, by aggressively cutting research and development, travel, and other costs as its customers curtail spending.

AT&T, one of the largest phone companies in the world, has fallen victim to economic turbulence. AT&T announced Thursday it will cut four percent of its workforce, or 12,000 jobs.

With 303,530 employees worldwide and $120 billion in pro-forma revenue in 2007, AT&T said the cuts are the result of a poor economy and an effort to reorganize and focus on specific businesses within the company, including wireless, broadband and video.

Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed a plan to allow public companies to begin using international accounting standards for reporting financial results in two years, and may require them to do so starting in 2014.

The push by the Securities and Exchange Commission toward acceptance of a single, global accounting standard has raised objections from some investor advocates and key lawmakers. Supporters of the change say it makes sense in an era of increasingly globalized financial markets and would help lure foreign companies to U.S. markets.

Amazon will ship new versions of its Kindle e-book reader before year's end. The original reader launched last November sold out in its first week and had Amazon scrambling to fill holiday orders. While sales have been brisk, estimates vary.

An old name in retail was hit by a modern scourge -- a hack of its customers' credit card numbers -- but didn't inform the consumers, revealing how data breaches might be heavily undercounted even with new notification laws.

Apple sold a million iPhones in the U.S. in the first 76 days. But will the Mac-maker reach its announced goal of 10 million units this year?

Analysts are betting the answer is yes, and then some. Indeed, some pundits are forecasting Apple is on track to sell 20 million in 2009.

Apple has sold about five million 2G iPhones worldwide, and some analysts estimate the total is closer to six million. Others say the company could not meet its 10 million goal if the new 3G iPhone had not debuted at a lower price.

Morgan Stanley's Bet