DuPont

While the nation's top three automobile giants are trying to convince the government that they need a bailout, other businesses are doing what they can to stay afloat even if it means slashing thousands of positions.

Today, Sony joined the growing list of companies who have had to cut a percentage of their workforce to stay competitive. Sony announced Tuesday that it will slash 8,000 positions between now and March 2010 in its electronics business, cut operation costs, and cut inventory.

BP has a lot of money, and they want to focus a big chunk into cellulosic ethanol. So, they’re partnering up with Verenium and giving the company $90 million over the next year and a half in order to gain some of Verenium’s technology and hopefully speed up commercialization of cellulosic ethanol.