Dow falls below 7,500 to lowest level in 6-years

More top stories

• Career Ed makes a strong showing in Q4

• Boeing CEO says pay freeze counterproductive

• Ricketts family raising cash for Chicago Cubs deal

• Playboy Enterprises all ears to sale, reorganization ideas

• Jim Mateja: Saturn targeted for extinction in GM's plan for survival

• Navistar trading higher after good word from Goldman Sachs

• Housing advocates see glimmer of hope in plan

• Southwest to start flying to Boston Logan

• Don Hayner named editor of the Chicago Sun-Times

• EPA: Caterpillar oil spill cleanup done

• Sprint Nextel loses $1.6B in 4Q

• GM to lay off 113 more from Janesville plant

• Oil prices move higher as crude inventories show unexpected decline

• Airbus to cut production of A320s to 34 a month from 36 as airlines adapt to slowing demand

From today's Tribune

• Payback time, and that's good

• Would you rather prepay?

• Touch and Go Records shrinking, cuts ties with independent labels

• UBS to pay $780 million, turn over Swiss banking records in tax probe settlement

• Wednesday's market movers

• Switch to a prepaid cell plan? It's your call

• Pros and cons of cell phone plans

• Wailin Wong: Bloggers, beware the 'wisdom' of crowds

• Mortgage relief plan fails to spur rally on Wall Street

• 'High-stakes drama' of organ transplants made for TV

• Jon Yates: Problem Solver has nothing but good news to report

• Norwegian American Hospital trimming 42 jobs

• Don Hayner appointed editor of Chicago Sun-Times

• Residential Loan Centers of America shuts down

• Deere reports 45% drop in profit, cuts full-year earnings forecast

• Eric Benderoff: ESPN tackles Chicago market with local Web site

From the business wire

• Lobbyist linked to McCain by New York Times settles $27M lawsuit; no payment made

• Longtime Citigroup executive John Longley takes job at Barclay's; will lead ETF expansion

• Congress could vote soon on plan to let bankruptcy judges "cram down" mortgage loans

• Mylan reports 4th-quarter loss on special items, but adjusted results top analyst estimates

• Comparing large- vs. small-cap performance after bear markets

• A list of the 30 current companies in the Dow Jones industrial average

• Accessing money from stimulus package means tax planning

• Tax planning will help you maximize benefits from the stimulus package

• FDA approves first implantable device to help treat obsessive compulsive disorder

• Swiss president calls bank secrecy safe, but experts say UBS deal shakes up 75-year tradition

• Judge orders jailed Yukos founder Khodorkovsky to Moscow for new trial

• EU nations divided over spending of euro5 billion in recovery funds from EU coffers

• US files new lawsuit in UBS bank secrets case to find tax cheats

• Auto parts maker Autoliv laying off 250 of 3,300 Utah workers

• HUD Secretary Donovan says banks must be active partners in effort to stave off foreclosures

• Blackwater says rebranding and reorganization under the new name Xe will include layoffs

• EU delays new auditing rules until US says whether it will reciprocate on oversight

• Leading economic indicators rise 0.4 percent in January, second straight month of increase

• Newmont Mining 4th-qtr adjusted profit beats estimates, revenue slips as gold sales stall

• Nestle reports 69 percent rise in 2008 net profit due largely to sale of stake in Alcon

• Newmont Mining 4th-qtr adjusted profit beats estimates, revenue slips as gold sales stall

• At Spam-maker Hormel Foods, 1st-quarter profit falls partly on weakness in refrigerated foods

• Tyson Foods offers $500M in notes, plans to use proceeds to repay debts, end receivables pacts

• South Korean unit of General Motors holds talks with state-run bank

• Wholesale inflation jumps by largest amount in 6 months, reflecting higher energy costs

• Nokia borrows euro500 million from European Investment Bank for research, development

• Poll: Fears growing about job loss, inability to pay bills and shrinking retirement funds

• French bank BNP Paribas loses euro1.37B in 4Q as crisis reaches "unprecedented magnitude"

• New York Times suspends dividend payment, generating $35 million in extra cash

• FBI track down billionaire Texan in Virginia, serve civil papers in SEC fraud case

• Widow of Fla. chain-smoker awarded $8M in damages as next in line of 8,000 lawsuits begins

• How the Dow Jones industrials and other major stock indexes fared in Thursday's trading

• Chiquita Brands posts sharply wider 4th-quarter loss on charges, woes in salad unit

• States wooing Hollywood filmmakers with tax breaks, other incentives

• Treasurys retreat as government plans to auction $94 billion in debt next week

• Venezuelans tried to evade risk through offshore bank, but found a bust

• South Beach modeling agency, once the setting of reality show, falls victim to economy

• Peanut products recalled for possible salmonella contamination

• Forget history: Small-cap stocks may not prove better than large when this bear market ends

• South Beach modeling agency, once the setting of reality show, falls victim to economy

• New jobless claims and continuing claims by state for the week ending Feb. 7

• So much for 'blue-chip' _ some investors wonder if Dow will shed its weakest stocks

• AP IMPACT: More pain for unemployed as banks turn profit on new debit card jobless benefits

• With slowdown deepening, ADB likely to cut 2009 Asian growth forecast

• Japan leaves key interest rate unchanged amid deepening recession

• Justice Department joins lawsuits against J&J; over illegal promotion of heart drug

• AP IMPACT: More pain for unemployed as banks turn profit on new debit card jobless benefits

• Federal appeals court revives case against insurers over Hurricane Katrina flood damage

• Meltdown 101: How soon will solar power become an affordable source of electricity?

• Foodmakers to push low-cost items; both Nestle, Hormel benefit as consumers cut spending

• FDA reports 3 patients died after developing brain infection associated with Genentech drug

• Procter & Gamble's chief executive says company will win on brand value

• Brazil's Embraer plane maker slashes 20 pct of work force as crisis slows jet sales

• CVS Caremark says drugstore sales rose 19 percent in 4th quarter; results top estimates

• SEC names former prosecutor Robert Khuzami enforcement director as agency faces criticism

• North Dakota crops hold nearly steady on overall value despite weaker market prices

• US regulators approve increase in Constellation Energy stake by France's EDF

• Facing a grim job market, Chinese professional women turning to work as nannies, maids

• Colombia exchange suspends local operations of brokerage in Stanford Bank fraud probe

• Prepaid phone plans can help consumers chop monthly bills if they're willing to yak a bit less

• HP banks on services as hardware, ink sales falter in recession

• Stanford lured investors with a web of lies and outsized promises, documents show

• Thanks anyway: GOP governors say they may decline some stimulus money despite budget woes

• NYC launches program to encourage entrepreneurs, attract new financial services companies

• Stanford depositors can't get their cash while politicians scramble and regulators urge calm

• Disney to consolidate certain Walt Disney World, Disneyland operations, cut "redundancies"

• General Electric CEO Immelt declines his 2008 bonus and long-term performance award

• CBS slashes dividend as 4th quarter profits drop 52 percent

• Hard times for GM and Chrysler leave no easy solutions for Obama autos team

• Comcast 4th-qtr profit falls on Clearwire write-down but revenue, adjusted earnings rise

• Freddie Mac says average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages falls to 5.16 percent

• CFOs delaying retirement too, no big buys in the works, finding good coffee on the cheap

Top tech stories

• Steve Johnson: President Barack Obama's plunger photo and Michelle Obama's dresses

• Steve Johnson: Last week's 5 most viewed stories on chicagotribune.com

• Steve Johnson: Obama doodle, vampire canoodle

• Download a Mississippi River tour guide

• Find fall's veins of gold by leafing through the Internet

From the tech wire

• Review: $200 Verizon Hub manages to breathe new life into the humble home phone

• Judge deems lawsuit over Microsoft's 'Vista Capable' marketing no longer a class action

• Facebook temporarily reverses terms of use policy following torrent of protests

• Hewlett-Packard cuts 2009 guidance, projects 2nd-quarter income below analysts; shares fall