Photo Illustration by The New York Times

A Reader’s Digest That Grandma Never Dreamed Of

By DAVID SEGAL

Battered by billions of dollars in debt, the magazine empire known for folksy charm is becoming less folksy (and trying to keep its charm).

Times Topics: Reader's Digest

My Initiation at Store 5476

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM

A reporter takes on a holiday challenge: what it’s like to be one worker in the army it takes to run a Wal-Mart store in New Jersey.

A phone using the Google Goggles application snaps a picture of the London Eye, left, and gets results at right.

Snap and Search (No Words Needed)

By MIGUEL HELFT

Google’s data centers distribute images among hundreds or even thousands of computers to identify them.

Times Topics: google

Career Couch

As a New Manager, Get to Know Your Team

By EILENE ZIMMERMAN

Talk to your workers to learn their career goals, then assist in achieving them.

The Boss

You Win if You Finish

Almost 28 years after seeing his first Ironman triathlon, Ben Fertic leads the organization that runs the events.

Mortgages

Eliminating ‘He Said, She Said’ on Loan Modifications

By BOB TEDESCHI

An industry group is rolling out an online portal that could eliminate many issues with mortgage modifications.

More Mortgage Columns

Novelties

David Boone, the chief technology officer at Orthocare Innovations, uses sensor data from its Compas system to better align the protheses of patients.

Fitting Prosthetic Limbs, via a Computer

By ANNE EISENBERG

By tracking a patient’s gait, a new system helps clinicians find the best alignment for a prosthetic leg.

Iran Claims an Oil Field It Seized

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS and SA'AD AL-IZZI 10 minutes ago

The Iranian government said that an oil field its troops occupied a day earlier was on its side of the border with Iraq.

New Group Seeks to Bring Greener Power to Marin

By KATHARINE MIESZKOWSKI

With holiday lights glowing around Marin County, a debate is heating up from Belvedere to Novato about who should procure the electricity that keeps them lighted.

Off the Shelf

The Wealthy as Crusaders for Justice

By HARRY HURT III

In more than 733 pages in “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!”, Ralph Nader imagines the Ross Perots reshaping the world to benefit the regular Joes.

Times Topics: Ralph Nader

Shoppers at the Toys “R” Us flagship store in Manhattan the Friday after Thanksgiving, when the chain’s doors opened at 12 a.m.

Toys ‘R’ Us Trims Losses by Making a Hamster Hot

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM

Toys “R” Us is identifying and promoting the next hot toy as part of a new commitment to service and supply that is helping it achieve a turnaround.

Times Topics: Toys "R" Us

Lands' End's lenient policies allowed the return of this taxicab two decades after it was bought.

Nice Gift, but Ask if You Can Return It

By TARA SIEGEL BERNARD

Many stores have changed their rules regarding returns and exchanges since last year’s holiday shopping season, meaning consumers need to be more diligent.

Forty Years' War

KEEPING IT PERSONAL Advertisements by leading cancer treatment centers have made bold claims.

Cancer Center Ads Use Emotion More Than Fact

By NATASHA SINGER

Advertisements for cancer centers can get away with statements that would be off-limits to drug makers.

The first Saab prototype 92001 automobile sits on display at the Saab motor museum in Trollhaettan, Sweden last month.

A Lament for Saab, Quirky but Loved

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

Auto enthusiasts across the U.S. were dismayed that G.M. was planning to close Saab, a maker of quirky but revered cars.

Business Headlines

More Multimedia

Interactive: Timeline: The Selling of the Cellphone -- and Warnings Unheeded

Since 1984, when car phones came into fashion, they were quickly marketed to drivers as a means to mobile freedom.

Interactive Feature: C.E.O. Compensation: The Pay at the Top

A look at 2008 compensation for chief executives at 198 major companies.

Interactive Graphic: The Jobless Rate for People Like You

Not all groups have felt the recession equally.

This week: Jeff Sommer and David Leonhardt on health care reform and innovation, Tim O’Brien and David Segal on the big makeover at Reader’s Digest, Eric Dash on banks leaving a federal umbrella; and Gretchen Morgenson on errors in pension accounting.

Subscribe: iTunes

Today's Columnist

Fair Game

Mercer’s Little Alaska Problem

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON 2:10 PM ET

A suit seeking $2.8 billion in damages from Mercer, the human resources consultant, could have longer consequences for actuarial firms.

Columnist Page

Your Money

Americans Are Finally Saving. How Did That Happen?

By RON LIEBER

The American savings rate hit a 16-year high in the spring, and the reasons went beyond the poor economy. Tighter credit and retirement accounts played a part.

How much money did you save in 2009, and why?

Toxic Waters

This Los Angeles reservoir contained chemicals that sunlight converted to compounds associated with cancer. The city used plastic balls to block the sun, but nearby homeowners asked why, if the water didn't violate the law.

That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy

By CHARLES DUHIGG

The federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose serious health risks.

Forget Ideology; Let’s Fix the Economy

Albert Koch, a turnaround veteran at AlixPartners who helped restructure General Motors, argues in Another View that pragmatism, not ideology, will be important to reworking the bankruptcy process.

Go to DealBook

Exxon should succeed where Conoco blundered

December 17, 2009

Funds at loggerheads over trapped Lehman cash

December 17, 2009

Carlyle and Goldman get greedy on oil patch IPO

December 16, 2009

Corner Office

What Makes You Roar? He Wants to Know

Jeffrey Swartz, the president and C.E.O. of the Timberland Company, says employees should be ready to acknowledge the “human inside the shell.”

More Corner Office Columns »

Steve Franklin with his 7-year-old twin daughters, Imogen, left, and Sheridan.

The Card Game

U.S. Looks to Australia on Credit Card Fees

By KEITH BRADSHER

After a law forced a cut in transaction fees, some merchants and banks added new charges for customers that were, sometimes, higher than the old ones.