Wal-Mart unexpectedly announced the retirement of its current Chief Executive Officer H. Lee Scott. He will be replaced by Mike Duke. Scott will remain as chairman of the board. Wal-Mart remains one of the few companies actually benefiting from the recession as more buyers turn to the store in order to save. Mike Duke will be tasked with how to keep these new customers in the years to come.

Verizon will be directly competing with Comcast with its new FiOS TV Service which allows fiber subscribers to watch TV over their fiber-optic lines. Verizon stated that it plans to provide TV service to one third of households within the next three years. Philadelphia will be one of the first cities to receive the new service.

Microsoft is looking to beat Google in becoming the default search engine on Internet enabled phones from Verizon Wireless. Under the agreement, Verizon would receive payments of $550 to $650 million over the next five years from Microsoft, nearly double Google's current offer. Although, currently the number of mobile searches is relatively small, the market is expected to drastically grow within... More

Best Buy cuts its earnings forecast, stating that full-year profits will fall well below expectations due to a large slowdown in consumer spending. Other large retailers including Target are expected to revise their earnings estimates as well.

Sprint Nextel lost 1.1 million subscribers during quarter three as the company continues to struggle to keep customers. The company posted a net loss of 11 cents a share compared to a net profit of 2 cents a share for the same quarter a year prior sending its shares down 8.4 percent to close at $3.37.

Circuit City announced Monday that it plans to close 155 under performing stores in the U.S. in order to stay a float. Some analyst predict that a bankruptcy is unavoidable at this point. Circuit City is also renegotiating its leases in order to help preserve capital.

Large retailers, including Sears and Home Depot, are expected to lose as much 8 percent of their holiday sales due to stricter leadening standards this year. According to America's Research Group, nearly a quarter of shoppers reported that banks have quietly cut their spending limits on credit cards. As consumer confidence continues to drop retailers are being hit as they enter the holiday season,... More

The Justice Department signed off on the proposed merge between Verizon Wireless and Alltel. Officials at the Justice Department stated that they would back the $28.1 million merge on the condition that the combined company divests its radio spectrum assets across the 22 states that the two companies overlap. The merge still has to gain approval of the FCC, which is scheduled to vote on the deal... More

Comcast reported a 38 percent increase in third quarter profits, as the company has been able to prosper off of higher cable TV rates. Comcast also reported that it expects to exceed its free cash flow growth forecast of at least 20 percent for its fiscal 2008.

Netflix has begun releasing video streaming for a portion of its Mac users and is planning to offer wide scale availability the end of the year. The new service is based on Microsoft's silver light technology and allows unlimited video streaming with its DVD rental service.

Verizon Communications reported that its third quarter earning rose by 31 percent despite a cut back in consumer spending. Shares traded up $2.53 or 10.1 percent, as Verizon's 1.5 million new subscribers was higher than analysts had been expecting. The company continues to see declines in its traditional line land services.

Gannet, the largest U.S. newspaper publisher, report a 32 percent decline in profits as its advertising revenues declined. The newspaper company reported third quarter income of $158 million, and it is likely that the company will need to start cutting jobs.

Comcast will be offering speeds nearly twice as fast for most of its consumers. The company reported Wednesday that DOCSIS three will allow the company to offer speeds as high 50 megabits downstream and 10 megabits upstream to consumers. It is also planning on doubling current speeds with no additional costs. Existing customers will be automatically upgraded to 12 megabits downstream and 2 megabit... More

Shares of Amazon dropped nearly 14 percent, after the company issued a profit warning cutting its annual forecast on concerns that the recession will hamper holiday consumer spending. For the quarter, Amazon reported a earnings of 27 cents a share compared to 19 cents a share for the same quarter a year prior.

Netflix reported a 30 percent rise in profits as lowered subscriber costs have increased its profit margins significantly. The company released earnings of $20.4 million or 33 cents a share, compared to $15.6 million or 23 cents a share for the same quarter a year prior.