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Today’s headlines
From scrap to Slinky

[Times photo: Michael Rondou]
The making of an old-fashioned toy from scrap metal offers a lesson in how technological advances have helped revolutionize business. It also illustrates some shortcomings.

Robert Trigaux
For Enron's cast, here are 10 little questions
We're barely out of Act One of Enron, the hottest business melodrama to hit the nation in many years. But it's already getting hard to remember the expanding cast of stars.

Helen Huntley
On money
Patriot bonds are EE savings bonds with 2 extra words

Ten tips
Brace yourself for your new baby's impact on your budget

Loose change
WEALTH AND HAPPINESS: Contrary to conventional wisdom, new research shows that money can buy happiness. Academics at the American Economics Association's annual conference in Atlanta agreed that wealth leads to a deeper sense of well-being. But there's a downside: Emotions such as jealousy come into play, and contentment diminishes when others' income rises faster.