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Digest
Five big stories of the week
By JEFF HARRINGTON
Published January 7, 2007
1. Home Depot ousts CEO Bob Nardelli, right, agrees to resign under pressure. WHAT IT MEANS: Nardelli expanded the home-improvement chain's sales during his six-year reign. But investors were irked by the retailer's depressed stock price, Nardelli's lavish compensation and his brusque management style. He exits with a $210-million golden parachute; Home Depot is left grappling with internal problems and vigorous competition from Lowe's Cos. 2. A new twist to DVD wars Warner Bros. is introducing a high-definition DVD that can use both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. WHAT IT MEANS: It's been billed as a war akin to when VHS and Betamax battled for videotape dominance in the 1980s. Will Blu-ray or HD DVD emerge as the dominant DVD format? Now users won't necessarily have to choose, raising the prospect the two formats can co-exist - though perhaps not harmoniously. 3. FTC fines marketers of diet pills Marketers of four weight-loss drugs are hit with a $25-million fine for deceptive advertising. WHAT IT MEANS: Look for a makeover on a rash of diet pill ads, such as the omnipresent TrimSpa ads featuring testimonials from Anna Nicole Smith, left. The FTC blasted marketers for making claims that the diet pills promised rapid weight loss and the reduction in the risk of osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and even cancer. But the products will stay on store shelves. 4. Record-breaking auto show gears up Automakers spend big to prep for the North American International Auto Show, which starts this week. WHAT IT MEANS: It's the 100th anniversary of the big annual auto show in Detroit and automakers have committed more than $200-million in exhibits to note the occasion. The big question: Can struggling American giants GM, Ford and the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler offer models that compete favorably with those of the top Japanese automakers? 5. Wal-Mart's workplace shakeup Wal-Mart revamps how it schedules its work force. WHAT IT MEANS: The human resources departments of many companies are watching how workers react to this experiment from the country's biggest private employer. In a bid to improve efficiency, Wal-Mart is using a new computerized schedule to move its 1.3-million workers from predictable shifts to a system based on the number of customers in stores. The downside: Ask its rank-and-file employees.
[Last modified January 6, 2007, 20:15:05]
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