Busting the Chip Cartel
U.S. antitrust prosecutors sent 15 executives from four companies to jail for price fixing of memory chips. There was a rub: The collusion failed. (June 2008)

The Subprime in the Schoolhouse
The mortgage contagion has hit state-run investment pools that handle $200 billion in funds for schools and cities. Taxpayers are in the dark. (Jan 2008)

Ethanol's Deadly Brew
Thousands of Brazilian sugar cane workers are injured and scores die each year in the rush to produce a fuel that Presidents Bush and Lula celebrate as a path to energy independence. (Nov 2007)

Unsafe Havens
U.S. money market funds have invested $11 billion in subprime debt, much of it managed by Bear Stearns. (Oct 2007)

The Insurance Hoax
Property insurers use secret tactics to cheat customers out of payments—as profits break records. McKinsey's advice to Allstate: Use "boxing gloves" instead of "good hands." (Sep 2007)

The Ratings Charade
Subprime mortgages have swept into the booming collateralized debt obligation market, often in CDOs awarded the highest grades by Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch. (Jul 2007)

The Poison in Your Pension
Banks are selling the riskiest CDO portions, known as toxic waste, to public pensions and state trust funds. (Jul 2007)

The Secret World of Modern Slavery
Steel used to build cars and appliances in the U.S. starts with forced labor in Brazil. (Dec 2006)

Playing the Odds
Doctors disagree on how to treat the more than 230,000 men who will learn they have prostate cancer this year in the U.S. (Sept 2006)

Lehman on the Brink
Richard Fuld built a Wall Street powerhouse. Now, he's fighting to keep it from becoming the next Bear Stearns.

BP vs. the Oligarchs
The British oil company is trying to quell a revolt by its billionaire partners in Russia that threatens a quarter of its global production.

Sour Notes for Guy Hands
Private equity firm Terra Firma has sunk almost $3 billion into a foundering icon of the music industry while artists defect, sales of CDs sink and listeners download music from the Internet.

India's Air Force
Tulsi Tanti has made billions turning Suzlon into the country's leading wind turbine maker. Now his quest to be a global powerhouse has been sidetracked by management turmoil and cracking rotor blades.

Korea's Fund Magnate
Park Hyeon Joo says he was inspired by Genghis Khan to build his Mirae Group into the first Asia-based asset management powerhouse. The swoon in world markets has put a crimp in his plans.