NEW YORK - Greed isn't good, but it makes for powerful headlines.
Look back at the highlights of business news over the last year, and it's the alleged breaches of trust that stand out.
The evolving economic rebound and the stock market's comeback were among the biggest stories, too. But schemes, scandals and allegations of self-enrichment led the news in 2003, according to U.S. newspaper and broadcast editors surveyed by The Associated Press.
They named the trading abuses in the mutual fund industry as the year's biggest business story. The continuing parade of scandals involving a long list of companies and executives was chosen as the second-most important headline.
Also, stories centering on questions of trust helped to shaped the business environment over the last year, including the scandal surrounding Wall Street analysts and the furor that erupted at the New York Stock Exchange over executive pay.
Some of last year's top stories, including a succession of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and a wave of airline bankruptcies, were absent from this year's list. But this marks the second consecutive year in which scandals led our list of stories, even if the cast of characters changed a bit.
According to the AP survey of editors, these the year's top 10 business stories:
No. 1: Mutual funds abuse. They were supposed to treat all investors equally, giving individuals with small nest eggs access to professional management and instant portfolio diversity. But investigations by state and federal officials revealed that insiders and big investors were gaming the system with the help of some of the nation's most prominent fund families.
Authorities fingered executives at companies such as Putnam Investments, Invesco Funds, Pilgrim Baxter and Alliance Capital Management. And the scandal forced the departure of Richard Strong from the fund company that bears his name.No. 2: Corporate scandals. How to explain a $6,000 shower curtain? Or a chief executive who shows shareholders a video of himself singing the "Honk if You Love Honkytonk" ditty? Chalk both up to another year of scandals centered on some of the nation's most well-known business figures.
A succession of investigations laid out disturbing revelations about dealings centered on HealthSouth Corp. and its former chief, Richard Scrushy; investment-banking star Frank Quattrone; former Tyco International titan Dennis Kozlowski; and ImClone founder Sam Waksal, with his ties to home-decorating guru Martha Stewart.
Meanwhile, the Enron investigation entered its third year, and Boeing chief Phillip Condit resigned after controversies involving the company's defense business.No. 3: Economy turns. The experts said that the recession was brief and that it ended way back in November 2001. But well into this year, businesses and workers were waiting for evidence of a turnaround that they could believe in.
The signs grew strong by fall, when figures showed that the economy grew add at an impressive 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the best pace in nearly two decades, with even the manufacturing sector beginning to stir. But though the economy has begun to add a limited number of jobs, the employment market remains a major question mark.No. 4: Stocks rebound. Investors were battered when the market plunged in 2000 and then were bruised as it lurched through three years of painstaking jolts and twists. But they found reason for faith in 2003, betting aggressively on corporate profits with money that helped the major indexes to soar.
No. 5: Medicare overhaul. Backed by President George W. Bush, a Republican-controlled Congress took hold of a signature issue for Democrats, pushing through legislation that will create a new prescription-drug benefit for older Americans. But the measure, including huge subsidies for health insurers, drew fire from many critics, pitting factions in each party against one another and sparking outrage among some seniors who saw the AARP's endorsement of the measure as a betrayal.
No. 6: Wall Street research. In the frenzy of the bull market, investors made their bets, in part, by listening to the Wall Street analysts paid to study companies. But state and federal regulators, led by Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, exposed widespread evidence that analysts had inflated their ratings to win firms' favor. The investigation led to a $1.4 billion settlement with some of the nation's largest investment firms.
No. 7: NYSE uproar: Dick Grasso, chairman of the world's richest financial market, tried to quell criticism in August by forgoing $48 million in accrued pay. But that still left him with nearly $140 million, and he resigned when he and the exchange's board were lambasted by regulators and traders.
Grasso's departure led to an overhaul of the board and its governance procedures, with a new chief, John Thain of Goldman Sachs, set to take over in January.No. 8: Blackout whodunnit: The largest blackout in U.S. history cut power to homes and businesses from the Northeast to the upper Midwest and parts of Canada in mid-August. But even before the lights came back on, the questions began. Energy officials eventually pinned responsibility on power-line failures in Ohio that investigators said should have been contained by operators at FirstEnergy Corp.
No. 9: Prescription drugs: Fed up with high prices, U.S. consumers increasingly turned to Internet pharmacies from Canada and middlemen to buy cheaper prescription drugs. But the pharmaceutical industry struck back, cutting down on shipments to Canada while regulators worked to shut down storefront discounters.
No. 10: China trade: Chinese factories pumped out exports, with the largest share going to U.S. consumers. The trend could lead to a $120 billion U.S. trade deficit with China next year, by far the largest in history with any country.
Several other stories also received votes in this year's survey.No. 11: Cell-phone users won the right to keep their numbers even when they switch companies, despite lobbying by the industry.
No. 12: The recording industry tried to go after consumers for illegally swapping music online even as companies like Apple Computer Inc. sought profits in approved music ventures.
No. 13: Consumers and members of Congress rejected a move by federal regulators to give media companies the right to concentrate ownership of broadcast stations further.
No. 14: Federal budget shortfalls and a growing trade deficit created structural imbalances, threatening the health of the U.S. economy.
No. 15: Viruses like Slammer, Sobig and Blaster disrupted systems and frustrated computer users.
No. 16: The New York Times came under the microscope as it struggled to explain how editors failed to prevent a reporter's repeated plagiarism and fraud from making it into print.
No. 17: Russia's business world was roiled by the arrest of the country's richest man, oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, on tax-evasion and fraud charges.
No. 18: The dollar fell to record lows against the euro, a drop blamed on the U.S. budget deficit and the nation's growing trade imbalance with other nations.
No. 19: Time Warner dropped AOL from its name, three years after a much-criticized merger.
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