The bottom line

The cost of staying wired

The average American family will spend nearly $1,000 this year on cable television, Internet connectivity, and video games, up from about $770 in 2004. When annual cell phone charges of $1,000 or so are added in, the average family now spends as much each year to stay wired as it does on gasoline.

The New York Times

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Credit card use drops

America’s love affair with credit cards may be waning. Not only did credit card debt fall sharply last year, but the number of newly opened credit card accounts fell 46 percent in 2009 from the year before.

USA Today

Time Inc.'s golden goose

Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue, due out this week, has generated an estimated $1 billion for its parent, Time Inc., since the issue’s inception, in 1964. Last year, the online video version drew more than 46 million views.

Marketwatch.com

Mortgage Bankers Association takes a loss

The Mortgage Bankers Association has struck a deal to sell its Washington, D.C., headquarters for $41 million—well below the $79 million it borrowed to buy the building in 2007.

The Wall Street Journal

M.B.A.’s head for health care

Business students are deserting Wall Street for health care. Ten percent of the class of 2009 at Duke University’s Fuqua School have taken health-care-related jobs, up from 3 percent in 2007. At Indiana’s Kelley School, the percentage of M.B.A.’s taking health-care jobs doubled from 8 percent to 16 percent between 2007 and 2009.

BusinessWeek