GOOD DAY FOR: Family ties, after a record-setting December helped push the video game industry to a new annual high, with $17.9 billion in sales, a 43 percent jump over 2006. Nintentdo’s Wii console, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Sony’s PlayStation 3 all had their best Decembers ever. Hit games like “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” “aren’t just played by 25-year-old guys,” said Wedbush Morgan Securities. “They are bringing families together.” (USA Today)
BAD DAY FOR: Faith and credit, after personal information on 650,000 credit-card customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers went missing. The information, including about 150,00 Social Security numbers, was stored by GE Money at an Iron Mountain Inc. facility. “Because of the volume of information we handle and the fact people are involved, we have occasionally made mistakes,” said Iron Mountain spokesman Dan O’Neill. (AP in Los Angeles Times)
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