I recently wrote about my latest plan for averting financial disaster by selling one of the two vital organs currently processing urine and regulating electrolytes and homeostatic function on each side of my abdomen. After all, in these times, we all need to find ways to cut back. Of course, I wasn't entirely serious about the idea, although by the end of my conversation with Dr. Sally Satel, herself the recipient of a donated kidney and a leading expert on the flaws in the country's organ donor system, I was definitely giving the idea more thought. Satel and I surmised from several recent news events that many more white-collar unemployed might be feeling the same way, if they hadn't hocked a kidney already.

Well, we're no longer surmising. Despite the five-year prison sentence that such a transaction could carry should the authorities catch wind of it, more than two dozen readers wrote in brazenly offering a spare kidney for sale. Prices ranged from $250,000 down to one offer of "$65,000.00 cash! plus all expenses -- I'd hop on the table so fast."

Two weeks ago, in a post about AT&T's spotty third generation wireless coverage, I posed a simple question: "How about an announcement telling customers how AT&T has been working with Apple to help boost the quality of its iPhone service?"

Now, that seems to be exactly what is happening. AT&T (T) reported on Tuesday that it had spent $65 million upgrading its wireless network in San Francisco since 2008. The phone company said it upgraded about 850 cell sites because of the rising demand put on its network since the iPhone started selling two years ago. That's good news to many iPhone users, whose phone has become synonymous with "dropped calls."

Uh oh, Is Amazon.com (AMZN), an example of Bubble 2.0?

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Why Ron Paul is wrong about everything he says on the economy.

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Interesting to see which are the best stocks of the decade.

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The comic book industry may not able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but it has withstood the worst economic decline since the Great Depression fairly well.

According to industry estimates, sales to specialty retailers rose 1% to $324.66 million between January and September. Experts say that it's too soon to say whether they will show a gain for the year because of the importance of holiday sales. But if sales do decline, it would be the industry's first drop-off since 2000. Those figures do not include sales of comics and graphic novels at Barnes & Noble (BKS) and other book store chains.

Next time you're flying coach on Delta Airlines (DAL), and you want an almond butter and grape jelly sandwich or a grilled chicken gyro, you'd better have a credit or debt card handy. The jelly sandwich is $4, the gyro $8 -- and cash transactions for food will soon be history.

In the wake of the September 11 terror attacks eight years ago, airlines cut their free food service, citing financial woes. We've all gotten used to that. But at least they used to take cash. Now they're increasingly declining to sell food or alcoholic beverages unless you're carrying plastic.

Do art and stocks perform the same?

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Is 10% unemployment good or bad for the stock market?

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PaidContent has five media deals that could happen in 2010.

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Is Citigroup (C), the new greatest trade ever?

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Warren Buffett shows pity on the average investor with his stock split.

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My favorite investor, Marc Faber, explains why currencies crash.

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A persuasive argument that Barnes & Noble (BKS) could be an attractive buy.

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Large-cap stocks that could get short squeezed higher.

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Just like there's peak oil theory, could the world be dealing with peak gold theory?

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EBay (EBAY) is a Web pioneer, having built a multibillion dollar business out of allowing people to essentially put garage sales on the Internet. That simple idea led to fast growth more than a decade ago and helped define what was possible online for other companies that followed. The company's IPO in 1998 turned founder Pierre Omidyar and eBay President Jeffrey Skoll into instant billionaires.

Fast-forward to 2009, and the 1990s Internet darling is steering through turbulence. EBay seems to be want to be more an online retailer and less an online auction site. If it makes such a move, if will have to fight online retailers such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Zappos and their impeccable customer service. It will also have to take on formidable brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), which are focusing more on online sales. Why does eBay want to join a battle it's not likely to win?

This may come to no surprise to many of you that have read my work as a financial writer, but I am what my wife calls a "walking head injury." I played football from the age of six until 19, when I was told my college football career had to end -- more on that in a minute.

Having gotten my bell rung many times in my youth, I was taken aback by a recent article in The Wall Street Journal suggesting it may be time to retire the football helmet as we know it. Leagues overseas have been trying this as a way to -- this may sound counterintuitive -- reduce concussions and other injuries. But I don't see playing helmet-less as a solution for the National Football League (NFL).

In my last installment, I entertained the notion of opening a medical marijuana store in the New York City suburb my wife and I call home. This week, while we wait for the New Jersey legislature to finalize the legality of that option and as I begin year two in what is now semi-officially the direst U.S. job market since the Great Depression, I'd like to move on to the next previously taboo plan for recapitalizing our household.

I'm considering selling one of my kidneys.

Investing expert James Stack was one of the first on Wall Street to predict the stock market meltdown and recent bear market. In the late 1990s, the editor of the biweekly newsletter InvesTech Research warned of a high-tech bubble that would spread to other sectors and take down many small investors. More recently, he has left the bear behind and has been making the case that the economy is rebounding for real.

Even in the face of dismal corporate earnings, Stack says we have truly turned the corner and that recent stock market gains will not be short lived. In fact, he says they will continue through 2010. We caught up with Stack to discuss why this is the case. He makes an important point: Investors would be wise not to look at corporate earnings to figure out where the stock market is headed. Read on to find out why.

One of the chief complaints about the health care bill the House of Representatives passed on Saturday is that it's too expensive, with a staggering price tag of $1.1 trillion over ten years. While the House bill admirably extends coverage to an additional 36 million Americans, it's a lot to spend on a law that doesn't adequately address the spiraling costs of health care.

Under the House plan, more Americans would have health insurance coverage, which would mean they'd have greater access to medical services and would likely seek care earlier. That would save money, as would other aspects of the House and Senate bills, such as reducing Medicare payments. But if we really want to contain costs over the long haul, we have to shift our efforts toward prevention.

Ten states facing budget disasters.

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I'm sort of jealous: The richest members of Congress.

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I review my favorite books on the financial crisis.

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Uh oh, it's Friday the 13th tomorrow. How does the Dow typically perform on Friday the 13th?

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Some evidence that there's been insider trading on the Hewlett Packard (HPQ)/3Com (COMS) deal. Looks like the SEC is going to be busy this week.

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Will Mark Cuban buy the Los Angeles Dodgers?

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