Deutsche Telekom AG

As surprising as it may seem to many of us when large corporations with familiar brands vanish suddenly from the scene, it happens. Major companies like Saab, Borders, and Countrywide -- just to same a recent few -- are now history. Who's next? Read on ...

It is unusual for a stock's price to double in a year, but several well-known companies' shares have done it recently. The more important question for investors is: Which stock could be next? 24/7 Wall St. offer their list of S&P 500 companies whose stocks could double in 2012.

Cellphones are ubiquitous, and smartphones have basically put hand-held computers in our pockets. Sadly, though, our must-have mobile devices include a built-in, terrible component: human suffering.

The parent company of Liberty Tax picked an awful time to announce its IPO, a day after rival H&R Block announced weak quarterly returns. But JTH Holdings' taxing dilemma wasn't last week's only head-scratching news. Here are some of the week's other biggest surprises, blunders, and just flat out boneheaded maneuvers.