sold out

Gas stations along the Eastern Seaboard experienced high demand Friday and some sold out of fuel as Hurricane Irene bore down and residents scrambled to evacuate. In Norfolk, Va., one Exxon station was sold out by noon and boarded up its windows as attendants readied themselves for the storm.

Microsoft sold out of its Xbox video-game console in late December thanks to strong holiday-season demand, and may have product shortages in January and February as well, as the company's Kinect motion-sensor device has boosted the popularity of the system, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

If you're were thinking of ordering one of Amazon's brand-new Kindle e-readers, get in line. Just five days after announcing the new Kindle 3G Kindle WiFi models, both devices are sold out, and anyone who pre-orders now won't get one until Sept. 4, a week after the original ship date.