Take a look at the best- and worst-performing stocks of 2009

With one trading day left in the year, let's take a look at some of the best-performing stocks of 2009, and a handful of the worst, in what has been a highly distorted 12 months, fueled by a classic V-shaped recovery from a deep dip.

E-mails inside AIG reveal executives struggling with growing crisis

The probing e-mails came from every direction inside insurance giant American International Group during the summer and fall of 2007, all with the same underlying question:

Local Digest: Ciena has Canadian approval to buy Nortel Networks

Linthicum-based Ciena said on Wednesday that it has received a clearance from the Canadian government in the firm's bid to acquire part of that country's defunct tech firm, Nortel Networks.

Public Warehousing in talks with U.S. to settle fraud case

The Kuwaiti firm indicted last month for allegedly overcharging the Army on a multibillion-dollar contract to supply food to U.S. troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan has announced it is negotiating with the Justice Department to settle the case.

GM replaces chief lobbyist

EXECUTIVES General Motors realigned its government relations and public-policy team by naming two former AT&T colleagues of chief executive Ed Whitacre as lobbyists for the largest U.S. automaker.

In D.C. area, fees for shopping bags, parking pinch consumers

Starting Friday, consumers in the District will shell out more for disposable shopping bags, and in a few weeks, they'll pay more to park on the city's streets -- all part of a year-long trend around the Washington region to generate fees to help close budget gaps and pay for programs.

Consumer confidence picks up, but home prices flatten out

Consumers are feeling a little better about the economy but home prices are flattening out after an unexpected rebound in the spring and summer, according to two closely watched reports released on Tuesday.

As defense agencies hire, other government workers get incentives to retire

Uncle Sam may be hiring, but he's also trimming staff in some corners of the government, as agencies suffer through a budget squeeze or shift their focus.

E. coli-tainted beef infects 21 people in 16 states

Twenty-one people in 16 states have been infected in recent days with a potentially lethal strain of E. coli bacteria, after consuming beef in restaurants supplied by the same Oklahoma meat company, federal officials said.

Credit card charge-off rate climbs again

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Virginia Politics

Gov.-elect Robert F. McDonnell (R) recently sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking him to allow for the exploration of oil and gas off Virginia's coast.

Failed attack on jet renews concerns over lack of TSA chief

The failed terrorist attack on a packed airliner on Christmas has renewed concerns about the lack of stable leadership at the Transportation Security Administration, the U.S. agency on the front lines in preventing exactly that kind of incident.