Growing demand for such Internet solutions is creating "infomediaries" - firms that act as central clearinghouses for business information or matchmakers for suppliers and corporate buyers worldwide.

CNN: MIDDLEMEN, BEWARE

And by comparing the prices Inland pays with Ispat's best prices worldwide (it is one of the biggest buyers of the industry's inputs), he says Ispat has reduced costs on products such as blast-furnace components by up to 20%.

ECONOMIST: In America��s fiery furnace

Demand continued to outpace supply after a worldwide rollout, and the company was surprised that many buyers already had computers.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Earlier this month, still more hybrid car buyers were hit with bad news: more than 100, 000 Priuses worldwide are being recalled because of a steering problem.

FORBES: Toyota and Lexus Hybrids Recalled

It has taken a worldwide revival of interest in the blues largely led by white listeners and record buyers to persuade the city to take seriously the tourist potential of the Beale Street area, where generations of black American musicians performed for predominantly black crowds.

ECONOMIST: The music of poor blacks enriches America��s deep south