Q&As

Five months after Hurricane Katrina caused at least $200 million in damage and closed its doors for a semester, Tulane University re-opened for classes last month. And it used its e-mail newsletter to welcome students back.

The Federal Trade Commission levied a $10 million fine

America Online has won a $5.6 million award against a Minnesota man who sent billions of spam e-mails in 2003 selling everything from Viagra to online college degrees.

A laptop containing names and internal Ameriprise Financial Inc. account identification numbers for 158,000 clients was stolen from an Ameriprise employee

The Reader’s Digest Association Inc. reported a net loss of $122.4 million for the second quarter, down from net income of $57.8 million the previous year.

Deluxe Corp. reported net income of $39 million for the fourth quarter, down from net income of $47 million the year before

Advo Inc. reported net income of $12 million for the first quarter, up from net income of $8.1 million the year before.

Retailers are shifting their focus back to growth. That means looking within themselves for sources of sustainable, cost-effective comp-store improvement. A recent NRF/BearingPoint survey listed comp-store sales growth as the top priority of 71% of retail executives in 2006.

The Walt Disney Co. will acquire Pixar Animation Studio for $7.4 billion to combine the two animation studios, which gives Disney greater access to Pixar characters for marketing deals.

Online music service Napster is hoping that a partnership with snowboarding champion Gretchen Bleiler and some marketing muscle at the Winter X Games will help its branding efforts. The music subscription company has erected a 144 square-foot lodge at …