Top Stories for the Week of October 6 - 10, 2008

It's not like we need another bad economic sign, but this one really is bad--and actually is a sign. The original 13 digits of the National Debt Clock in New York aren't enough to contain the 10-plus trillion dollars we owe, says InvestorCentric.The signmasters needed to kill the dollar symbol (how symbolic) and put a 1 in its place. It's been that kind of week. The Dow dropped below 9,000--and the money markets are frozen, blogs Paul Krugman. Google shares shrunk below $350, and Silicon Alley Insider thinks angry shareholders will demand more accountability from GOOG management and talented employees will flee. Besides Google, tech companies getting beaten up include Apple, eBay, Microsoft, and SAP. Meanwhile, mathewingram.com suggests "anyone with a Web-based business that depends on advertising has to be asking: Is this the beginning of the end?"

Time added to the general panic with a cover depicting a bread line from the Great Depression (via The Big Picture) and a new photoblog, Sad Guys on Trading Floors offers a more modern take on the human toll. GigaOM reports that Sequoia Capital, the venture capital firm, advised companies it funds to put survival strategies in place. and greeted execs from its portfilio companies with an image of a gravestone with "RIP: Good Times" written on it. (A Halloween party!). "It was scary," one one Sequoia-backed exec told Venture Beat. "The last time Sequoia did this was when the Web 1.0 bubble was popping in 2000," says BoomTown. To survive, startups need to lower their burn rates to get at least 3 more months out of their current money-and raise money now if they can (via Bub.blicio.us). Translation: The sky is falling. Start panicking, blogs Inquisitr.

Is there an upside out there? Anywhere? Well, online advertising is "a relatively healthy industry for the generally bad financial environment" writes Profy. Internet ads surged in the first half of 2008, says Between the Lines, and in tough times shoppers may turn to the Internet for bargains, Greg Hughes points out. Inquisitr calls the economic crisis "a huge opportunity for those in the 2.0 space" because people will stay at home more and spend time (maybe even money) online. Google's YouTube sure isn't giving up--they've added click-to-buy buttons for its videos. "YouTube is under widespread scrutiny for any shred of evidence that there is indeed money to be made in online video," says NewTeeVee. Google also switched on Google Adsense for online games and text ads in Google maps (via Download Squad and Epicenter).

The crushed market didn't stop RIM from launching the Blackberry Storm to rave reviews for its clickable screen, and Apple has a secret new notebook cooking for release next week, says Engadget. Broadstuff suggests that new financial demands on startups is just a reality-check that needed to come anyway; "freeconomics" is over, and it's time to earn real money. Heck, recessions are good for innovation, says O'Reilly Radar. Esquire magazine is upbeat, too, with its new cover, depicting "Sexiest Woman Alive" Halle Berry, recreating a past Bill Clinton cover pose. Sure, the pose is done with no pants this time. But, hey, times are tough out there.