E U finance ministers are pressing their indebted and riot-prone Balkan member to embrace a massive austerity plan and plug its debilitating deficit. But with markets skeptical and the appetite for more bailouts at a low, there are deepening concerns that a Greek meltdown could deal a severe blow to the very European idea of a common currency, and set off a domino effect through Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

H ydro-Qu�bec has agreed to a scaled-back deal that will see it pay $3.2-billion for New Brunswick Power’s electricity generation assets but not – as initially planned – take over the utility’s transmission and local distribution assets, sources say. Hydro-Qu�bec will act as a wholesaler, selling its electricity to New Brunswick Power Corp., but it will not get into power distribution to the New Brunswick utility’s 370,000 customers, said sources close to the negotiations which led to the revamped agreement. The revised memorandum of understanding is to be officially announced Wednesday.

G ary Rabbior is the president of the Canadian Foundation for Economic Education . This is the fifth of a six-part series on understanding how the economy works and why it matters to investors.

Stock market investments can bring in great deal of profits and most of the good stock market dealings are done through stock brokers. Hiring a stock broker might prove to be one of the most important decisions in your life.

A new report from Deloitte says tablets and cloud computing will be among the technology buzzwords of 2010. While last year’s forecasts centred on the economic downturn, this year’s predictions are about transformations ushered in by portable Internet technology. Duncan Stewart, director of research at Deloitte Canada, says there will be a 50 per cent surge in the popularity of cloud computing this year.

F inancials, technology and the growth of emerging markets will continue to dominate the thoughts of investors in the short trading week ahead. ETF investors should keep an eye on earnings, liquidity and long-term implications as they assess their portfolios this week.

B ritish flags fluttered outside chocolate-maker Cadbury’s sprawling Bournville site on Tuesday as employees lamented the news that a beloved national brand was falling into American hands. “Hang your heads in shame,” read one banner, capturing a feeling at the company’s home in Birmingham in central England that patriotic pride as well as future prospects for employees were at stake in the takeover by U.S. giant Kraft.