AT&T cuts, QXL honoured for failure and Tory double dealing goes online

The Financial Times brings word of troubled times for US telco AT&T.

The company has further cut its quarterly dividend - paying only 15 cents per share as opposed to the original 88 cents - in what will be seen as a fitting end to a disastrous year for AT&T. The cost cutting measure is in keeping with plans to sell off assets and cut further costs after its business slowed considerably over the year... The Guardian reports on another failing company with news that QXL has been bestowed with the dubious honour of a membership in the 99 per cent club. Acceptance into this curious elite rests on the candidate meeting one key criterion - its value must have dropped by 99 per cent. QXL's shares now rest at 8.5p - having previously hit a high of 800p - and the company has seen its value fall from £2bn to £62m... Finally, the Guardian reports of dastardly goings on in Westminster. Having grown weary of lying, cheating and conniving in traditional ways, MPs are now turning to the internet to exercise their dishonesty. So much so in fact that the Speaker of the House, Michael Martin, was yesterday forced to address MPs on the matter. The catalyst for this chastisement was a complaint from Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell who had found a website - bobrussellmp.co.uk - that when visited took the surfer directly to the Conservative party website. Further investigation revealed that the site had been set up by 'a leading member' of the opposition party though the paper did not reveal who the likely culprit was...