Prices

A recent study showed huge disparities in prices for pharmaceutical drugs, in some cases more than $100 for the same prescription. Consumer Reports magazine made more than 500 calls to 163 pharmacies nationwide to gauge prices of four prescription drugs. One drug, generic alendronate for osteoporosis, ranged from $124 to $306.

Many irate Circuit City shoppers discovered the hard way this weekend that going-out-of-business sales don't always mean bargain-basement prices. Tensions have been running high at many of the chain's 567 U.S. stores after the electronics retailer announced Friday that it was ceasing operations and would begin liquidation sales the next day. The news that all merchandise would be discounted 10% to 30% drew throngs of customers to stores across the nation over the three-day weekend.

Adopting a budding trend in the NHL and taking it a step further, the Ducks on Monday froze all ticket prices for next season at current levels and froze food, beverage and parking prices at the Honda Center. The Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild were in the forefront of freezing season-ticket prices for 2009-10, reflecting concern about the sour economy, with the Hurricanes locking in season-ticket holders' prices for three seasons.

Sony Corp. slashed $100 off the price of its entry-level PlayStation 3 game console to $299 on Tuesday in an effort to goose sales ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season. The Japanese electronics giant also unveiled a thinner model of the PS3 that packs a 120-gigabyte hard disk drive. The newer model, 36% smaller and 32% lighter than the 80-gigabyte version, is expected to hit store shelves by Sept. 1. The 160-gigabytye PS3 also took a price cut, and is now $399. "This is a game-changing moment for us," Peter Dille, Sony's senior vice president of marketing, said in an interview.

It seemed like a good idea. Bring your adopted Chinese daughters (and they're almost all daughters) back to Beijing to experience the glories of the 2008 Summer Olympics, connect with the homeland and watch the Middle Kingdom at a key moment in its history. Then parents started checking the prices, which can run to $15,000 per person or more, including airfare, inflated hotel bills and tickets.

Last year was the year Bill Gross said his stamps had outperformed his bond fund, Stanley Ho beat Damien Hirst in bidding for a truffle and Amazon.com Inc. paid 39 times estimates for a book of J.K. Rowling stories. Among the mishaps in 2007, Marie Antoinette's pearls and a Van Gogh painting didn't sell. Money poured into the sales rooms in New York, London and Hong Kong, swelling auction sales by 46% at Sotheby's, to $5.33 billion; Christie's International totals aren't in yet.

EchoStar Communications Corp. said Monday it would freeze the prices of its most popular satellite television packages until next year as competition sharpens in the slowing U.S. economy. The news sent its shares down more than 5%. The owner of the Dish Network said it also was offering three months of free programming to new customers and was waiving activation fees.

Consumer electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said Monday that it was slashing prices of its HD DVD format players by 40% to 50% as major Hollywood studios move to embrace Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray format for high-definition DVDs. Toshiba America Consumer Products said it cut prices of its HD DVD players effective Jan. 13 to boost market adoption of its next-generation DVD players by mainstream consumers after what it said was a successful fourth quarter in unit sales.

When it comes to wine tasting, pleasure is in the price. Using brain scanners to monitor the minds of wine drinkers, scientists found that people given two identical red wines got more pleasure from tasting the one they were told cost more. The study, reported Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrated for the first time how marketing tactics -- such as raising the price of a product -- can cause the brain to play tricks on itself.

The purse may be the consummate accessory in New York, but in Los Angeles, where Hollywood deals are sealed while navigating traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway, the cellphone is the ultimate status symbol. Here are some that really get the cash register ringing. $28,000 to $171,550 GoldVish Illusion. For the jewelry lover who has everything, this diamond-encrusted phone comes in a solid 18-karat casing in yellow, rose or white gold with crocodile leather inlays available in 12 colors.