By LEN BOSELOVIC, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When the big-name stars of Corporate America convene this spring for the rigorously scripted dramas known as annual shareholder meetings, the dwindling cast of bit players could be even smaller than in years past.

Take Jeffrey M. Klink's word for it: You can never be too careful, but reasonably intelligent people frequently aren't.

Raw-materials junkies can appreciate the impact that China has on prices for the ingredients used to make steel and other metals. For those who can't, consider this data, courtesy of the International Iron and Steel Institute.

With the stock market up about 60 percent since bottoming out in March, Wall Street may appear to be not as dangerous a place to those who fled for safer havens when the market collapsed last fall.

But making a long-term decision based on short-term phenomenon can be risky business, as documented in a report T. Rowe Price sent to investors this month.

Early returns indicate the recession is causing more people to take withdrawals from their retirement plans for reasons other than rolling them over to other plans or because they've retired.

The Federal Reserve Board last week kindled hope that the nation's longest recession since World War II is nearing an end.

The central bank's survey of current economic conditions showed that among the Fed's 12 districts, economic activity has firmed up in one, improved in five and stabilized or showed signs of stabilizing in another six.

A lawsuit recently filed in federal court in Pittsburgh provides a cautionary tale about just how different mutual funds with similar names or objectives can be.

Cue the violins -- millionaires are worried about the economic downturn.
As if the economy hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of jobs a month weren't depressing enough, the recession is plaguing America's millionaires.

Last week's news on the labor front indicates there are about 5 million fewer active 401(k) plan participants than there were 15 months ago. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that's how many jobs have been eliminated since the recession began in December 2007.

Union workers at U.S. Steel Corp. will give up about $120 of their fourth-quarter profit-sharing payment, distributing the money to more than 4,000 of their colleagues who were laid off because of dismal conditions in the industry.