(Fortune Magazine) -- LESS BANG FOR YOUR JUNK

$82 billion

Total U.S. high-yield (a.k.a. junk) bonds issued so far in 2006--on pace for a new record. For banks, underwriting junk bonds isn't quite the business it was during the '80s. Today's fees average less than 1.5% of the total. Back then, banks usually earned 4% or better.

IT'S IN THE GAME

$730 million

Projected size of the videogame ad market (that is, ads inside the game) by 2010. Today the market is $55 million. But Electronic Arts, which just signed an ad deal, now brings its Madden NFL 2007 (first-week sales of $100 million) to the table.

MUNI FOR NOTHING

30

Square-mile area of the municipal wireless network AT&T plans to build--gratis -- for Springfield, Ill. It is the first of a dozen citywide networks planned by AT&T and the first by any major telco. Ad-supported access will be free, but there's a fee for faster access.

CONNECTION ANXIETY

1 of 3

Executives in a recent survey who say they spend too much time connected to work through mobile devices like BlackBerries. But three of four say that overall, constant connection improves "work-life balance."

RUSSIA INC.

4 million

Projected tons of annual aluminum output by Russia's new monopoly, RUSAL, after its merger. That's 12% of global output--more than No. 1 Alcoa, which is running at only 84% of capacity due to high energy prices.

SOURCE: BLOOMBERG; YANKEE GROUP AND ELECTRONIC ARTS; AT&T; KORN/FERRY INTERNATIONAL; CRU GROUP