(MONEY Magazine) – --HEALTHY EARNINGS. Just in time for New Year's resolution season, Weight Watchers made an initial public offering of stock on Nov. 15. Shares of the 40-year-old weight-loss company rose 25% on their first day of trading. Weight Watchers counsels about 1 million dieters at weekly meetings held in 27 countries.

--MILITARY RISK. U.S. troops and civilian employees poured $1.6 billion into the 7,000 or so slot machines operated by the military in 94 overseas locations in 2000, says a Pentagon study. Of the money wagered, 93% is given back as winnings, while the 7% lost goes toward "morale, welfare and recreation activities."

--STEPHANIE D. SMITH