Most of Business

The Word Most Desperately Avoided Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan called it a "meaningful downturn." Chief White House economist Michael Boskin dismissed it as a "lull." President Bush described it as a "slowdown." But by the end of the year, everyone saw it for what it was: a recession.

Sweetest Revenge for a Naysayer Marvin Roffman, a gambling-industry analyst, was fired by his spineless firm, Janney Montgomery Scott, after Donald Trump threatened to sue the firm because Roffman predicted the demise of the high roller's $1 billion Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Just eight months later, the Taj agreed to file for bankruptcy protection.

Most Inflammatory Target Marketing The R.J. Reynolds tobacco company developed a menthol-flavored cigarette and distinctive black-and-gold packaging specifically tailored to attract the inner-city black smoker. Civil rights groups and health advocates huffed, but did not puff, and the controversial cigarette was hastily withdrawn.

Most Coveted Low-Paying Job At least 27,000 Muscovites decided they deserved a break today and applied for 605 positions at the new Moscow branch of McDonald's. The company tutored its Soviet employees on how to render in Russian such McLingo as "You want fries with that?"

Longest Busy Signal The nine-hour breakdown of AT&T's long-distance phone system in January, triggered by a massive computer failure, paralyzed many businesses and shook America's faith in technology. But it gave millions of people a day off from telephone sales pitches.

Most Outrageous Bonus Just two months before declaring bankruptcy, the investment firm Drexel Burnham Lambert handed out $260 million in bonuses to its employees. Some reaped as much as $10 million. The total was more than twice what the company could have used at the last minute to avoid defaulting on its debts.

Most Unnecessary Confession by a Presidential Relative "I didn't pretend to be an expert on the savings and loan business," said Neil Bush. The President's son served as a director of Silverado, the Denver S&L, just before the thrift collapsed in a $1 billion heap in 1988. A judge later urged that Bush be disciplined for not disclosing business deals with two Silverado borrowers.

Least Popular Industry, Lifetime Achievement Category Big Oil struck a gusher of bad publicity again. Little more than a year after the Exxon Valdez disaster, the industry got blamed by just about everybody for rising gas and fuel prices in the wake of the Persian Gulf crisis. Oilmen denied any profiteering, but several firms posted huge increases in earnings.

Most Successful Product That Grownups Don't Understand Those irrepressible reptiles, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, inspired children and their parents to shell out more than $1 billion to see the cold-blooded heroes on the big screen and bring home such turtle tie-ins as video games and breakfast cereal. In 1990 a guaranteed way to start a conversation with an eight-year- old was to ask "Which turtle are you?"

Most Mysterious New Car Nissan's Zen-heavy TV commercials for the new luxury sedan Infiniti featured plenty of rocks, trees and other atmospherics. Just one thing was missing: the automobile. After slow-starting sales, the automaker finally changed tack and gave the camera-shy car the starring role in its own ads.