BUSINESS dominated the news in 2007, perhaps more than in any year since the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 (in 2001 the terrorist attacks of September 11th eclipsed the admittedly high level of interest in Enron's collapse a month later). Here are the business.view Oscars, our list of the highest highs and lowest lows:

Corporate aircraft in a supporting role: Citigroup's jet, which figured heavily in a scandal featuring a top Citi executive, Todd Thomson, and a top business journalist, Maria Bartiromo. This is a return to form for the aircraft: John Reid, a former Citi boss, married the stewardess a few years ago, provoking ribald jokes along the lines of “Before landing, please return the flight attendant to the upright position.”

AP

Rupert Murdoch stands tall

This year's scandal kicked off an annus horribilis for Citi, ending in massive write-offs and the departure of its chief executive, Chuck Prince, who had fired Mr Thomson in January. Curiously, Ms Bartiromo, CNBC's “Money Honey”, emerged from the crisis with her profile higher than ever, and can look forward to being the subject of a competitive auction for her services in 2008 as Rupert Murdoch tries to revive Fox Business Network, which has hit “so bad it's almost good” status. See article

Runner up: an Airbus A380, bought for personal use by Prince Waleed bin Talal, a Citi board member and a Saudi royal, in a bid to create the world's largest carbon footprint.

Most mogulish media mogul: Despite Fox Business Network, the clear winner is Rupert Murdoch. As 2007 started, he seemed to be showing his age—indeed, he even addressed the subject at his annual gathering of News Corporation executives (“You lot think I'm too old. Well, you're too old.”). But with his stunning capture of Dow Jones, owner of the newspaper he has coveted for so long, the Wall Street Journal, he showed he remains at the top of his game. He may have paid too much, but he can afford it. See article

Shirt-sleeves award for family business: The Bancrofts. As the old saying goes, the trend in family business is from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations, as the wealth created by one generation is squandered by its successors. Faced with Mr Murdoch's offer for Dow Jones, the owning Bancroft family split so thoroughly that it made King Lear and his daughters look good. See article

Honourable mention to the Redstone family: Sumner, the owner of Viacom, fell out so badly with his son and daughter that he publicly proclaimed his intention, presumably through estate planning, to remain in control of the media conglomerate “after I die”. See article

Biggest bubble: Chinese shares. The value of the Shenzhen stockmarket doubling this year? Four Chinese firms among the ten most valuable in the world? Is that a bursting sound we hear? See article

Honourable mentions: Oil at $100 a barrel (let's hope it was a bubble, anyway) and, given the $15 billion valuation that Microsoft implicitly gave to Facebook, social-networking websites. See article

Least helpful predecessor: Take a bow, Alan Greenspan. Granted, you have to make a living, but do you really need to make life so much harder for poor Ben Bernanke? Stick to touting your best-selling autobiography by reminiscing harmlessly about your days playing jazz and hanging out with Ayn Rand; be rude about George Bush, if you must—but please stop offering odds on a recession. How would you have liked it if Paul Volcker had done that to you? See article

Best business blogger: John Mackey, chief executive of Whole Foods Market. Using the pseudonym Rahodeb (an anagram of his wife's name), for seven years Mr Mackey has posted on the Yahoo! Finance bulletin board, championing his expensive health-food retailer and blasting its rival, Wild Oats Markets, which he bought this year.

Least wanted Christmas gift: Chinese-made Mattel toys. Mattel is an American firm famous for its Barbie doll; it recalled millions of toys after finding that paint used by its Chinese suppliers was poisonous. Leave Hasbro toys beneath the tree this year. See article

Most wanted Christmas gift: The beautiful Apple iPhone, with Nintendo's Wii video console a close second (please, Santa.) Oh, and while you're feeling generous, an Airbus A380 for personal use. See article

Best wedding gift: Soon after Sergey Brin, one of Google's founders, married Anna Wojcicki, Google invested $3.9m in 23andMe, a genetic testing firm started by the new Mrs Brin. See article

Costliest birthday gift: Rod Stewart. The Scottish rocker reportedly charged $1m to entertain guests at the 60th birthday party of his big fan, Steve Schwarzman, but the ultimate cost to the billionaire boss of Blackstone, a private-equity firm, was far greater. Thanks to Blackstone's initial public offering, Mr Schwarzman ends 2007 considerably richer, but also—due, in part, to press coverage of his personal life—considerably less popular. As private equity has faced growing scrutiny from inequality-bashing politicians, Mr Schwarzman has been its poster child—and, in contrast to Mr Stewart, it is hard to find anyone who thinks he's sexy. See article

Best newcomer: Sovereign wealth funds. True, some of them have been around for decades, but these pools of money invested by (mostly) emerging-market governments suddenly gained notice in 2007. Extremely versatile, sovereign wealth funds are at once terrifying (“The Chinese are buying up all our companies!”) and reassuring (as in “Thank goodness the Arabs stopped Citigroup going bust”). See article

Biggest mess: The sub-prime mortgage crisis. Enough said.

Scariest acronym: SIV. As in “structured-investment vehicle”: the villainous financial entity at the heart of the sub-prime crisis. Dishonourable mention: the equally evil twin of the SIV, the CDO (collateralised debt obligation). See article

Naughtiest boss: Conrad Black, convicted of looting Hollinger International, seems an obvious choice, but the winner is Bill Lerach, who in September reportedly agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges relating to payments made to a witness. What corporate executive did not enjoy a frisson of pleasure at the news that one of America's most feared trial lawyers had been hoist by his own petard? See article

Outstanding European businessman: Noël Forgeard, who quit as joint-chief executive of EADS, the parent company of Airbus, amid enough problems to fill an A380, including allegations of insider trading. As 2007 ended, there was even talk that the strong euro and weak dollar could bankrupt Airbus. See article

Runner-up: Dieter “Dr Z” Zetsche, Daimler's boss, who paid Cerberus $650m in May to take Chrysler off its hands – sealing a $36 billion loss on Daimler's acquisition of Chrysler. See article

Comeback Kid: Bob Nardelli. Forced out of Home Depot in January with a paltry $210m for consolation, in August he was appointed chief executive of Chrysler with a salary of $1 (though if all goes well, he will earn the usual millions). See article

Best business moment on YouTube: Jim Cramer's sub-prime meltdown. Popularised by comedian-commentator Steven Colbert, the boggle-eyed rant by the host of CNBC's “Mad Money” marked the moment when people outside Wall Street realised that everything was going pear shaped.

Runner up: a compelling explanation of the sub-prime crisis by The Long Johns, a veteran British comedy duo.

Best musical number: “In the Hamptons”, by hedge-fund country singer, Merle Hazard (geddit?), featuring economist Arthur “Curve” Laffer, is great, but the winner is the social-networking inspired, soon-to-go-pop tune, “Here Comes Another Bubble”, by Matt Hempey.

Boss of the Year: James Cayne, head of Bear Stearns. What better example of how to keep your head in a credit crisis than that of Jimmy Cayne? He spent much of the crisis playing golf and bridge and, according to the Wall Street Journal's scoop of the year, he has been seen smoking marijuana (a charge that he denies). And yet they say there is a leadership deficit on Wall Street.

Firm of the year (really): Goldman Sachs. Painful as it is to admit that the financial geniuses are top of the pile yet again, in 2007 they made money while everyone else lost it. Their bonuses dwarf everyone else's. From the US Treasury to Merrill Lynch, Goldman alumni rule the financial world. The only consolation to its rivals: perhaps being singled-out for praise by such a legendary contrarian indicator as The Economist will ensure that Goldman endures a miserable 2008.