Best-performing market: Ho Chi Minh stock exchange, up 9.46% This is the real Red revolution. Vietnam is stepping onto the global capitalist stage and its stock index is helping to keep up appearances. The best performer in the year to 20 December, its 66 stocks have included newly-floated former state-owned technology firm, the crudely-named Corporation for Financing and Promoting Technology. Intel announced this year that it will build a $1bn fab plant in Ho Chi Minh, while George Bush pretty much got the cold shoulder.

Worst-performing market: stock exchange of Thailand, down 7.89% This could have been even worse. Last week the Thai Central Bank Governor said he was going to impose strict conditions on foreign equity investment in the country, news that sent the stock market into a tailspin with $23bn wiped off its value in just one day. Realising the move was a mistake, it was quickly reversed and the market bounced back, but still not enough to move it out of the relegation zone.

Best prison sentence for a corporate exec: 12 years for Sanjay Kumar, former CEO, Computer Associates Kumar was normally cool and calm, especially when hosting one of CA's major annual trade shows. But he'll have plenty of time to reflect on past hurrahs after being sentenced last month to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud and obstruction of justice in a $2.2bn accounting investigation at the software maker.

Worst prison term for a corporate exec: 25 years for Bernie Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom The polished Ebbers began serving a 25-year sentence in September at a lowsecurity prison in Louisiana. He was convicted of overseeing an $11bn accounting fraud that saw WorldCom go bankrupt. He will probably serve a minimum of 21 years, if he lives that long. By then he'd be 86. Ebbers just pipped former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling, who got 24 years. He started his term this month in Minnesota.

Best-paid CEO of a top 10 Irish plc: Brian Goggin, Bank of Ireland, ¤ 1.7m The man who was initially passed over for the top spot when outsider Michael Soden was appointed, finally got his chance at the helm when the latter left the bank after some misdirected use of the internet. He works for his money, mind you, not least in dealing with the IBOA, which balloted for strike action over the bank's plans to alter its definedbenefit pension scheme. He only just takes the top slot from Liam O'Mahony of CRH. Not far behind also is AIB chief executive Eugene Sheehy.

Worst-paid CEO of a top 10 Irish plc: Michael O'Leary, Ryanair, ¤632,000 O'Leary is the last person who's going to be in any way concerned about how much he's earning compared to his peers, because of his shareholding. Just a few weeks ago, in the throes of the takeover battle for Aer Lingus, he sold 2.5 million shares, gaining over Euro24m. O'Leary retains a 4.2% stake in the airline. That holding is worth roughly Euro330m. With a nest egg like that, who needs a salary?

Conor Brophy Best Ryder Cup tie-in: Paddy Power We'll have to bend the rules slightly here, since Paddy Power wasn't an official sponsor of the golf tournament. In fact the bookmaker's poster campaign in the run-up to the event loudly proclaimed that it was "the only company in Ireland not sponsoring the Ryder Cup", cleverly subverting the oppressive hype that preceded the competition.

Its decision to stay apart from the herd and resist the temptation to throw vast sums of money at sponsoring the tournament was justified. Paddy Power took more bets on the Ryder Cup than on any other golfing event in its history.

Worst Ryder Cup tie-in: AIB.

As one of six lead sponsors, the country's biggest bank was all over the Ryder Cup like a rash. 'This is going to be epic, ' it trumpeted in a melodramatic Euro5m television campaign that kicked the pretournament hype into overdrive.

But what has AIB gained from being the 'official bank' of the tournament?

For all the millions spent on its Ryder Cup sponsorship the company lagged behind Bank Of Ireland this year in total investor returns. Shareholders will also note that it disappointed the market by reporting that its end-of-year results will be in line with guidance, even as rivals BOI and Anglo Irish Bank were upgrading their own forecasts.

Best product: Nintendo Wii A brave decision from the Japanese company which once owned the console market but is now playing catch-up.

The Wii's technical specs are nowhere near as impressive as those of its rivals, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3. Instead Nintendo has focussed on developing a low-cost, fun games machine designed to appeal to the whole family rather than just hardened computer gamers.

The innovative, motion-sensitive controller has already caused a stir (not least because some over-enthusiastic gamers have destroyed household items after literally losing their grip). The buzz has been great and the Wii is well on the way to being this Christmas's hottest ticket.

Mark our words, next year will be a big one for the product with the small name.

Worst product: Sony lithium ion batteries Most people would be prepared to accept that there is a chance their laptop will crash now and again but you have to draw the line at a product that could burst into flames.

Best innovation: Kingspan's affordable house Irish building materials group Kingspan Century collected awards and plaudits in equal measure for its contribution to the SixtyK Consortium. SixtyK won a British government-sponsored competition to design a two-bed house with a total build cost of less than £60,000 (Euro89,400). The winning entry, featuring state-of-the art materials from Kingspan's Century Homes division which reduce energy consumption, will form the basis for ten developments of social and affordable housing in Britain.

"Bold political decisions can deliver amazing results and without the vision of the British government this house would never have become a reality. This competition has pushed the house manufacturers to achieve global best practice and it is an example that the Irish government must follow, " said Century Homes chief executive Gerry McCaughey. We couldn't agree more.

Worst innovation: In-flight mobile phones One has to appreciate the effort and time invested in overcoming the challenge of routing mobile phones from airplanes through satellites to cellular networks on the ground without interfering with the aircraft's navigational systems. Credit to Kerry firm Altobridge, which will see its technology rolled out by airline Emirates next month when it becomes the first carrier to allow passengers to use their mobiles in the air.

A pox on all their houses, though, for facilitating the invasion of the last safe haven from annoying ring tones and even more annoying phone users. Some technology challenges just weren't meant to be overcome.

Niall Brady Best mortgage: National Irish Bank LTV The cheapest you can get, provided you borrow less than 80% of the value of your home. NIB's rates range 0.5%0.59% over European Central Bank base rates, depending on the size of the mortgage. The interest margin is guaranteed for life and NIB will even pay the legal cost of switching from your existing lender. We can't think of a better way to knock the stuffing out of creeping interest rates.

Worst mortgage: First Active standard variable rate The dearest variable rate on the market, First Active hiked its standard rate to a penal 5.03% on 14 December. That's a hefty margin of more than 1.5% over European Central Bank base rates.

Ouch.

First Active would argue that most customers have cheaper offset or tracker mortgages. So why does it not nudge people stranded on its standard variable rate in the same direction?

Best savings: Northern Rock Demand Online This no-notice deposit account has consistently paid a top rate of interest, which increases to 4.15% from 3 January.

You won't do better than that, even for large lump sums. The only requirements are that you keep at least Euro1,000 in your account and manage your savings online.

If you plan to save month by month, check out AIB's Regular Saver account.

It pays 6.5% interest on savings of up to Euro300 a month and the rate is guaranteed to be at least 2.5% above European Central Bank rates until the end of 2007.

Worst savings: An Post Demand Account The best place to lose money, the post office savings bank pays just 0.1% interest on savings of less than Euro6,000 and a paltry 0.25% for larger amounts. Yet more than Euro1bn languishes in its vaults, its value steadily eroded by the ravages of inflation.

The rock-bottom rates are the result of a standoff between An Post and the National Treasury Management Agency, which sets the rate of interest, that has left savers squeezed in the middle.

Best broker: Sharewatch Sharewatch has the lowest costs for punters dabbling in Irish or UK shares, charging a flat Euro50 for once-off transactions of up to Euro15,000. For that price, expect no frills, handholding or investment advice. But you won't do better if you know exactly which shares you want to buy or sell.

Worst broker: Bloxham Taking a Euro10,000 position in AIB, CRH or another Irish stock? Prepare to pay Euro175 if you buy the shares through Bloxham, the dearest broker in town for this type of service. Its hefty fee is for a simple execution-only transaction, with no advice or add-on services.