Tom Taulli
California - http://taulli.com

Tom Taulli is the author of various books on finance, including The Complete M&A Handbook (Random House) and Investing in IPO's (Bloomberg Press). In addition to his writing, Mr. Taulli has appeared on high-profile television venues such as CNN, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, and has been quoted in the various print media sources such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and LA Times.

No doubt, the internet is transforming the education market. After all, schools need to find ways to cut costs as well as improve instruction. And, the dominant player in providing digital solutions for education is Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB).

In Q3, the company posted an 18% increase in revenues to $98.4 million, with net income of $4.3 million or $0.13 per share. The big growth drivers came from professional services and managed hosting solutions (there are 834 such clients).

While UBS (NYSE: UBS) remains the largest bank in Switzerland, this isn't helping much. In the company's latest quarterly results, there was a net loss of $552.9 million. Then again, UBS had to take some major charges, such as for the sale of its Brazilian investment bank and valuation changes on its large outstanding debts.

But there is more bad news: UBS continued to suffer from problems with its private banking division. Unfortunately, assets continue to flee (up to $25.8 billion in the prior quarter). The main reason is the U.S. crackdown on offshore tax havens, which has resulted in UBS handing over information on 4,450 accounts. Obviously, this is extremely chilling for client relationships.

Unfortunately, when a company cannot pay its debt, the consequences can be severe. In fact, when it comes to bank debt, liquidation may be the only alternative.

However, with the recession, creditors realize that it may make more sense to work things out, especially since there are signs that the economy is making a comeback.

So, if you're behind on your debt payments, there certainly steps you can take to work things out. Have a look:

While Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) is the biggest player in security software, it has been lagging over the past few years. But, the company has been taking action, especially in revamping its sales organization.

And, it seems to be working. Today, Symantec reported its Q2 results, which showed a 19% increase in net income to $150 million or $0.18 per share. Yet, sales were still soft, declining 2.9% to $1.48 billion (but it was still better than the $1.43 billion consensus forecast).