Julia Sprauer doesn’t need investment experts to tell her the credit crunch is going to hit small businesses hardest. She already has felt the squeeze.

It’s not quite the same plan Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and the state negotiated two years ago, but the bottom line is, a chip plant is coming to Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta. (AMD)

State legislators managed to fill a $427 million budget gap in August while protecting Medicaid and school aid, which account for half of state spending.

Now that Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has sounded the final knell for its Round Rock chip manufacturing plant, efforts to house another high-tech user in the soon-to-be-vacant fab are in high gear. (CY)

Reuters - The U.S. Department of Justice has ended its probe into potential antitrust violations involving graphics chips makers and taken no action, Advance Micro Devices said on Monday.

Reuters - Technology investors watching as Intel Corp and other semiconductor makers report earnings this week have one question: How bad can it get?

Maxim Integrated Products Inc. said Monday it expects first quarter revenue of $500 million to $502 million, and added that it authorized the repurchase of up to $750 million of its common stock. (MXIM)

Best Western International is holding its North American Convention in Honolulu this weekend.

Fabless semiconductor company eASIC Corp. on Monday named Patrick Little chief executive. (XLNX)

The person hired to head the new Advanced Micro Devices-back computer chip manufacturing company is a familiar face in Albany, N.Y. (AMD)