The Top CNBC Slideshows of 2010

Published Fri, Dec 31 20102:19 PM ESTUpdated Fri, Dec 31 20102:31 PM EST

2010's Top CNBC Slideshows

Photo: RTimages | Getty Images

Here at CNBC.com, we do our fair share of slideshows, breaking down outliers or interesting relationships between items from all over the economy.

Slideshows present information in an easily digestable way, and we hope they’ve made some of this year’s stories more entertaining or given some additional perspective. Slideshows are highly popular amongst our readers, so we are always looking to produce them to go along with current news.

Although it isn’t among the 10 most popular, one great example of a slideshow that offers a unique perspective is our feature overviewing the amount of oil spilled in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

With the year coming to a close, we thought it’d be interesting to highlight our most popular slideshows from 2010, since they have become some of our most popular features on the site.

So, click ahead for the most popular slideshows on CNBC.com for 2010. What better way to review the year’s best in slideshow form?

By Paul Toscano
Posted 31 Dec 2010

10. Musicians Gone Broke

Many people believe that the life of a famous musician is all champagne, Learjets, and a steady flow of royalty payments to pay for it all. This is certainly true for some, but there are also those who have reached the upper echelons of mega - stardom, only to lose it all in the blink of an eye. This slideshow highlights some of the most surprising music ian s that have had big financial troubles. You may be surprised to hear how musicians like Meat Loaf, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and Ted Nugent

Photo: Lyle A. Waisma | Getty Images

Many people believe that the life of a famous musician is all champagne, Learjets, and a steady flow of royalty payments to pay for it all. This is certainly true for some, but there are also those who have reached the upper echelons of mega - stardom, only to lose it all in the blink of an eye.

This slideshow highlights some of the most surprising musicians that have had big financial troubles. You may be surprised to hear how musicians like Meat Loaf, Billy Joel, Willie Nelson and Ted Nugent all went broke.

Click here for the slideshow

9. Companies with Zero Debt

Throughout the financial crisis, large debt loads weighed on company balance sheets and had serious implications for the firms that let their borrowing get out of control. On the flip side of the coin are companies that report zero debt on their balance sheets. Although a low debt level does not directly equate to a rising stock price, these companies have healthy enough balance sheets to fund growth with available cash reserves. Look for an update of this slideshow in January!

Throughout the financial crisis, large debt loads weighed on company balance sheets and had serious implications for the firms that let their borrowing get out of control.

On the flip side of the coin are companies that report zero debt on their balance sheets. Although a low debt level does not directly equate to a rising stock price, these companies have healthy enough balance sheets to fund growth with available cash reserves. Look for an update of this slideshow in January!

Click here for the slideshow

8. The Biggest Box Office Bombs

What makes a movie a box office "bomb"? Just losing money doesn't make it qualify. It's the amount of loss from the production costs to ticket receipts that makes the difference. In a tounge-in-cheek analysis of the biggest movie flops of all time, our producer Dan Bukszpan gave some insight into just why these films performed so poorly... most notably for "The 13th Warrior " being included on the list.

Photo: Jill Fromer | Photodisc | Getty Images

What makes a movie a box office "bomb"? Just losing money doesn't make it qualify. It's the amount of loss from the production costs to ticket receipts that makes the difference.

In a tounge-in-cheek analysis of the biggest movie flops of all time, our producer Dan Bukszpan gave some insight into just why these films performed so poorly... even to the chagrin of our managing editor, Allen Wastler,most notably for "The 13th Warrior " being included on the list.

Click here for the slideshow

7. The Trendiest Halloween Costumes

If you visited our site in October, you came across our slideshow of the trendiest Halloween costumes of the year. If you happened to see it, chances are it gave you some ideas. From Avatar and Alice in Wonderland to the Jersey Shore cast, these were some of the best pop-culture costumes of the year, as well as one of our most viewed slideshows.

If you visited our site in October, you came across our slideshow of the trendiest Halloween costumes of the year. If you happened to see it, chances are it gave you some ideas.

From Avatar and Alice in Wonderland to the Jersey Shore cast, these were some of the best pop-culture costumes of the year, as well as one of our most viewed slideshows.

Click here for the slideshow

6. Disappearing Jobs

Jobs are something everyone can relate to and as a result, our Jobs-related slideshows are well read by visitors of our site. Although employment is estimated to rise by 10 percent in the next decade, there are simply some jobs that are disappearing.

Photo: Mike Harrington | Photodisc | Getty Images

5. World’s Biggest Debtor Nations

The soveriegn debt crisis ramped up this year, and interest in our The list, which was originally published in the Spring of 2009, points out that Ireland is a significant outlier when it comes to external debt, and this year the international community increased pressure on the country to tighten up its finances. The slideshow has been updated several times since the original publish, and look for this story, and these countries, to continue being affected by sovereign debt concerns.

The soveriegn debt crisis ramped up this year, and interest in our analysis of external debt to GDP continued to draw interest.

The list, which was originally published in the Spring of 2009, points out that Ireland is a significant outlier when it comes to external debt, and this year the international community increased pressure on the country to tighten up its finances.

The slideshow has been updated several times since the original publish, and look for this story, and these countries, to continue being affected by sovereign debt concerns.

Click here for the slideshow

4. College Degrees, Biggest Paychecks

In conjunction with our CNBC prime-time special we produced a number of slideshows highlighting surprising facts about colleges, but none was more popular than our analysis of which college graduates make the highest median mid-career salaries. If you haven’t seen it, the top college may surprise you.

In conjunction with our CNBC prime-time special “Price of Admission: America’s College Debt Crisis”,we produced a number of slideshows highlighting surprising facts about colleges, but none was more popular than our analysis of which college graduates make the highest median mid-career salaries. If you haven’t seen it, the top college may surprise you.

Click here for the slideshow

3. Berkshire Hathaway’s Holdings

Each quarter, companies produce 13F filings, with Wall Street focusing on how the most notable investors shifted their money in the past quarter. And no investor is more influential or more followed than the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. Immediately after Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F is filed, our slideshow is updated with the company’s biggest holdings.

Photo: Getty Images

2. Stocks with the Potential to Pop

In our quarterly slideshow, 20 Stocks with the Potential to Pop, we take a look at the companies whose stock prices are the furthest below the consensus analyst estimates. This slideshow is useful for a number of reasons, and could spark some investing ideas. In every quarter since we first published the slideshow in 2009, the “Stocks to Pop” as an index has outperformed the S&P 500.

Photo: Getty Images

In our quarterly slideshow, 20 Stocks with the Potential to Pop, we take a look at the companies whose stock prices are the furthest below the consensus analyst estimates.

This slideshow is useful for a number of reasons, and could spark some investing ideas. In every quarter since we first published the slideshow in 2009, the “Stocks to Pop” as an index has outperformed the S&P 500.

Click here for the most recent “Stocks to Pop”

1. America’s Most Stressful Jobs

Our best performing slideshow of 2010 is also our best performing slideshow of all-time. The feature points out 10 highly demanding jobs that, on a scale developed by CareerCast.com, are the most stressful. With America experiencing high unemployment, most people are grateful just to have jobs, but that doesn’t take the stress out of the daily grind.

Photo: RTimages | Getty Images