I once worked with an editor who bristled every year at this time. The reason? Stories about “Cyber Monday.”

It was all marketing hokum, he said. How are the supposed online shopping numbers even verifiable, he’d ask. He questioned running Cyber Monday stories even as every business news competitor with a homepage ran multiple versions throughout the day.

Today, it’s a hot trending topic on Twitter, and a promoted one no less, as well as ubiquitous hashtag (#CyberMonday). The U.S. Attorney General’s Office used the occasion to unveil a sting netting 82 Web domain names for allegedly peddling counterfeit goods. And various reports out Monday are predicting a record 106.9 million Americans shopping online.

Shoppers are taking advantage of one-day deals and free shipping and in the process boosting Cyber Monday sales almost 11 percent over last year.

That prediction comes from Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, in tandem with BIGresearch — which conducted the shopper poll — and that’s only fitting.

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The truncated work week didn’t keep The Daily Record’s business reporters from breaking some news in the days leading up to Thanksgiving.

Also cracking the weekly top five for the first time is a recent installment in our new series, the Photo of the Day. The picture relates to air travel, hence the business peg, but mostly it’s just a very cool picture. Do check it out.

1. On the Move, 11/26: Northrop Grumman’s Edwards Veihoffer wins women engineers award

Debbie Edwards Veihdeffer, director of work-life integration at Northrop Grumman’s electronic systems sector in Linthicum, recently received the Work-Life Balance Award from the Society of Women Engineers.

She serves as the human resources focal point for three sector-level employee resource groups and is the project leader for two science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational outreach programs for teachers.

2. State suspends debt collection firm’s license

A collection company hired by payday loan firms was suspended by state regulators Monday because the loans were given by unlicensed companies who violated state usury laws.

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The announcement last week from the Port of Baltimore that it had “launched a Twitter page” tripped a social media alarm bell for me.

The venerable state agency came off a little like a dad trying to look cool to his kids, talking about listening to hippity-hop music and updating his Bookface status. But credit where it’s due: @portofbalt used the platform very effectively Tuesday in getting word out about a 9/11 memorial to be built at the World Trade Center in Baltimore.

“POB is very honored to be the home of selected pieces from the WTC NY’s North Tower,” read the tweet, posted at about 2 p.m. “Formal ceremony to take place at WTC Balt on 9-11-11.”

Not to suggest that I’m Ashton Kutcher when it comes to Twitter (though, hey, if you want you can follow me here), but that’s a highly effective use of 140 characters.

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Foreclosures, holiday shopping and troublesome text messages — these staples of the modern-day news diet dominated the list of the top 5 most-read business stories this week at The Daily Record’s website. There was also a very scary tornado that touched down in Baltimore; luckily, no one was hurt.

1. Former Baltimore Sun editor resigns from UNC over racy text messages

Journalism school Dean Jean Folkerts says she contacted the university’s lawyers after the student’s former boyfriend confronted Monty Cook about the texts.

2. Bank of America making changes in foreclosure process

Among the changes, the legal documents used in the process will each be reviewed by the signer and promptly notarized, said Barbara Desoer, president of the bank’s home loans division.

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That’s the fallout as pop culture and wizardry once again invade the tiny box office at the Senator Theatre under new management.

More than 700 tickets have been sold thus far for Thursday’s midnight show of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 at the historic Senator, says Kathleen Cusack, the theater’s new operator. An equal amount have been pre-sold for weekend performances.

“We’re not used to this sort of level of interest,” said Cusack, comparing the ticket sales to the staid art cinema crowd at the family’s other theater, The Charles, downtown. “It is certainly a cultural phenomenon that people seem to take with great seriousness.”

That’s putting it lightly.

Just before midnight, Cusack said she was preparing for hundreds of Potter fans to gather outside the Senator’s doors for the latest fan-fest of the movie series based on the seven books by J.K. Rowling.

Expect costumes – as some will post as Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, Ron and even dearly departed Dumbledore. Daring devotees of “He whose name cannot be spoken” are also likely to show in dark duds.

The pending Hogwarts-a-thon has left Cusack a little astonished.

“I have even heard of groups of people who want to take their kids out of school on Friday to see the show,” she said.

Cusack and her father, Buzz, were recently named by the Baltimore Development Corp. as operators of the Senator after prior owner, Thomas Kiefaber, closed the 71-year-old theater amid financial difficulties. The city had purchased the Art Deco-style theatre in north Baltimore at a foreclosure auction and eventually turned over operations to the Cusacks, who own the Charles Theatre downtown.

The theater, which has about 840 seats, reopened on Oct. 15. Renovations and addition of a couple of eateries are underway.  Tickets are $7.50 for a matinee and $9 for the regular show. Groups of 25 and more can purchase at a special rate.

The film is expected to remain on the large screen there “for a while,” Cusack said.

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The Big Guy in red is back – and he’s going green.

Santa is scheduled to return to a redecorated, environmentally friendly house at Harborplace and The Gallery at 6 p.m. Friday.

Illuminating the new digs made from 325 pounds of recycled metal will be a new, state-of-the-art LED lighting system – all engineered by Image Engineering, a local special effects company and sponsored by M&T Bank.

Dancing Santas from the Baltimore School for the Arts will entertain on the Harborplace promenade as the jolly man and his elves arrive (in a hush-hush vehicle – can you say “Grand Prix”?) and Part Harmony will provide holiday music to get all in the spirit.

Santa’s Place will be open through Christmas Eve, and each night at 6 a special light show and holiday carols will swirl the air around the site. Christopher Schardt, senior GM of Harborplace and The Gallery, owned by General Growth Properties, Inc., said Friday’s ceremony is a part of the 30th anniversary celebration there.

“We look forward to welcoming everyone back to shop, eat and take advantage of our wonderful array of holiday shopping opportunities and events,” he said.

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From horse racing to the NFL’s Tom Brady to the Baltimore Orioles, sports dominated the most popular stories generated by The Daily Record’s business reporters last week. And the latest twist in the city’s quest for a new sports arena cracked the top five after only day on our website.

1. Penn National backs plan to close Laurel, cut racing in Maryland

“From a business perspective, again, these are losing operations that will continue to be in decline without some alternative revenue stream or these types of steep cuts,” said D. Eric Schippers, a Penn National spokesman. The company’s position made public rifts that have developed in the corporate family that runs thoroughbred racing in Maryland.

2. Under Armour signs Tom Brady

For its first NFL quarterback endorser Under Armour aimed high, and the Baltimore-based company didn’t miss, signing three-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady of the New England Patriots to help it wrest market share from rivals like Nike Inc.

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The Dept. of Treasury’s Office of the Inspector General investigated the failure of Bay National Bank in July and found nothing special in the bank’s downward spiral.

“The primary causes of Bay’s failure were its aggressive growth strategy, excessive concentrations in higher-risk construction and development loans, and insufficient capital relative to the risk level of its loans. These conditions were exacerbated by the downturn in residential real estate values in Maryland, Bay’s market. In addition, risk management activities at Bay were inadequate. For example, liberal underwriting standards allowed originations of loans without proper analysis of the borrowers’ stated income or their ability to sustain a project should it be delayed. Bay’s asset quality began deteriorating in late 2007, resulting in significant increases in its problem assets and loan losses. In turn, these loan losses significantly diminished earnings and capital and, ultimately, led to Bay’s failure.”

The audit, undertaken in August and September, determined there were “no unusual circumstances” surrounding the bank failure. Therefore, auditors recommended that no further review of the bank’s failure be undertaken.

The cost to the FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund for the Bay National closure was $17.4 million. The FDIC closed the bank on July 9 and Bay National’s deposits were assumed by the newly formed Bay Bank FSB.

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A Baltimore roofing company wants to give away a “green” roof to a nonprofit looking to reduce its carbon footprint.

Cole Roofing has dubbed the promotion the “Green Roof Giveaway” and values it at $30,000, either in the form of solar panels or a vegetated roof, which Cole says are growing in popularity. Interested nonprofits can go to a website and upload a video or submit an essay explaining why a green roof would help them in their work. The deadline is Nov. 15.

Cole Roofing will determine the type of roof to install based on the structure of the nonprofit’s building.

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Ben Mook wrote in Wednesday’s paper about M&T Bank’s growth spurt in the region — an expansion that includes three instances where the Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank took over small banks at the behest of federal regulators.

The latest acquisition occurred Nov. 5, when the Maryland Office of Financial Regulation closed Owings Mills-based K Bank and appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as the receiver. The FDIC in turn cut a deal with M&T to assume all of K Bank’s deposits and $410.8 million of the bank’s $538.3 million in assets.

Atwood “Woody” Collins III, president and COO of M&T Bank’s Mid-Atlantic division, described the deals with a ho-hum, just-business demeanor completely at odds with the unpopular image these days of the rapacious titan of high finance — smart move by Collins.

The latest takeover also got me thinking about the mechanics of the thing.

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