Each week, Report on Business editors choose five stories that shouldn't be missed. Here are the 'must reads' for the week of Oct. 26, 2009.

The future of the supermarket

When you ask residents of Torino what to see in their elegant northern Italian city, they will steer you toward the Egyptian Museum and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, the keeper of the Shroud of Turin. And, they'll say, "You have to see Eataly." Eataly is a vast, new concept supermarket on the edge of central Torino, next to Fiat's headquarters. It is an unlikely blend of food bazaar, farm stand, educational centre, museum, eclectic dining experience and political and environmental movement - though one anchored firmly in the world of commerce. As a business, Eataly is a small monument to gastronomic anti-globalization, but one yearning for global exposure. Eric Reguly reports: Read the story

The Canadian Press

No business like flu business

While thousands of Canadians line up for H1N1 vaccinations and people around the world worry about the spread of the virus, the pandemic is proving to be a financial windfall for many big corporations. Last week, Clorox Co., best known for its bleaches and other household products, said sales of its disinfectant wipes are at all-time highs. Sales have been so strong the company's profit jumped 23 per cent in the third quarter to $157-million (U.S.). Clorox is one of many companies benefiting from the H1N1 pandemic. Last week, Kimberly-Clark Corp. said sales of its face masks jumped 40 per cent year over year during the third quarter, and 3M Co. said it sold $100-million worth of masks in the last quarter: Read the story

A salesman displays a tray of gold bangles at a jewellery shop in Singapore

Golden sale heralds economic force

A surprise move to snap up $6.7-billion (U.S.) of gold underscores India's economic ascendance and marks the strongest indication yet that the central banks of Asia's fast-growing nations are turning away from the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The price of gold leapt to an all-time high as the decision to purchase 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund highlighted the resilience of India's economy while laying bare a growing loss of global faith in the value of the U.S. dollar. Already the world's largest gold importer to fuel its massive jewellery consumption, the gold deal marks a major milestone for India and its standing in the global economy. Andy Hoffman reports: Read the story

The Globe and Mail

David Labistour, CEO of Mountain Equipment Co-op, talk about the new line of bikes designed by the company, now for sale in Toronto.

Mountain Equipment Co-op raises cyclers' ire

Mountain Equipment Co-op, which has built its retailing reputation on a feel-good image of environmental and social responsibility, has ignited anger in an unlikely place – the bicycle industry. Its foray this month into bike selling has been criticized by rival specialty retailers for everything from unfair competition because of its tax-exempt status, to a Wal-Mart-style money grab, to unethical sourcing. Marina Strauss reports: Read the story

An unidentified suspect charged with fraud and conspiracy in the Galleon Group insider trading scandal arrives at Manhattan Federal Court in FBI custody on Thursday.

Wall Street insider trading probe widens

They spoke in code, on hard-to-trace prepaid cellphones. They adopted nicknames, like “The Greek.” And they made secret drops of bags of cash on busy Manhattan streets. U.S. prosecutors charged 14 people, including prominent Wall Street lawyers and traders, with conspiracy and fraud Thursday in a dramatic widening of an insider trading case that has already implicated top hedge fund managers and Silicon Valley executives. Embracing the tactics of mobsters and drug dealers, prosecutors said the sophisticated ring swapped advance knowledge of takeovers, including a 2007 buyout of Quebec drug maker Axcan Pharma Inc., to make quick multimillion-dollar gains. Barrie McKenna reports: Read the story