Online energy trading in shambles, traders pulling the plug. (News).(Brief Article)

Online energy electricity trading, which once had companies lining up to get in on the action, now sees companies scrambling to get out of the business in order to convince investors they're not the next Enron. Fast-growing operations and glitzy trading floors are out, and tangible, gritty assets such as pipelines and power plants are in as investors and debt-rating agencies have become increasingly skeptical about the viability of the business.

As of this writing, based on news reports from a variety of sources, here's how some of the major companies have fared:

* Dynegy Inc. halted energy trading on its Dynegydirect online system on June 20 only hours after it replaced its top financial officer and announced …