Here's three top stories we covered on VatorNews this past week.

Can you believe Twitter turned down Facebook's half a billion dollar offer? Twitter, which was recently valued at about $100 million dollars, is also known as the fastest growing micro-blogging site. Facebook, the fastest growing social network, which was valued at an inflated $15 billion dollars, offered all stock to Twitter. But Twitter's newsfeed would only take Facebook's newsfeed to new levels. So, it's plain to see why Twitter thumbed its nose at Facebook. At least you tried, Facebook.

See: Twitter rejects Facebook's $500 mln offer

Beware of matchmaking sites on the Web that bring together borrowers and lenders of money - Prosper, a P2P lending site, which received a cease-and-desist letter from the SEC. Does this signal a wave of shutdowns across the Web for matchmaking shutdowns? Maybe. But given the global financial crisis, should this focus really be the SEC's top priority?

See: SEC calls for Prosper to shut down

Since e-commerce sales have declined about 4 % for the first two weeks in November, it's obvious that online holiday shopping is shaping up to be as bad as the bricks-and-mortar variety this year.

How about those gift cards, or last minute presents that would at least be more decent than a re-gifted fruitcake? Thank goodness we probably will not be receiving them this holiday season.

Bad news? If you happen to have already received them, they are probably are worth the same as the sentiment that went into giving them... not a whole lot.

See: Gift-buying elves abandon shopping