Before we get to the latest new bankruptcy filings to begin 2011, we wanted to share some of the information from a report last month by The New York Times on the drop-off in big Chapter 11 filings as 2010 came to a close.

The Times reported that the mid-December bankruptcy filing by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company (A&P) was the ninth-largest of 2010. In all, only 15 filings last year involved companies with assets of more than $1 billion, compared to 45 such filings in 2009.