Tech Stocks Lead Nasdaq surge

Wholesale inventories, financials struggle, but tech holds its ground

(NEWSER) - Stocks showed mixed results today, as the Dow rallied and then teetered to a loss off lingering fears of recession. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq posted moderate gains buoyed by strong showings by Amazon, Google, Apple, and Research in Motion, Marketwatch reports. The Nasdaq gained 11.82 to end at 2,304.85; the Dow fell 64.87 to 12,181.32, and the S&P 500 dropped 5.62 to 1,331.29. More»

Dow sees triple-digit rise

(NEWSER) - Is the panic over on Wall Street? The Dow shot up around 131 points, and the S&P and Nasdaq were up 13.5 and 26.2 as of 9:39am EST. Part of the gain came from Google’s blockbuster acquisition of Motorola , which sent the latter’s stock up 60%, according to the Wall Street Journal . Traders were also watching two other major deals—Time Warner is reportedly close to an agreement to buy Insight Communications, and Bank of America sold its credit card portfolio to Toronto-Dominion Bank. More»

In fact, Amazon e-books will soon be more open

(NEWSER) - Google is making quite a big deal about the "openness" of its e-books , but Farhad Manjoo has news for you: "Google's e-books are 'open' in the same way that politicians are 'bipartisan' and oil companies are 'green,'" he writes on Slate . "Open" certainly sounds good, when it comes to marketing, but there's no practical difference in buying from Google over Amazon when it comes to how much control you have over your e-library. Neither store will allow you to share or resell your books, and neither store will allow you to read your books on every device. More»

Facebook founder tops Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch

(NEWSER) - Frighteningly enough, Mark Zuckerberg tops Vanity Fair 's list of this year's most influential people of the Information Age. The top 5 of its 100:

1. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook: His company is valued at around $25 billion, has more than 500 million members, runs 176 billion banner ads a month, and is looking at $2 billion in revenue this year.
2. Steve Jobs, Apple: He's already saved the music business, now he's looking to do the same for the publishing industry with the iPad. And sales of his market-dominating iPhone will likely top $20 billion this year.

Google, AmEx drop despite positive earnings reports

(NEWSER) - Strong earnings just weren't enough to buoy the markets today, as Google and American Express saw big declines despite strong quarterly reports. Goldman Sachs and other financials also posted losses due to fear over President Obama's new restrictions on banks, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• The Dow lost 216.90 points to close at 10,172.98.
• The Nasdaq fell 60.41, dropping to 2,205.29.
• The S&P 500 shed 254.72, settling at 1,091.76.