Cramer Ain't That Bad a Stock Picker, Actually

Stock traders prove more reckless, ruthless in simulations, tests

(NEWSER) - Don’t call rogue traders like Kweku Adoboli a psycho—because that may not be fair to psychos. A new study from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland pitted a group of stockbrokers against a group of actual psychopaths in various computer simulations and intelligence tests, and found that the money men were significantly more reckless, competitive, and manipulative. More»

Investors starting to panic that nobody has answers

(NEWSER) - What's behind the market meltdown? Some on-the-fly observations:

• Ezra Klein, Washington Post : The market is "diving because of forces Washington can’t control, and in many cases, doesn’t understand very well. How many members of Congress do you think could give a coherent account of what has happened to oil or steel prices over the last three years? Or what’s happening in the Eurozone? Or to the yuan?" Nobody knows where the recovery will come from, and the markets are reflecting that panic.

Forecast fastest expansion in years on consumer spending

(NEWSER) - Economists are growing more optimistic about this year’s climate, predicting it will expand at its fastest pace since 2003, the Wall Street Journal reports. The paper polled 51 economists. Among the highlights:

• Economists see only a 12% risk of returning to recession, compared to 22% in September.
• In the 4th quarter of 2011, economists expect GDP to be 3.5% higher than a year before—beating last month’s prediction of a 3.3% increase.

Market 'genius' also took illegal bribe to tout penny stock

(NEWSER) - Lenny Dykstra, the fraudster Jim Cramer unwittingly turned into a stock-picking star, accepted an illegal bribe to pimp a penny stock on his TheStreet.com newsletter, Randall Lane of the Daily Beast reports. Dykstra secretly accepted $250,000 worth of Automated Vending Technologies shares in exchange for a plug in the newsletter and a promised meeting with Cramer, according to a former adviser to Dykstra, a retired baseball star. More»

Dow up 61% since the low point in March

(NEWSER) - Stocks have rebounded mightily since the dark days of March, though analysts warn the dazzling recovery could make for a lackluster 2010, or even auger a double-dip recession or '30s-style yo-yoing markets. The good news first: Barring a disastrous close today, the Dow will be up around 61% since March lows, and 20% for the year, the best showing since 2003. The S&P and NASDAQ are also on track to have their best year since then. More»