For Venture Capitalists, Wells Run Dry

Growth fits economists' predictions

(AP) - The economy grew slightly faster over the summer as Americans spent a little more freely: The GDP grew at a 2% rate during the third quarter, in line with what economists had forecast. It marks a slight improvement over last quarter, when the GDP grew at a 1.7% rate. Consumers helped boost last quarter's economic growth with 2.6% growth in spending, the biggest quarterly increase since the end of 2006, before the recession hit. More»

Ignore the political crowd, the president's been great for business

(NEWSER) - President Obama doesn't get much political credit for it, but the numbers show his economic policies have been a resounding success. Since he took office, the S&P 500 is up 41%, credit spreads have narrowed, commodity prices have surged, and housing prices have stabilized, writes Mike Dorning of Bloomberg . GDP grew 5.9% in the fourth quarter, far more than analysts predicted, and job losses have slowed. More»

It's decent news, but let's not get carried away

(NEWSER) - The Dow hit 10,000 today, but most analysts aren't exactly falling off their chairs in excitement:

• Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch: "It would be entirely in investors' rights to feel pretty good about it. But they're not, on the whole. That's surprising, and suggests to contrarian analysts" that a "strong wall of worry" still exists.
• Brett Arends, Wall Street Journal: "Hold the cheering. The rally in US share prices only looks impressive if you ignore what's happening overseas." Our surge pales in camparison, and "investors should be more cautious now than they were a few months ago."

Markets propelled by strong earnings from Intel, JPMorgan

(AP) - The Dow Jones industrial average reached 10,000 today for the first time since Oct. 7, 2008. The milestone, which triggered a whoop from the trading floor, was buoyed by surprisingly strong earnings reports from Intel and JPMorgan. The latter stoked the market's optimism as it handily beat Wall Street's expectations, reporting a profit of $3.59 billion for the July-September period. More»

(NEWSER) - As if he didn't have enough to do, President Obama is now taking a stab at being the nation's stockbroker. Asked about yesterday's huge sell-off, Obama said that it's "potentially" a great time to buy stocks. Presidents usually shy away from such advice, notes Eamon Javers of Politico, given how their words can rattle the markets. Not to mention the repercussions from angry investors if they're wrong. More»