Business - Investor's Business Daily

Ongoing financial turmoil dragged down General Electric's profit for a third straight quarter. But it still met lowered views.

1 The Dow dived nearly 700 points at the open, rallied, reversed toward its lows again, leapt into positive territory before closing down 1.5% for its 8th straight loss. The S&P 500 fell 1.2%, while the Nasdaq ended its roller-coaster ride up 0.3%. Volume surged. After a week of historic losses, investors looked to see what gov'ts would do over the weekend.

Economy: Feeling a bit, well, depressed? It's not surprising. Headlines around the world are filled with the D word, as if an epic global economic collapse were inevitable -- especially here in the U.S. It isn't.

History is important to study ... if you can trust the national media to not withhold key information they don't want you to see or twist daily news to fit their agenda.

U.S. missile attacks on suspected militants in Pakistan's northwest near Afghanistan are "helping the terrorists" by fostering anti-government dissent, Pakistan's foreign ministry said. The comments followed a suicide bombing against an anti-insurgent group in a northwest tribal area that killed at least 22 and wounded about 100. The area tribesmen had gathered to plan the demolition of a militant base.

Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that gay couples have the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. The ruling comes just weeks before Californians go to the polls on a historic gay-marriage ballot question, the first time the issue will be put before voters in a state where same-sex couples are legally wed.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute's leading U.S. index fell 1.6 points in the week ended Oct. 3 to 122.2, the lowest since April '03. The annualized growth rate sank to -14.7%, the lowest in 33 years. "The U.S. recession is set to rapidly worsen," said Lakshman Achuthan, ECRI's managing director.

You never know which horse will win a race. But it's not all that difficult to gauge a particular animal's health and strength to get a sense of its competitive prospects.

You can have the market's hottest product and still suffer a lukewarm consumer response. The sales are in the details. Issues to consider:

Kristi Yamaguchi again faced pressure to win it all, a chance to add a piece of shiny hardware to her vast collection.

When autos go on sale, more people tend to want to buy. The same with clothing and TV sets and soft drinks.

It turns out Carl Icahn wasn't bluffing after all. He really did have an offer of $70 a share for ImClone, the developer of biologic drugs to fight cancer.

Now that the big banking behemoths have been humbled by breathtaking credit losses, plain-vanilla banking is back in fashion.

The financial crisis has chief financial officers fretting more about their firms' risk management practices than debt and financing issues.

When you run a staff meeting or training session, you want people to pay attention. Even if you plead for them to listen, your pleas can fall on deaf ears.

As your business grows, you hire salespeople. Then it keeps growing and you need a sales manager.

Liberty Laser Eye Center feels like it's sitting in the eye of the hurricane these days.

Axsys Technologies (NasdaqGS:AXYS - News) makes lenses and systems that help it see incoming missiles through dark, cloudy skies, or peer down on troops in distant battlefields.

Times are tough for electronic stock brokers, but take heart -- experts say things could be a lot worse.

How Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt can continue to serve on Apple's board is a question legal observers are pondering as the first "Google" phone is set to enter the market vs. Apple's iPhone.

China's economy will surely sputter as trade slows, limiting its ability to help put a floor under the global economic decline.

With financial markets buckling as Plan A takes shape, Plan B -- a government injection of equity capital directly into the banking sector -- has moved to the front burner.

Stocks plunged to five-year lows Thursday after Standard & Poor's said it may downgrade General Motors and Ford , raising fears that a persistent credit crunch could drive more companies into bankruptcy and spark a deep and prolonged recession.

1 The automaker plunged 31% to 4.76, the lowest since 1950, after S&P placed it and rival Ford on watch for credit downgrades. Fitch said suppliers may force GM to pay bills fast. GM said European sales fell 1.9% to 1.6 mil vehicles in the first 9 months of '08. J.D. Power & Associates warned of a U.S. auto market "collapse" in '09. Ford shares dived 22%, Toyota's 7%.

Election '08: Obama says McCain won't raise the Ayers issue to his face. Well, there's one more debate, senator, and maybe you'd like John Murtaugh to ask the question: What did you know and when did you know it?

Election '08: Bill Ayers isn't out bombing anymore, but he has never stopped being a radical. His ties to hostile Marxist regimes remain, raising more questions about Barack Obama's refusal to fully repudiate him.

The prepaid calling card business has grown into a $4 bil industry, but it also faces criticism from lawmakers who say some cards use deceptive marketing practices. A dozen states have passed laws tightening oversight on the cards, plus the U.S. Senate is mulling oversight measures already passed by the House. The deceptive practices include billing in 3-minute increments even if customers use a card for just a few seconds. Critics contend card issuers don't fully disclose added charges, such as activation fees and weekly maintenance fees.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a draft report that Afghanistan is in a "downward spiral" and they doubt whether the gov't can stem the Taliban's rise, the New York Times reported. The report said corruption in Pres. Hamid Karzai's gov't and militant attacks from Pakistan have fueled the breakdown.