Business - Investor's Business Daily

Foreign Policy: Barack Obama claims he's not an appeaser. But when President Bush attacked those who "seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists," why was the senator sure he was talking about him?

1 Erasing modest early losses, the Nasdaq rose 1.5%, the NYSE composite 1.2% and the S&P 500 1.1% -- all to 4-month highs. The Dow climbed 0.7%. Several factors fueled gains: a less-bad Philly Fed, oil reversing from highs, Internet deals, solid retail earnings and reports of a housing rescue bill deal. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 10 basis points to 3.83%.

Banks have raised $260 billion or so worldwide to offset subprime-mortgage related losses -- easing the credit crisis -- but must tap even more money to get back to business as usual.

Carl Icahn is turning up the heat in a last-ditch push to get Yahoo and Microsoft back to the bargaining table, but some analysts doubt the effort will be enough.

Industrial output fell sharply last month, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. But while weak, the latest wave of data showed the U.S. is still doing better than when it was last in recession.

Saudi Arabia is reaping the benefits of sky-high oil prices and insatiable demand from emerging economies like China and India.

CruiseWest, a seller of exotic shipboard vacations, used to rely on regional field reps to bring in clients. Then it found that interactive online presentations could float its boat.

Software installed on cell phones provides first responders basic medical information such as blood type, medications, allergies and emergency contacts. The application appears as an emergency logo on the screen of the user's cell phone, and it helps paramedics find the person's medical history in case of emergency, even in areas without cellular reception. The software was created by developer MyRapidMD in Calif. If the phone is broken, emergency workers can call an 800 number and access data remotely.

Burma's military leaders warned that legal action would be taken against people who trade or hoard int'l aid sent to help victims of last week's cyclone, which has killed at least 43,000. It was the first acknowledgment by the military gov't, albeit indirectly, of problems with relief operations. The warning came amid reports that foreign aid was being sold openly in markets, and that the military was pilfering and diverting aid for its own use.

Despite his sound primary defeat to Hillary Clinton in W.Va. on Tue., Barack Obama picked up the support of at least 6 of John Edwards' 19 delegates, the backing of superdelegate Rep. James McDermott, D-Wash., and the 600,000-member United Steelworkers Union. Obama has 1,892 delegates vs. 1,718 for Clinton, both shy of the 2,025 needed to lock in the nomination.

Banks should raise money to create a "generous" capital cushion to guard vs. credit market turmoil, Fed chief Ben Bernanke said. "I strongly urge financial institutions to remain proactive in their capital-raising efforts," he said. That will help the economy and set firms to "take advantage of new profit opportunities." Poor risk management contributed to market woes, he said, adding that regulators were calling for more disclosure.

"The way I look at it, earnings are what drive stocks," said Fischman, manager of $2.6 billion MFS Growth Fund (NASDAQ:MFEGX - News).

Sector-focused ETFs are showing strong inflow as advisers buy them instead of stocks.

Real estate in high-priced areas is finally becoming a little easier to buy or refinance, thanks to the jumbo conforming loan program approved by Congress in February.

The quest for clean, efficient energy is one of the hot investment themes of the past few years. Woodward Governor is right in the middle of it.

It was 1975, and Bill James had just earned his teaching certificate.

Many investors want to be socially responsible -- and they don't have to give up performance to promote literacy and fight pollution. Ways private equity investors make it work:

If Virginia Apgar had become a surgeon, her operations might have saved thousands of lives, one by one.

On May 15, we asked you if you would have bought, sold, held or passed on this stock as it broke out on Jan. 19, 2006.

No one likes being wrong. But with stocks, if you don't own up to your mistakes and cut your losses, you could end up losing a lot of money.

Regulation: The Interior Department ruled Wednesday that the polar bear will be protected as a threatened species. Why special treatment for an animal whose population has more than doubled over the last 50 years?

Decision '08: After criticizing McCain for mentioning that Hamas endorses him, Obama says it's understandable that Hamas would do so. Just how anti-Hamas and pro-Israel is the Democratic front-runner? And just why did he fire an adviser who talked with the group?

U.S. consumer prices rose less than expected in April, the Labor Department said Wednesday, a sign that the slowing economy may be bringing about a long-awaited easing of inflation.

1 April's consumer price index rose 0.2% -- 0.1% ex food and energy -- both below views in a sign that a slowing economy is easing cost gains. Consumer inflation ticked down to 3.9% while the core rate slid to 2.3%. Gasoline costs fell vs. March because actual price gains didn't match the typical April gain. Food costs shot up 5.1% vs. a year earlier, the most since Dec. '90.

Nearly three in four West Virginia Democrats turned out to vote against Barack Obama on Tuesday, but Republicans suffered a far more humbling defeat.

Solar wafer maker ReneSola found its place in the sun. Investors have rung up shares of Visa , too. But despite those blockbuster IPOs this year, many companies have decided to stay private this spring.

Sina continues to reap the benefits of China's growing online ad market.

Solar energy stocks continued their march upward Wednesday after Chinese silicon wafer manufacturer ReneSola beat analysts' first-quarter sales and profit forecasts.