DailyFinance Wire

Goldman's Jim O'Neill shot to fame by predicting the staggering rise of emerging-market economies like the BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China. But 2011, he says, "will be the beginning of a new phase in which the U.S. has strong GDP growth."

So far this holiday season, U.S. online retail spending is up 12% from a year ago. More people took to the Internet last weekend to finish up their last-minute shopping, according to a ComScore report.

Lower U.S. petroleum inventory and higher demand pushed oil prices past the $90-a-barrel mark Wednesday. Gasoline prices remain near $3 per gallon as a result.

Abbott Laboratories is recalling roughly 359 million blood-sugar test strips for diabetics after the strips turned out to yield falsely low readings.

U.S. pension fund giant CalPER has submitted a shareholder proposal -- calling on Apple investors to approve a policy, requiring the computer company's directors to win at least a majority of votes to retain their board seat.

Not everyone is happy about the mild start to the cold-and-flu season. The nation's drugstore chains, already under pricing pressure from Walmart and each other, would be happier if the rest of us had coughs and sniffles. Here are bull and bear cases for the three big chains. [Video]

If struggling homeowners can make trial modified mortgage payments, the next logical step, it seems, would be to make the modifications permanent. Sadly, however, this is a rare occurrence. Follow the stories of three families as they wrestle with the foreclosure process.

Motorola snapped up virtual media storage maker Zecter, moving to bolster its Motoblur service and drive growth ahead of its split next month into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions.

Sony has launched Music Unlimited, a subscription-based music-streaming service, but the move to leverage its music studio and numerous music-playing devices is surprisingly tardy. Trying to breaking in now could sound some sour notes.

Housing remains in a slow, but uncertain recovery, as existing-home sales increased a less-than-expected 5.6% last month, to a 4.68-million-unit annual rate. At least, home sales rose in every U.S. region, and inventories fell.

Prices for copper, gold, wheat, corn and oil are soaring. But how can small investors can take advantage of this growth without taking on way too much risk? That's a good question, indeed. And here are some good answers.

Bankers worldwide are expecting smaller bonuses this year. Still, they will be hard pressed to find much sympathy as their base salaries were boosted -- in some cases doubled -- this year to compensate for the lower year-end bonuses.

Who makes the safest cars? Hyundai Motor and its sister make, Kia Motors, along with Volkswagen and its luxury brand, Audi, garnered the most awards in the recent vehicle crash tests conducted by an insurance industry testing group.

The economy grew at a moderate pace last summer, reflecting stronger spending by businesses to replenish stockpiles. More recent barometers suggest the economy is gaining momentum in the final months of the year.

Gross domestic product increased at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the July-September...

Among Wednesday's top online stories for investors: Is Google shopping around to buy an alternative to Groupon? Why did Tony Conrad sell about.me to AOL so quickly? And how can investors cash in right now on Facebook's $41 billion value?

A group of J&J; shareholders has filed a complaint against the company, accusing directors of ignoring warnings signs pertaining to J&J;'s massive product recalls and government probes of manufacturing defects and marketing practices.

Video game powerhouse Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is seeking $400 million in damages from Electronic Arts (ERTS) over its Call of Duty video game series.

Activision wants to add Electronic Arts as a defendant in a case against two former employees who developed the hit Call of Duty franchise, Reuters...

This global designer, maker and retailer of fine jewelry and other gift items went through the recession like it never happened. The Tiffany name is globally known, yet analysts agree it has plenty of room to expand in the U.S. and worldwide.

Accused Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford, whose attorney says he is unfit to stand trial on allegations of fraud, will be examined by a government psychiatrist.

Federal prosecutors asked for the examination after the court-appointed defense attorney argued that Stanford is too heavily medicated to...

In an historic 3-2 vote Tuesday, the FCC passed its long-awaited network neutrality order, the most sweeping attempt yet to address the way phone, cable and Internet companies interact when it comes to Internet traffic. But Congress or the courts could end up unraveling the FCC's work.

Markets in Asia were mixed Wednesday. In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index inched up 0.2% to 23,045 and in China the Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.9% to 2,878. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index lost 0.2% to end the day at 10,346.

Software giant Microsoft (MSFT) plans to unveil a version of its Windows operating system that runs on hand-held devices such as tablet computers.

Executives will debut the software at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Bloomberg News reported without naming its sources.

The software is the...

If the stock market reflected the entire economy, happy days would surely be here again. But, alas, it reflects just the profit potential of public companies. And for millions of unemployed Americans, that's proving to be no help at all.

American Airlines has pulled its flights off of Orbitz after a dispute about how the travel site accesses the flight data. The move may make it harder for travelers to comparison shop, critics say. But Orbitz expects no loss of sales as a result.

Here's a nice surprise for television advertisers: Digital video recorders are actually increasing, not decreasing, the number of viewers who are watching the commercials. Nearly half of the DVR owners in the critical 18- to 49-year-old age group watch the commercials, which boosts ratings, Nielsen says.