Stocks Open Up as GDP Boosts Confidence

U.S. stocks rose at the open on Friday after the U.S. reported unexpectedly strong growth during
the third quarter. The Dow Industrial Average was last up 52.49 points, or 0.32%, to 16,231.57.
The S&P 500 gained 5.65 points, or 0.31%, to 1,815.25. The Nasdaq Conmposite advanced 14.20
points, or 0.35%, to 4,072.33.

The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in almost two years in the third quarter, the government
said on Friday as it revised its estimates of business and consumer spending higher. Gross
domestic product grew at a 4.1 percent annual rate instead of the 3.6 percent pace reported
earlier this month, the Commerce Department said in its third estimate.

BlackBerry Ltd. reported a massive quarterly loss on Friday, as sales of its smartphones shriveled
and it booked asset impairment charges and inventory writedowns. BlackBerry sold about 4.3 million
handsets in the third quarter ended November 30, including some shipped to suppliers earlier.
Older BlackBerry 7 models account for about 3.2 million of the smartphones.The company recognized
hardware revenue on 1.9 million devices, down from 3.7 million in the prior quarter.

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) on Friday said it will buy Responsys MKTG 0.00% , a maker of business-to-
consumer marketing software, for $27 a share or $1.5 billion, net of Responsys’ cash. That
represents a 38% premium to Responsys’ stock price as of Thursday’s close.