Weekly Roundup: Washington weighs while IPOs sizzle

	Weekly Roundup OCTOBER 04, 2013 To all Gmail users: To ensure that you continue to see your MarketWatch emails, please drag and drop one of our emails into your Primary tab and click "Yes" when asked if you would like to do this for future messages from MarketWatch. You can also add "MarketWatch" to your Gmail contacts list or filters. Washington weighs while IPOs sizzle Top 10 stories for week of Sept. 30-Oct. 4 This wasn't Washington's finest week. Rob Schroeder/MarketWatchAn anti-shutdown rally outside the Capitol.With each side nursing grudges from past political battles, America's two major parties opted not to fund the government and left open the possibility of a more damaging halt in days. It prompted two major gaffes: one, from a Republican congressman, who insisted on getting "something" out of the shutdown even if he didn't know what it was, and another from a White House official who bragged about winning the shutdown and not caring how long it lasted. Gaffes, remember, are when a politician speaks the truth. And the truth about stocks is: well, they weren't great but weren't terrible. Markets don't like the haggling but remain convinced Congress and the White House will avoid a meltdown. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP) advanced 0.7% on the week, its fifth week of gains; the S&P 500 (SPX) fell marginally and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) lost 1.2%. Stay tuned to MarketWatch for continuing coverage of the shutdown drama as well as all the other investing and retirement news you need this weekend. — Steve Goldstein Shutdown starts as debt ceiling looms No one blinked, completely anyway. Though Republicans shifted their demands from a defunding of Obamacare to a delay of the enforcement of the individual mandate, that proved not enough to win Senate approval, leaving the federal government unfunded when the fiscal year began Oct. 1. Read about the 800,000 furloughed employees Treasury warns of dire consequences of default 6 charts of the market's fear Obamacare launches On the first day, MarketWatch was unable to fill out any application. By day two, the performance of state health insurance exchanged had improved. Obamacare's bumping beginning 10 things Obamacare won't tell you Twitter IPO In fewer than 140 characters: $1 billion IPO announced by social media firm that's growing revenue but losing money and hasn't picked an exchange. Reeves: Twitter is the best IPO opportunity since Tesla Twitter founders have big stakes in IPO Investors confuse Tweeter for Twitter More IPOs Who needs Twitter when you have Potbelly (PBPB), which more than doubled in its debut? Or Burlington Stores (BURL), which surged 47%? Or Re/Max (RMAX), up nearly 50% in two days? About the only dud was Empire Realty Trust (ESRT), and at least that didn't drop in value. Read more: Should you buy the Empire State Building? Tesla fire Narrated seemingly by "Cheech & Chong" wannabes, the video of the electric car on fire sent the shares plummeting. Read more on Tesla's raging inferno (Also take a look at cars American's don't want to buy .) Vampire foreclosures Vampire foreclosures — those foreclosed properties where prior owners continue to live — are the reason bank inventories of homes are high, according to an analyst. Read more on vampire foreclosures There go preapprovals The mortgage preapproval, for years a crucial step in the home-buying process, is losing its luster with lenders, new data shows. Read more Merck CEO rewards workers with pink slips Al Lewis writes about the CEO making $15 million a year for firing people. Martha Stewart and how not to complain on Twitter When she cracked the screen on her iPad last week and then complained on Twitter that Apple lacked an instant repair service, it was her followers and fans schooling her in proper form for a change. Read more on how not to complain on Twitter. Why Uncle Sam is hoarding gold Brett Arends writes about why the Treasury won't tap its gold stockpile even to avoid a default. Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2013 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111