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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says stock prices have gotten a boost from low interest rates caused by the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts.

Groupon lost more than a fifth of its value in early trading after reporting a quarterly loss late Wednesday that fueled criticism of the daily-deals site's aggressive growth strategy.

Stocks had their worst drop in more than three months as the prospect of political paralysis in Italy raised the specter of Europe's debt crisis flaring up again. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 216.40 points, or 1.6 percent, to 13,784.17, its biggest drop since Nov. 7. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 27.75 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,487.85, dropping below 1,500 for the first time in three weeks. The Nasdaq composite dropped 45.57 points, or 1.4 percent, to 3,116.25.

Talk of more merger and acquisitions is sending stock prices slightly higher in early trading, setting the market up to continue a seven-week rally.

Google's stock price topped $800 for the first time Monday amid renewed confidence in the company's ability to reap steadily higher profits from its dominance of Internet search and prominence in the increasingly important mobile device market.

The Dow and S&P 500 gained to finish at five-year highs in choppy trading Tuesday, ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address later this evening.

Nasdaq OMX Group recently talked with private equity firm Carlyle Group about taking the trans-Atlantic exchange operator private, but the talks broke down because of price disagreements, according to people familiar with the matter.

Stocks are edging higher in early trading on Wall Street after a report showed that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in December.

Stocks edged higher on Wall Street, pushing the Dow toward 14,000, as investors digested the latest round of earnings and economic reports... Stocks are approaching record levels after a January rally that has pushed the Dow 6.5 percent higher this month and the S&P 500 up 5.7 percent, to its highest level since December 2007. Demand was bolstered after lawmakers reached a deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff" at the start of the year and by reports that have added to evidence showing the U.S. housing market is recovering and the jobs market is slowly healing.

EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that just beat Wall Street expectations, but the e-commerce company also gave a cautious forecast for 2013. EBay shares climbed 1.7 percent to $53.80 in after-hours trading following the announcement. Expectations were high ahead of the results because sales data from outside sources suggested strong sales growth from eBay's online marketplace and a solid increase in transactions processed by the company's PayPal payments business.