44% of bloggers have taken material they find online – like songs, text, or images – and remixed it into their own artistic creation. By comparison, just 18% of all internet users have done this. A whopping 77% of bloggers have shared something online that they created themselves, like their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos. By comparison, 26% of internet users have done this.

VC Deal Flow - 7/24/06

US Economic Calendar

07/25 at 10:00am. Prior: 

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07/27 at 8:30am. Prior: 

07/27 at 8:30am. Prior: 

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07/28 at 8:30am. Q1: 

07/28 at 10:00am. Prior: 

VC Deal Flow - 7/13/06

For the fiscal year so far, the deficit is down 17% to $206.5 billion from $249.5 billion this time last year. Receipts are up about 13% year-to-date to 1.81 trillion. Outlays are up about 9% to 2.02 trillion. 

For the year, the government estimates the deficit will shrink to $295.8 billion from $318.5 billion. 

In June, receipts increased 13% to $264.4 billion and outlays rose 15% to $243.9 billion, both are record for June. 

In June, individual tax receipts totaled $106.5 billion. Corporate taxes totaled $67.3 billion. Payroll taxes totaled $59.0 billion. 

For the year-to-date, individual taxes are up about 14%, corporate tax receipts are up about 27% and payroll taxes are up about 6%. Nonwithheld individual income tax receipts are up 22% year-to-date to $322.5 billion, while withheld taxes are up about 8% to $649.5 billion. 

US Economic Calendar

7/10 at 10am.  Prior: 

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7/12 at 8:30am. Prior: 

7/13 at 8:30am. Prior: 

Budget Gap  -Jun

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Borrowing on credit cards and other categories of revolving debt shot up at an annual rate of 9.9% in May, the biggest surge in this category since a 13.5% increase in October 2004.

The total amount of borrowing rose by $4.4 billion in May to an annual rate of $2.17 trillion. That compared to an increase of $9.34 billion in April. 

US economy grew at an annual rate of 5.6% in the first quarter, the fastest pace in 2 1/2 years and is expected to slow in the 2nd quarter to a growth rate around 2.5% to 3%.

June's increase raised the trade surplus for the first half of the year to $61.5 billion, a 55% jump over last year's first-half surplus of $39.7 billion.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 10.3% in the first quarter of the year. First-half GDP growth number to be released soon, would likely would remain at about 10%.

Venture capitalists remained on a steady pace in the first quarter of 2006, investing $5.6 billion in 761 deals according to the MoneyTree Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the National Venture Capital Association based on data provided by Thomson Financial.

Practicing classic venture capital for 28 years, NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company's development, from seed-stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA's team has invested in over 500 companies, of which more than 150 have gone public and more than 200 have been acquired. NEA has offices in Reston, Virginia, Menlo Park, California and Baltimore, Maryland. 

19 venture-backed companies raised $2.0 billion through initial public offerings (IPOs) on US exchanges in the second quarter of 2006, according to the Exit Poll report by Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). 

This volume represents a 90% increase from 1Q 2006 when 10 venture-backed companies went public. It is also near double the volume from a year ago when 10 companies went public during the same period. In addition, there were 86 venture-backed acquisitions with a disclosed value of $3.2 billion reported in the second quarter.

VC backed startup companies have a multitude of exit and liquidity options – US IPOs, acquisitions, foreign exchanges, and buyout rounds.

Returns on total investments in the second quarter mirrored those of the first quarter. Deals bringing in the top returns, those with values greater that 4x the venture investment, accounted for 29% of the total. This compared to 33% last quarter. Conversely, those deals returning less than the amount invested accounted for 29% of the quarter’s total, up from 17% of the total last quarter.

VC Deal Flow - 7/7/06

MySpace is the fastest-growing property across the top Web brands, drawing 42 million unique visitors in May, up 329%, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. 

Monthly pageviews grew nearly 400% to 19.3 billion. The top 5 standings:

The study found that IT spending growth is strongest in business services, where it shows a 9.7% increase over last year, followed by healthcare, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, retail, and banking and finance organizations. Weakest growth, though still positive, is seen in the process manufacturing, utilities/energy, and wholesale distribution sectors.

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 121,000 in June to 135.2 million and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.6%, the U.S. Department of Labor reported. Employment continued to trend upward in several service-providing industries and in mining. 

Average hourly earnings rose by 8 cents to $16.70 in June. For the last 12 months, wages have gone up by 3.9%, the largest annual increase since June 2001.

The average workweek for production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.1 hour to 33.9 hours in June, seasonally adjusted. The manufacturing workweek also rose by 0.1 hour to 41.3 hours, while factory overtime was unchanged at 4.6 hours.

US Economic Calendar

Construction Spend - May

7/3 at 10:00am. Prior:  

ISM Mfg. Index -  Jun

7/3 at 10:00am.  Prior:  

Car Sales - Jun

7/3 Monday.  Prior:  

Truck Sales - Jun

7/3 Monday.  Prior:  

Factory Orders - May

7/5 at 10:00am.  Prior:  

7/6 at 8:30am. Prior: 

ISM Services Index - Jun

7/6 at 10:00am.  Prior:  

Hourly Earnings - Jun

7/7 at 8:30am.  Prior:  

Nonfarm Payrolls - Jun

7/7 at 8:30am.  Prior:  

Unemployment Rate - Jun

7/7 at 8:30am.  Prior:  

June 2006 ISM MANUFACTURING INDEX - PMI

The PMI indicates that the manufacturing economy grew in June for the 37th consecutive month as it registered 53.8%, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point when compared to May's reading of 54.4%. A reading above 50% indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50% indicates that it is generally contracting.

The June PMI indicates that both the overall economy and the manufacturing sector are growing. The past relationship between the PMI and the overall economy indicates that the average PMI for January through June (55.4%) corresponds to a 4.6% increase in real gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, if the PMI for June (53.8%) is annualized, it corresponds to a 4% increase in real GDP annually.

ISM's Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index in June registered 57% compared to the 60.1% registered in May, indicating a slower rate of growth in business activity in June. The non-manufacturing business activity is continuing to increase for the 39th consecutive month, but at a slower rate. 

The industries reporting the highest rates of growth of business activity in June are: Transportation; Business Services; Mining; Retail Trade; Construction; Communication; and Finance & Banking. The one industry reporting contraction of business activity in June is Agriculture.