Great start

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 3.4 percent in January and the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 4.4 percent, the best performances for both indexes to open a year since 1997. The Nasdaq saw an increase of 8 percent.

Hulu plans

After a three-year hiatus, Hulu joined the line-up of advertisers that plunked down big bucks for a Super Bowl XLVI ad spot. The video-streaming site also announced its intentions to invest in the development of original content.

New charges

Federal prosecutors boosted their case yesterday against Rajat Gupta accusing him in a rewritten indictment of participating in additional inside trades that stretched over a two-year period.

FSA fine

NY-based private equity investment firm JC Flowers & Co saw it’s former UK CEO, Ravi Sinhay, slapped with a massive $4.51 million fine and ban from working in finance in the country by the FSA.

‘Alter’ ego

Mark Collinsworth, a former employee testifying yesterday in the fraud trial of R. Allen Stanford, told jurors he was asked to alter financial figures.