jkettnich@stepstoneglobal.com

Were you sniffing about the economy last year? You must have been among the seemingly select few who didn't sell their startup in 2010. According to new exit data published by peHUB parent Thomson Reuters and the National Venture Capital Association, last year saw more venture-backed M&A exits since people began recording this kind of thing in 1985. According to their findings, 420 deals were sewn up last year, roughly 18 percent of them IT-based. A notoriously slow period of deal-making, even 2010's fourth quarter was pretty good for M&A, with 88 venture-backed M&A deals reported as of December 31. Combined, the average disclosed deal value in the fourth quarter was $157.7 million, with HealthSpring's acquisition of Bravo Health winning biggest venture-backed deal in the quarter. (It was apparently a win for investors, too. Bravo Health sold for $545 million. Backers including New Enterprise Associates and DLJ Merchant Banking Partners had sunk $157 million into the healthcare services company since its 1996 founding.)

Federal prosecutors and a trustee charged with recovering assets lost in the Madoff scheme are about to wring a stunning $7.2 billion out of one investor's estate. Insider trading: the 'expert network' web grows. [Cue ominous music.] Wall Street's Christmas displays -- graded from A to F. The Santa Claus of Christmas song reveals, "People will listen to anything if you put sleigh bells on it." After Steve Jobs kills a line of $79 action figures made in his likeness, one sells for $2,500. Facebook shares are now trading on the secondary market at a $56 billion valuation. And Wedbush analyst Lou Kerner seems to suggest that's a deal. Has Yahoo hit absolute rock bottom? The meaning behind a platter of bite-size donuts at Citibank. Stop procrastinating. Here's how. (Don't put off reading this one!)

Groupon is raising an enormous new round -- at a lower valuation than Google had assigned it. Speaking of Google, John Doerr's board seat there may be why Kleiner didn't take a board seat at Twitter, despite showering $150 million the company. As the holidays draw close, are venture capitalists beginning to go mad? Not had enough of Julian Assange lately? Gawker publishes his "creepy, lovesick emails" to a 19-year-old woman. Four more arrests are made in the government's insider trading investigation. Why Carl Icahn's Dynegy deal looks like a stinker. It's always a great time to be rich, but right now, it's an especially great time to be rich. Hedge fund manager David Einhorn says not to expect a buyout of real estate developer The St. Joe. Co. "There's no cash," he said in an interview this morning. Tim Ryan, CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, on the impact of financial reform on dealmaking.

Coincidence? As Twitter's valuation soars to $3.7 billion on its newest round, Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures -- which stopped participating two financings ago -- muses on VCs who overpay. Dress code at UBS: no plastic shoes, no flimsy underwear. Mark Zuckerberg is Time's Person of the Year, though such recognition "is not and never has been an honor," says VentureBeat (and Time itself). Zipcar signals it's not ready to drive a successful IPO yet. Why we may soon be subject to every thought Nick Denton has had over the last month. Analyzing Goldman Sachs' $111 million bonus windfall. Chart of the week: China-Africa trade. After spurning Blackstone, Dynegy has agreed to be bought by Icahn Enterprises for $665 million -- unless a better offer comes through soon. Google's former chefs have cooked up their own fast-growing startup.

Fred Wilson: "We're losing more deals than ever. I'm cheap." Merry Christmas, Yahoo employees! You're totally fired. Foursquare's Dennis Crowley checks in to Charity:Ball in New York, where he's voted among the best-dressed. Julian Assange makes history even when he's just sitting around in a bail application hearing. #twitterruling From the it-was-nice-while-it-lasted files: Stimulus programs and tax cuts for alternative energy programs will run out in two weeks. The best and worst airlines for holiday travel. (Hint: if you are booked on Frontier Airlines, don't even bother packing your suitcase.) Bain's Stephen Pagliuca on IPOs and LBOs. The challenge of selling Yoplait. The New Yorker gets lazy this week, observing that Groupon isn't a revolutionary company.

Seems Julian Assange's had a profile on the dating site OkCupid. Check it out here. (Talk about too much information...) With a Google acquisition off the table, Groupon looks to plant some flags abroad, beginning in China. How hackers breached Gawker Media's dozen sites, and what you should do about it, pronto. Last year, 300 million mobile applications were downloaded. This year, that number jumped to 5 billion. (Video.) Why financial crimes are so hard to prove, including the verrry thin line between aggressive accounting and fraud. Back from the brink, AIG, the biggest recipient of TARP funds, says it's starting to think acquisitions. Big banks to employees this year: No conspicuous holiday parties for us or you, either. Thirteen amazingly terrible Christmas cards.

The real reason Groupon couldn't accept Google's $6 billion offer. Why some young VCs are deciding it's better to be an entrepreneur. Why more women leave management roles faster than men. PayPal decides to release some residual funds to WikiLeaks, though it's not reinstating the ability for it to receive donations. Is the government’s use of technology an effort to keep financial professionals looking over their shoulders? Giving stock to children is a great gift idea; here are some to consider.

By 2015, one in ten of your online "friends" won't be human, according to Gartner Group. Amazon axes Wikileaks from its servers, apparently after some calls from Joe Lieberman's office. From the better late than never files: Looks like Kleiner Perkins is successfully jockeying to lead Twitter's next massive funding round at a reported $4 billion valuation. Why aren't you more powerful, dammit? Oh, here's why, according to our favorite Stanford professor. The New York Times tries putting the government's insider inquiry into perspective, with the help of a former prosecutor and Wall Street exec. Bethany McClean asks us to mull nine unanswered questions about the economy. Hulu is open to new investors giving it some moolah to fund a global expansion. Click here for the low-down on this season's popular camera trends.

Want to see into the future of Web publishing? This post by Nick Denton is a must-read. Adam Lashinsky interviews MySpace CEO Mike Jones while he's still at the helm. A trial over Goldman Sachs' trading code opens a window onto high-frequency trading. Bank of America. Easy. Secure. Free. And now, the likely target of Wikileaks' next document dump. Twice isn't always nice, says The Deal, which takes a look at why TPG might find wringing enormous gains from J.Crew harder a second time. Goodbye to Dubai. Liz Gannes highlights the more interesting sentiments to emerge from George W. Bush's book-shilling appearance yesterday at Facebook. The Journal takes a stab at why Google really wants Groupon. LinkedIn joins the article-sharing party. How the superrich will approach the Basel art fair, kicking off Thursday in Miami.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg interviewed George W. Bush this afternoon at "The Facebook," as Bush called it. See the video here. Anyone want to buy Salon.com? Anyone? Bueller? A tour of New York's "Silicon Beach." Steve Rattner's attorney describes a proposed $20 million payment to Andrew Cuomo's office as excessive, “misconceived” and “wholly untethered from the facts” in the case against his client. Seagate is throwing up its hands and buying back it own shares after failing to woo a buyer. John Doerr sees "bigger than billion-dollar greentech IPOs in the next 18 months." Meet Tom Barrack, a billionaire who has discovered a market in distressed assets (the kind better known as fading celebrities). The secret government computer network that made Wikileaks' cable release possible. Time travel back to 2005 to see Reddit's founders' Y Combinator application.