DMW’s CEO & Publisher provides a wrap-up of the top stories of the week. Who’s hot, who’s not and what’s the industry buzz?

There was no shortage of news for the week of Jan. 21-25. The biggest story: The Federal Reserve lowered the benchmark federal funds rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5%, its lowest level since September 2005, but the Fed’s actions couldn’t stop an already shaky stock market from continuing its downward spiral. After a sharp mid-week increase on news of the rate cut, the DMW100 ended slightly lower on the week.

Los Angeles - International online social network Badoo, which claims 12.7 million users, on Tuesday announced the launch of a U.S. version of its service. TechCrunch reports that the company this week also raised $30 million in funding, from Russian investor Finam.