small-cap

Virtual Radiologic provides remote diagnostic image interpretation, giving doctors anywhere fast answers about patients' medical scans. But vRad's growth hasn't been rapid enough to please the fickle market, which made it an attractive target for a private-equity buyout from Providence Equity Partners.

U.S equities are perched at a 2009 high and third-quarter earnings are coming in much better than Wall Street analysts expected, yet this has to be one of the most hated rallies (and earnings seasons) of all time. The reason is pretty straightforward: The fundamentals and economics remain...