The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. The pre-dawn 89-to-8 vote set the stage for a final showdown in the House, where a vote was expected later Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday.
The stock market shot higher on Monday even as the "fiscal cliff" neared. By the time trading ended, Republicans and Democrats still hadn't reached a budget compromise %u2014- but investors were betting that they would.
Whether negotiated in a rush before the new year or left for early January, the fiscal deal President Barack Obama and Congress cobble together will be far smaller than what they initially envisioned as an alternative to purposefully distasteful tax increases and spending cuts.
Stocks fell for a fifth day on concern that Washington lawmakers will fail to reach a budget deal before a self-imposed year-end deadline. The five-day losing streak for the Dow Jones industrial average was the longest since July.
The end game at hand, the White House and Senate leaders made a final stab at compromise Friday night to prevent middle-class tax increases from taking effect at the turn of the new year and possibly block sweeping spending cuts as well.
This would be the year when the global economy finally regained its vigor. At least that's what many had hoped. It didn't happen. So what were the top ten business stories of 2012?
The stock market erased most of an early loss in late trading after Republicans said they would reconvene the House of Representatives Sunday in hopes of piecing together a last-minute budget deal. Still the Dow closed down 18 points for its fourth straight loss.
Stocks fell Thursday, putting the market on track for its fourth straight loss, after consumer confidence fell sharply in December as Americans worried about higher taxes and government spending cuts.
With Pres. Barack Obama returning from his holiday in Hawaii to try to resolve the fiscal cliff conflict, we thought it was worth sharing this interactive chart created by Ritchie King at Quartz. You can type in your taxable income and see your tax rate in any year, going all the way back to 1913.
The average number of people seeking U.S. unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing. The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 in the week ended Dec. 22. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to a nearly five-year low of 356,750.
The world's biggest coffee chain is asking employees at cafes in the Washington, D.C., area to scribble the words "Come Together" on cups for drink orders on Thursday and Friday. CEO Howard Schultz says it's intended as a message to lawmakers about the ongoing "fiscal cliff" negotiations.
Even if New Year's passes with no deficit reduction deal, businesses and consumers would not likely panic as long as some agreement seems imminent. The $671 billion in tax increases and spending cuts could be retroactively repealed, and the impact of the tax increases would be felt only gradually.
U.S. holiday retail sales this year grew at the weakest pace since 2008, when the nation was in a deep recession. In 2012, the shopping season was disrupted by bad weather and consumers' rising uncertainty about the economy.
The financial markets are closed for the Christmas holiday, but when trading resumes on Wednesday, here's what's likely to help shape the rest of the week on Wall Street.
