The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 have closed at five-year highs, boosted by positive data on housing and employment.
The Dow finished at 13,596.02 on Thursday, up 84.79 points from Wednesday. The S&P 500 was at 1,480.93, up 8.3 points from the previous day.
The Nasdaq, like the Dow and the S&P 500, also rose about 0.6% on Thursday, ending at 3,136.00, up 18.46 points from Wednesday.
FULL STORYPresident Obama will be sworn in for a second term in office on Monday, January 21. Watch CNN.com Live for all your inauguration coverage.
Today's programming highlights...
10:00 am ET - U.S. economic forecast briefing - Spending and the debt ceiling remain a hot topic of discussion in Washington, but what do these fears mean for the U.S. economy? Leading bank economists discuss the matter this morning.
December was a somewhat positive month for U.S. jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports.
The U.S. economy added 155,000 jobs in December, roughly enough to keep pace with labor force growth, keeping the unemployment rate at 7.8% – unchanged from November's revised rate, the bureau said Friday morning. Health care was the sector with the greatest jump, with 45,000 jobs added.
The gain is slightly above the average monthly gain for 2012 and 2011, which was 153,000 per month, the bureau says.
As you mull these numbers, here's something to consider: They include those you might call the hopelessly unemployed, those who say they want a job but haven't searched for one in at least a year. CNNMoney reports that number is above 3.3 million, higher than the 2.5 million recorded five years ago, before a recession began. Who are they, and why have they given up? Check out this report from CNNMoney's Annalyn Kurtz.
It seems we're not much closer to a deal on the fiscal cliff.
The finger-pointing and the one-liners from both sides continues as we wait to see if we'll get a vote from the House after the Democrat-led Senate passed a bill that would put off budget cuts for two months and preserve Bush-era income tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 or couples earning less than $450,000.
And since I refuse to talk anymore about who is kicking a can down a road or any tired sports metaphors I’m just going to give you the latest quotes from both camps this afternoon as they try and sort this out.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
11:30 am ET (est.) - Senate Democrats briefing on fiscal cliff - Sen. Tom Harkin and others will call on Congressional Republicans to help resolve the fiscal cliff crisis at a Capitol Hill briefing.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
Let the endgames begin.
After a Christmas holiday, President Barack Obama returned to Washington from Hawaii and the U.S. Senate reconvened Thursday as the deadline approached for going over the fiscal cliff of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts.
However, the House remained on Christmas break, with members warned they could be called back on 48 hours' notice if needed.
Hopes for a so-called grand bargain that would address the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt appeared dashed for now, with four days remaining to reach agreement on a smaller plan that would avoid the harshest effects of the fiscal cliff's tax increases and slashed spending.
With House Republicans unable to resolve the impasse, the focus shifted to the Democratic majority in the Senate to come up with a way forward that could pass the House and get signed into law by Obama.
Geithner: U.S. to hit debt ceiling Dec. 31
Consumer confidence dips on cliff fears
Will fiscal cliff hurt economy?
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
Ongoing coverage - Winter weather
11:30 am ET - Obama returns to Washington - President Obama cuts short his Christmas vacation in Hawaii to return to Washington and resume work on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
Ongoing coverage - Severe weather in the Southern, Eastern U.S.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
3:00 pm ET - Sen. Inouye memorial service - President Obama will attend the final memorial service for the late Sen. Daniel Inouye at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - School safety forum - In the wake of the Newtown shooting, Education Secretary Arne Duncan will address a Washington on the need for comprehensive protocols and policies to protect students from violence and crime.
IntercontinentalExchange will buy NYSE Euronext, the operator of the venerable New York Stock Exchange as well as some leading European exchanges, in an $8.2 billion cash and stock deal, the companies announced Thursday.
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House Speaker John Boehner has offered to include higher tax rates on the wealthiest Americans as part of a deficit-reduction deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, a source close to the talks confirmed to CNN on Saturday.
The latest twist in the negotiations, first reported by Politico, indicates a possible breakthrough in the protracted efforts to forge a deal to reduce the nation's chronic federal deficits and debt.
According to the source, who spoke on condition of not being identified further, Boehner proposed allowing tax rates on income over $1 million to return to higher rates of the 1990s while extending current reduced rates for all income up to that threshold.
However, Boehner's spokesman said no deal had been reached, though communication continues with the White House.
FULL STORY
A November drop in gas prices drove down a key measure of inflation for U.S. consumers, the Labor Department said Friday.
The Consumer Price Index fell 0.3% during the month, thanks to 7.4% drop in gas prices last month alone, CNNMoney’s Chris Isidore reports.
FULL STORYThe talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
12:30 pm ET - White House briefing - The fiscal cliff crisis, Susan Rice's decision and North Korea will likely dominate Press Secretary Jay Carney's briefing with White House reporters.
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do about it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
8:00 am ET - Golden Globe nominations - Actors Jessica Alba, Megan Fox and Ed Helms announce the nominations for 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California. The Golden Globes honor the best in TV and film.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - SAG Award nominations announced - The Screen Actors Guild Awards honor the best in film and television, and are voted on by the actors themselves. Nominations for the 19th annual awards are announced today.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - Zimmerman trial motions hearing - Attorneys in the case of George Zimmerman, accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, return to court to argue pre-trial motions. Zimmerman is expected to attend the hearing.
The talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff crisis.
Today's programming highlights...
12:00 pm ET - Afghanistan stability briefing - The Pentagon holds a briefing with reporters on the current situation in war-torn Afghanistan.
U.S. jobs growth for November was better than what economists predicted it would be.
The U.S. economy added 146,000 in November, according to the Labor Department, nearly twice as many as the 77,000 jobs that economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.
And the U.S. unemployment has dropped to 7.7%, the lowest since December 2008, according to the Labor Department. That's down from 7.9% in October.
FULL STORYThe talk in Washington is all about the "fiscal cliff" and what the president and Congress need to do to avoid it. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the fiscal cliff debate.
Today's programming highlights...
Ongoing coverage - Crisis in Egypt
CNN.com Live is your home for breaking news as it happens.
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