Stocks get the jitters as fiscal cliff worries mount
House Speaker Boehner cancels vote on 'Plan B' amid resistance from his own party.
Updated 2:10 p.m. ETWhen House Speaker John Boehner canceled a vote on his "Plan B" to address the fiscal cliff after meeting stiff resistance from his own party, you didn't have to be Warren Buffett to guess how Wall Street would take this news: badly.
The market was all over the place Friday as investors pondered how to respond. The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU) dropped quickly at the open, recovered slightly and by the afternoon traded down about 1%. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX) was also down about 1%, and the Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX) fell about 1.3%.
Bank of America (BAC) and Walt Disney (DIS) were some of the big market losers Friday, seeing respective drops of 2.1% and 1.9%.
That the market didn't drop further was surprising, considering how much investors are worried about the $600 billion mix of tax hikes and government spending cuts set to take effect at the end of the year unless Congress takes action. That's looking less and less likely, considering that Boehner dismissed the House for the Christmas holiday, leaving even less time to craft a deal.
Still, Boehner said he will continue working with President Obama to find a solution. He has little choice. Meanwhile, every passing day with no deal increases the chances that the country will head off the fiscal cliff on Jan. 1.
"The two sides seem to be about as far apart as ever," John Carey, executive vice president at Pioneer Investments, told The Wall Street Journal. "From all the public information, it looks like an impasse, so we'll probably be in for some turbulence."
Sadly, Washington is as dysfunctional as ever.
--Follow Jonathan Berr on Twitter @jdberr
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The GOP is collapsing!
Republican Retards, Teabagger Turds and Libertarian Lunatics arguing amongst themselves!
The Stock Market is crashing!
The Mayans we're right, Republican Armageddon has arrived and their pathetic lives are being destroyed,..... by themselves. LMAO
Boehner with an 11% approval rating!
LIFE JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER! ;-)
Chris Van Hollen & Elizabeth Warren in 2016 & 2020!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
It's "buddyclowntime" please put your right hand up and begin to wave as this will be the last time you see the republican party in tact. In no way is the president responsible for the actions of the opposing party. How are you supposed to negotiate with the inmates at the insane asylum? Even the warden at the nut house can't keep the patients in check. That sound you just heard was the republicans flushing the middle class down the toilet. You are the very sheep who support republican ideas who spew about the "wool" being pulled over the dems eyes. Let the DARK AGES begin for republicans and this will be a continuous slide for atleast a decade.
T o pay down the budget deficit! They should also have the banks, corporations, oil, big business and millionaires, and billionaires pay cash money on a sliding scale to pay on the budget deficit!
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MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks entered the weekend on a mixed note as the S&P 500 shed 0.1% while the Dow ended with a gain of 0.1%.
The major averages began the day on a lower note as nine of ten sectors saw losses of more than 0.5%.
The consumer staples sector was the lone exception as the group spent the entire day in positive territory thanks to the relative strength of Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG 81.89, +3.19). The second-largest staple stock advanced ... More
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