(As of 7:00 am PST)
Last minute negotiations are
underway to avert the fiscal cliff. The
debt ceiling limit is about to be hit as well, and any negotiated settlement
will need to include a debt ceiling extension.
Markets are optimistic, but tentative.
Gold is up slightly while oil is down.
Interest rates are lower. Best
guess is that there will be a negotiated structure of an agreement by year end,
but it will wait for the new Congress to pass the deal, making it retroactive
to January 1, 2013. Today's market will
be up and down based on current rumors with increased volatility.
