Stocks stuck on fiscal cliff treadmill

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks opened little changed Friday as investors remain sidelined by political gridlock in Washington.

Investors have been grappling with uncertainty as lawmakers and President Obama engage in brinksmanship over year-end tax hikes and spending cuts. The so-called fiscal cliff could harm the economy at a time when the outlook for growth is already in question.

Economic data released Friday showed personal income remained unchanged in October, while spending declined by 0.2% in the month.

"That's a concern because the consumer has been a pillar of the economy," said Doug Cote, chief market strategist at ING Investment Management. "The numbers were clearly below consensus and the market didn't like that."

The Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all hovered near the break-even point.

Chicago's Purchasing Manager Index, a barometer of manufacturing activity in the area, is due shortly after trade begins.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in Congress have made "no substantive progress" in the fiscal cliff talks, Speaker John Boehner said Thursday. That came after Boehner said Wednesday that he's "optimistic" that a compromise will be reached "sooner rather than later."

Related: America's debt challenge

Despite the mixed signals, U.S. markets ended in positive territory on Thursday.

Few stocks made big moves in early trading Friday, though shares of St. Jude Medical (STJ, Fortune 500) were higher after the hospital's board authorized a $1 billion stock buyback. Yum! Brands (YUM, Fortune 500) sank after the firm softened its expectations for China, predicting same-store sales in that key market would decline 4% in the fourth quarter.

Zynga (ZNGA) shares slid 9% early Friday, after tumbling 13% after-hours Thursday on news that the terms of its deal with Facebook (FB) had substantially changed.

Fear & Greed Index

Research firm NPD Group reported sales of PCs running Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) in the four weeks ended November 17 dropped 21% from the previous year. Microsoft released its new operating system, Windows 8, on October 26.

Verisign (VRSN), the company that makes money off the .com registration, said it reached a new agreement with the Commerce Department that bars future price increases.

Asian markets played catch-up Friday, but were also helped by the approval of a new stimulus package in Japan and expectations of strong Chinese factory data due over the weekend. Extending weekly gains, the Nikkei rose 0.48%, the Hang Seng advanced 0.49% and the Shanghai Composite jumped 0.85%.

European stocks were firmer in afternoon trade, despite news that eurozone unemployment hit a new record in October.

In other overseas news, the pace of economic growth in India slowed during the latest quarter. The country's GDP, the broadest measure of a nation's economic health, grew at a rate of 5.3%.

The dollar slipped against the euro, but was firmer against the British pound and Japanese yen.

First Published: November 30, 2012: 9:47 AM ET

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New Verisign deal blocks .com price hikes

Click on the chart to view more information about Verisign's stock.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Verisign, the operator of the .com domain name registry for the World Wide Web, will be forbidden from regularly raising registration prices over the next six years.

The company renewed its contract with the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday, but under the terms of the new deal, Verisign will not be able to continue its practice of frequently raising prices by as much as 7% -- something Verizon did in four out of the six years covered by its last deal. Currently, registration prices sit at $7.85 per year.

The Commerce Department will need to approve any price hikes on .com registration through 2018, which it only plans to do for "extraordinary expenses related to security or stability threats."

Shares of Verisign (VRSN) fell by 15% on the news.

Verisign has been operating the .com and .net top-level domain registries since 2000 under an agreement with the Domain Name System overseer, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. But Verisign's contract renewal was strongly opposed by the Internet Commerce Association, which represents website owners.

ICA claimed that Verisign's price hikes were arbitrary and not done out of economic necessity. The group pointed out that Verisign charges just $5.86 for the far less-used .net domain name, even though both domains use the same infrastructure and have similar operational costs.

Related story: Do Not Track is dying

The new Verisign contract is only a partial win for ICA. The organization was hoping to end Verisign's "monopoly" status.

The agreement also gives Verisign some wiggle room: The pricing restrictions could be removed if Verisign can prove to the Commerce Department that "market conditions no longer warrant such restrictions," according to the deal.

Verisign praised the new deal.

"This is an important event that provides certainty and sets a clear direction for the company," Jim Bidzos, Verisign's CEO, said in a prepared statement.

The market for services like Verisign's is growing fast. The largest-ever expansion of the Internet's naming system is in progress and will soon open the door to new domain names like .home, .inc, .blog, .book, .shop and .llc.

Separately, the global standards-setting Internet Society in June launched a new Internet Protocol standard called IPv6 that expanded the number of unique Internet addresses from 4.3 billion to 340 trillion trillion trillion.

Verisign said it is working to "meet the performance and scalability demands of .com" by upgrading its infrastructure to support IPv6 and other new specifications.

First Published: November 30, 2012: 9:58 AM ET

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Aston Martin at risk of downgrade

The Aston Martin DB5, the car featured in the latest Bond film "Skyfall"

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Moody's warned Friday it is weighing a downgrade of British sports car maker Aston Martin, saying it's concerned that the company best known for its appearance in James Bond films, could be close to running out of cash.

The rating agencys said it is aware that Aston Martin is in negotiations to secure more capital, which it said could provide the company the help it needs. But it said that, without that cash infusion, there are doubts about it being able to make a £14 million, or $22 million, bond payment due in January.

Moody's rating for Aston Martin is already B3, which is deep into junk bond territory.

Aston Martin was sold for $925 million by Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) in 2007 as the U.S. automaker shed overseas brands that had become a drain on its resources. It was purchased by an international consortium of buyers led by David Richards, founder and chairman of Prodrive, an auto racing company, John Sinders, a Texas banker and Aston Martin collector, and Kuwaiti investment firms Investment Dar and Addem Investment.

The company remains one of the few independent car makers in an industry in which most niche brands are owned by larger automakers. Moody's expressed concern about its "limited size and financial strengths compared to some direct peers."

But Moody's acknowledged Aston Martin's strong brand reputation and pricing position in the luxury car segment, its lean organization and a strong product pipeline among its strengths. Its "budget" model, a V8 Vanquish, sells for $118,000.

Related: Bond cars you can buy

The Aston Martin's reputation is helped by it being a staple of James Bond films throughout the 50-year run of movies about the fictitious British spy. The current hit Bond movie, "Skyfall," prominently features a 1964 Aston Martin DB5.

The company recently unveiled its 2014 model Vanquish, which is expected to sell for $280,000. With a carbon fiber skin and a 565-horsepower V-12 engine, the company says it needs only 4.2 seconds to reach 62 miles an hour.

First Published: November 30, 2012: 10:13 AM ET

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Fiscal cliff talks lift stocks

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Even though no agreement is imminent, and lawmakers have a nasty habit of waiting until the last minute to resolve disputes, markets around the world are reacting positively to signs that Washington might be moving toward a deal on the fiscal cliff.

U.S. stocks opened higher Thursday, building on the prior day's strong performance.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 58 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Nasdaq gained 0.7%.

Lawmakers and the White House have been in talks to avoid the slew of year end tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff and investors will likely be taking their cue from developments in Washington during the trading day.

Data showing an improving economy also provided a boost. The government said U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.7% annual rate in the third quarter. Separately, weekly claims for unemployment benefits fell 23,000 to 393,000.

Related: Fear & Greed Index sitting in neutral

Investors also sifted through a batch of quarterly results. Shares of troubled bookseller Barnes & Noble (BKS, Fortune 500) slipped after the company posted a loss of 4 cents per share and a revenue decline of 0.4%.

Grocery chain Kroger (KR, Fortune 500) shares rose after the company posted better-than-expected results for the third quarter and also lifted its outlook for the year.

Shares of Tiffany (TIF) tumbled after the luxury retailer reported third-quarter earnings and sales that missed estimates. The company cut its forecast for the full-year.

Many major retailers also reported same-store sales for November, including the start of the holiday shopping season over the Black Friday weekend.

Shares of Target (TGT, Fortune 500) were under pressure after the retailer reported a 0.1% decline in sales for the first four weeks of November.

Research in Motion (RIMM) got a big boost from a Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) upgrade. The BlackBerry maker also announced updates to its so-called developer ecosystem as the company works to drum up enthusiasm for the BlackBerry 10.

Meanwhile, world markets took their cues from the United States.

Asian exchanges gained, with the Nikkei adding 1.0% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closing 1.1% higher.

China's marquee index, the Shanghai Composite, lagged its rivals and posted a fresh multi-year low. The index lost 0.5%, and remains well below the psychologically important 2,000 point mark.

Markets in Europe also capitalized on the fiscal talks momentum, gaining between 0.7% and 0.9% in afternoon trading.

Two reports European sentiment reports injected life into the ailing eurozone economy. The European Commission's reading on economic sentiment pushed higher in November, after two months of deceleration. And the EC's business climate indicator also edged higher.

The dollar lost ground against the euro and the British pound, but strengthened against the Japanese yen.

Oil prices for January delivery gained more than 2% to $88.60 a barrel.

Gold prices for December delivery also edged higher, rising 0.6% to $1,725 an ounce.

The price on the 10-year Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.63% from 1.62% late Wednesday.

First Published: November 29, 2012: 9:42 AM ET

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Eurozone business mood ticks up

Industry's confidence in the eurozone is returning but investment plans remain weak.

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Businesses are feeling a little more upbeat about the eurozone but consumer confidence continues to fall, according to the European Commission's latest survey of economic sentiment.

A separate survey of industrial investment, also published by the Commission, showed it was too soon to call a recovery for the eurozone, which has slipped back into recession for the first time since 2009.

The economic sentiment indicator (ESI) for the eurozone rose 1.4 points to 85.7 in November, marking the first improvement since February.

"The euro area registered increases in industry and trade, which were partly offset by decreases among consumers, in construction and a virtually unchanged level in services," the Commission said.

The ESI is based on a survey of 125,000 firms and 40,000 consumers across the European Union.

Related: German sentiment bouyed by China, U.S.

Confidence among eurozone industrial companies was rising on the back of a more positive view of order books, production expectations and stocks of finished products.

However, managers in industry were planning to reduce investment by 1% in 2013, compared with 2012, the Commission noted.

And households in the 17-nation currency area were more pessimistic about their financial situation and concerned about prospects for employment.

Related: Service sector adds to eurozone gloom

Any fall in private sector investment next year will take place against the backdrop of further fiscal tightening by eurozone governments, and could lead to a prolonged recession.

The OECD and many private forecasters are expecting the eurozone economy to contract again in 2013, while the European Commission and IMF are predicting growth, albeit at very low rates.

First Published: November 29, 2012: 9:27 AM ET

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Zucker to head CNN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Former NBC Universal executive Jeff Zucker was tapped Thursday as the president of CNN Worldwide.

Zucker will succeed Jim Walton, the current president of CNN, in January. Walton took the reins at CNN in 2003 after getting his start with the company in 1981 as a video journalist, the network's entry level position for editorial staffers.

Walton announced in July that he was stepping aside, saying the network needed "a new leader who brings a different perspective, different experiences and a new plan."

Zucker was frequently mentioned as a leading candidate for the CNN job. The parent company of CNN, Time Warner (TWX, Fortune 500) controls a much wider programming and media portfolio including HBO and Cartoon Network.

"Jeff's experience as a news executive is unmatched for its breadth and success," said Phil Kent, president of Turner Broadcasting, the Time Warner unit which includes CNN. "He built and sustained the number-one brand in morning news, and under his watch NBC's signature news programming set a standard for quality and professionalism. As a programmer, a brand-builder and a leader, he will bring energy and new thinking to CNN. I couldn't be happier to welcome him or more excited about what he'll accomplish here."

Zucker will be based in New York and report to Kent.

The financial terms of Zucker's contract were not made public by Time Warner. The New York Times first reported late Tuesday that the hiring was imminent.

Zucker started his career at NBC and enjoyed a meteoric rise through the network's ranks. The Harvard graduate was named executive producer of "The Today Show" at 26 in 1992, helping to orchestrate one of the biggest ratings juggernauts in television. He later added the "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" to his portfolio.

After his tenure in the company's news division, Zucker jumped to the programming side of the business, and was named president of NBC Entertainment in 2000. He was then promoted to president of the NBC Universal Television Group and later tapped as CEO of the same division, which produced a bulk of the company's revenue.

Zucker's time at NBC was not without controversy. He moved the popular Jay Leno out of the network's late night lineup in 2010, which resulted in a sharp ratings drop and a revolt from affiliate stations. NBC was forced to reverse course.

NBC Universal parted ways with Zucker after Comcast (CMCSA) acquired the network in a blockbuster merger. He is currently the executive producer of Katie Couric's daytime talk show.

In CNN, Zucker inherits a cable network battered by ratings losses and a changing media landscape.

The network's ratings have declined precipitously in recent years, especially during the key money-making primetime hours. Meanwhile, rival News Corp (NWS).'s Fox has solidified its position with several top-rated evening shows. MSNBC, a Comcast unit that has long been a ratings laggard, has attracted new viewers by billing itself as the liberal answer to right-leaning Fox.

In the face of this changing landscape, CNN has stayed with a non-partisan programming strategy. Network executives have tried to boost ratings, hiring Piers Morgan to replace Larry King and bringing business reporter Erin Burnett over from CNBC. The primetime lineup was also shuffled, with top talent Anderson Cooper moving to the cornerstone 8 p.m. hour.

In spite of its challenges, CNN is on pace for its most profitable year ever, buoyed by lucrative contracts with affiliates and other revenue streams.

-- CNNMoney's Chris Isidore and Mark Thompson contributed reporting from London.

First Published: November 29, 2012: 10:12 AM ET

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Costco special dividend to beat fiscal cliff

Costco will pay $3 billion in a special dividend next month.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Costco Wholesale, the warehouse merchant, announced Wednesday that it will pay a special $3 billion dividend before year's end, saving shareholders from a big bite should taxes rise due to the fiscal cliff.

The company said the $7-a-share payment is possible due to its strong balance sheet and its good access to capital. The payment will be in addition to the regular 27.5 cent a share dividend that will be paid on Nov. 30.

The special dividend will be paid Dec. 18 to shareholders of record on Dec. 10. That will allow investors to pay the lower 15% tax rate currently in effect on dividends. With taxes set to rise on Jan. 1 as part of the fiscal cliff, the rate paid on the dividend could more than double for many high income taxpayers.

Related: Companies speeding up dividend payments

Numerous companies, including Costco rival Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500), have moved dividend payments normally made in January into December. But in Wal-Mart's case, it was the regular dividend being moved, not a special dividend being added.

Shares of Costco (COST, Fortune 500) rose 4.7% in premarket trading on the news.

Related: Record Black Friday shopping

The company also announced strong sales for November and the just completed quarter, periods that included the Black Friday weekend that kicks off the holiday shopping period.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a closely watched retail measure known as same-store sales, rose 6% at its U.S. stores for both the four-week and the 12-week periods ended Nov. 25, when the effect of higher gas prices were excluded. Total sales rose 9% to $8.15 billion in the four weeks ending Nov 25.

The National Retail Federation estimates that total U.S. shopping during the four-day holiday weekend rose 13% from a year ago, to a record $59.1 billion.

First Published: November 28, 2012: 7:50 AM ET

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Stocks: Eyes on the fiscal cliff

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks opened modestly lower Wednesday, as investors remain on edge over the contentious fiscal cliff negotiations.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.4%. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were both down 0.5%.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said late Tuesday that members of Congress have made little progress in hammering out the terms necessary to avoid triggering a slew of year-end tax increases and spending cuts.

His comment sparked a late-day sell-off Tuesday.

Investors are unwilling to place any big bets until they get more clarity about what lawmakers plan to do. And with Dec. 31 right around the corner, most experts say trading could be choppy for the rest of the year.

Coming up Wednesday, investors will get a look at the health of the housing market at 10 a.m. ET, when the Census Bureau releases October data on new home sales. At 2 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will release the October edition of its Beige Book, a survey of regional economies.

Fear & Greed Index

In corporate news, big box retailer Costco (COST, Fortune 500) announced a special dividend, which will pay shareholders a total of $3 billion on Dec. 18. Shares rose nearly 5%.

Costco becomes the latest company to move dividend payments in calendar year 2012 as taxes on the payments to shareholders is set to rise on Jan. 1. Costco rival Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) is among a number of companies speeding up those payments.

A number of companies, including U.S. clothing retailer American Eagle (AEO) reported quarterly results before the bell.

Shares of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) jumped 23% after the K-cup maker issued a better-than-expected outlook for the upcoming fiscal year late Tuesday.

European markets slid in morning trading, while Asian markets ended lower on Wednesday.

The European Commission approved the restructuring plans of four Spanish banks, clearing the way for long-anticipated bailout of those institutions.

First Published: November 28, 2012: 9:39 AM ET

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One fiscal cliff fix: Raise the gas tax

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- As lawmakers race to negotiate a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, some experts say one tax increase should be on the table: a gas tax hike.

Currently at 18.4 cents a gallon, the federal gas tax is used primarily to build and repair roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. The tax raises about $32 billion a year.

But that's not enough. The government hands out about $50 billion a year to states and towns to help with road costs. The difference comes out of general funds or has to be borrowed. Meanwhile, the gas tax hasn't been raised since 1993.

"Establishing a sustainable resource base for transportation needs to be part of any grand bargain," said Emil Frankel, a former transportation expert in the George W. Bush administration and now director of transportation policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "In the short run, raising the gas tax is the best way to do that."

Now that fiscal reform is front and center on Capital Hill, some say a gas tax hike should again be on the table, not only to plug the infrastructure shortfall, but also to cut the deficit.

Raising the gas tax was one of the recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, a bipartisan effort in 2010 to fix the nation's fiscal house that fell largely on deaf ears. The plan called for a 15 cent-a-gallon hike to the gas tax, a level that would basically cover the current shortfall in the transportation budget.

Others went a step further. In a 2010 letter to the commission -- commonly known as Simpson-Bowles -- Delaware's Democrat Senator Tom Carper and former Ohio Republican George Voinovich proposed a 25 cent-a-gallon hike in the gas tax, with the additional 10 cents a gallon going toward debt reduction. The pair estimated it would generate $83 billion over five years to chip away at the debt, and an additional $117 billion for road repairs.

Related: Fiscal cliff tax deal -- getting to $1 trillion

But not everyone is convinced a gas tax hike is the way to go.

The gas tax is politically unpopular, mostly because it's regressive -- meaning it hits the poor more than the rich. It's also regionally biased. Most big bridges and highways are near cities, yet those in rural areas would pay the same in taxes.

"The burden would fall on the great middle class, not on the millionaires and billionaires," said Ken Orski, publisher of the infrastructure industry publication Innovation NewsBriefs, who himself supports an increase in tolls as a way to cover the funding shortfall. "That's why the White House is staunchly opposed to such an increase, and why there's virtually zero support in Congress."

That's one reason the tax hasn't increased in nearly 20 years, even as labor, steel and asphalt costs have risen sharply. Plus, as fuel efficiency increases, Americans can put more miles on roads while at the same time buying less gas, worsening the shortfall.

Other ways to plug the funding gap include instituting a mileage-based driving tax, shifting more of the burden to the states or taping private funding sources that would then charge the public user fees.

Calls to congressional staffers revealed little in the way of an effort to raise the tax at this time.

Still, as one Democrat staffer put it, with Republicans softening to the idea of raising taxes in general, "possibilities for this sort of talk has at least opened a bit."

First Published: November 28, 2012: 10:11 AM ET

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Ericsson sues Samsung over patents

Ericsson takes Samsung to U.S. court after talks break down

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Ericsson has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for patent infringement, claiming the South Korean mobile phone maker is no longer entitled to use its telecommunications technology after a licensing agreement expired.

The Sweden-based company, which makes technology for mobile networks, said Samsung had refused to renew a license agreement on the same basis - known as fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms - as its competitors.

"Ericsson has tried long and hard to amicably come to an agreement with Samsung and to sign a license agreement on FRAND terms," Chief Intellectual Property Officer Kasim Alfalahi said in a statement. "We have turned to litigation as a last resort."

The suit was filed at a court in eastern Texas, where Ericsson (ERIC) has its U.S. headquarters.

It followed nearly two years of negotiations by senior executives from both companies aimed at extending a license agreement that had been in place since 2001, and was renewed in 2007.

Samsung said it was committed to "fair and reasonable" negotiations but claimed Ericsson had demanded significantly higher royalty rates for the same portfolio of patents.

"As we cannot accept such extreme demands, we will take all necessary legal measures to protect against Ericsson's excessive claims," a Samsung spokesperson said.

Ericsson has signed more than 100 license agreements with major players in the industry. It holds more than 30,000 patents worldwide.

Ericsson said the dispute with Samsung concerned technology related to telecommunications and networking standards, as well as other patents used in wireless and consumer electronics products.

Related: Regulators eye HTC stock jump before Apple settlement

Samsung is already locked in a patent battle with Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), with each accusing the other of infringing software patents. Apple has also alleged that the South Korean firm infringed some of its design patents.

A jury in California found in August that Samsung had infringed on the majority of patents in question and recommended that Apple be awarded more than $1 billion in damages.

Samsung has asked a judge to throw out the verdict and order a new trial.

Apple lost a suit filed in the UK alleging Samsung had copied the iPad's design, and a judge last month lifted a block on Samsung selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer in the U.S.

--CNNMoney's Emily Fox contributed to this article

First Published: November 27, 2012: 9:54 AM ET

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Stocks under pressure at the open

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks opened modestly lower Tuesday, despite a strong housing report and Greece reaching a deal with eurozone leaders.

While the housing report showed U.S. home prices making their biggest quarterly gains in more than two years, it was for the third quarter.

The fiscal cliff remains front and center for investors, as contentious negotiations continue.

The S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq shed between 0.1% and 0.2%.

Eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund announced late Monday they had reached an agreement that moves Greece closer to receiving a massive bailout payment. The deal includes lower interest rates for Greece, a debt buyback and more time for the debt-laden country to repay its rescue loans.

Yet Europe's woes continue to weigh on the U.S. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned early Tuesday that Europe's worsening economy next year will slow U.S. growth more than previously forecast.

Europe's Debt Crisis

European markets rose in afternoon trading, with Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.3%, Germany's DAX rose 0.5% and France's CAC 40 added 0.1%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ended up about 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4%.

Fear & Greed Index

The Case-Shiller 20-city index showed that home prices jumped 3.6% in the third quarter, up from one year ago and exceeding expectations of 3.1%. That's the biggest increase since the second quarter of 2010 and it's triple the increase from the prior quarter. Home price rose 2% in August.

On the domestic front, investors will continue to keep an eye on negotiations in Washington. With Congress back in session, lawmakers are under pressure to reach a deal with the White House before the end of the year in order to avoid falling over the fiscal cliff.

New orders of durable goods were flat in October, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released Tuesday. Excluding transportation, new orders rose 1.5% in October.

Related: Most affordable cities for homebuying

At 10 a.m. ET, the Conference Board will release its report on consumer confidence. This month's figure will be particularly important, as retailers gear up for the holiday shopping season. Economists expect a slight uptick in November.

Stocks ended mixed on Monday, the first full trading day since last Wednesday, as fiscal cliff concerns countered strong holiday shopping reports.

Companies: Packaged food maker ConAgra (CAG, Fortune 500) announced it has reached a deal to buy Ralcorp (RAH), the largest U.S. manufacturer of private label food, for $90 a share in cash -- a 28% premium from Monday's closing price.

Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson (ERIC) said it was suing South Korean electronics maker Samsung for patent infringement.

Shares of Facebook (FB) were little changed Tuesday after rising more than 8% Monday following the upgrade of the stock by several analysts. Facebook has rallied nearly 50% since touching a low of $17.55 in early September. The stock, currently around $26, is trading at its highest level since late July. Shares of Facebook .

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen but was flat against the British pound.

Oil for January delivery slipped 21 cents to $87.55 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery fell $3.70 to $1,745.30 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury stayed steady with a yield down to 1.66%.

First Published: November 27, 2012: 9:49 AM ET

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The next generation of startup cities

A new batch of startups cities is cropping up, drawing more investors to new companies like Cincinnati's Lisnr, a mobile app designer.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Thinking about launching a startup? Then forget Silicon Valley, and try Boulder or Nashville instead. Maybe even Cincinnati.

Each took steps to create a startup-friendly environment, and efforts are paying off.

In Cincinnati, local giants Procter & Gamble and grocery chain Kroger have stepped in. P&G put executive Jeff Weedman in charge of Cintrifuse, a nonprofit that offers startups office space and networking. It also invests in venture capital funds as a way to attract investors to the city.

Startups can also get funding from nonprofit venture capital firm CincyTech and mentoring support from The Brandery.

"We don't need to compete with Silicon Valley, Austin or Boston," Weedman said. "We're trying to build out this ecosystem so that 10 years from now, if our kids want to build a startup, they don't have to move away."

They're sticking around. Most of The Brandery's 25 graduates were from outside Cincinnati, but 15 stayed.

The resources are pivotal for startups like Lisnr, which uses Cintrifuse's office space. Lisnr designed a mobile app that listens for inaudible signals in songs and presents users with extra content, like artist information or merchandise deals.

"There isn't a startup in this world that wouldn't want to walk down the hall and talk to the world's largest advertiser, P&G, on a daily basis," said CEO Rodney Williams.

Related: 6 cities where startups are thriving

Further south is Nashville, whose strength lies in its mentor network. Self-made millionaires like Lucius E. Burch III have always been around, but it wasn't until the city's chamber of commerce propped up the Entrepreneur Center in 2010 that it wrangled them all together. The center offers startups coursework, guidance and a shot at raising funds -- and serves as a meeting space for tech entrepreneur group GrowNashville.

Nashville has steadily climbed up the ranks of venture capital investment, reaching a top 20 spot in PricewaterhouseCoopers' MoneyTree report. The city's investors have put $72 million in 21 companies so far this year, compared to $38 million in 8 companies in 2009.

"You'd be surprised how much money startups raise," said Joe Maxwell, a venture capitalist.

Maxwell rose as Nashville's success story in the 1990s when his firm, Investment Scorecard, became a blockbuster analytical services provider to Wall Street. He sold it for upwards of $50 million in 2007 and funneled some of that back home.

When he meets with an aspiring entrepreneur every week, his low key blue jeans style disguises deep pockets. He always offers advice, funds nearly one in five and refers many along to wealthy contacts.

One of those is Jerry Bostelman, CEO of Vaco, a staffing company for freelance administrative professionals. Bostelman said outsiders eventually discover the benefits of Nashville.

"You come here kicking and screaming, then you realize your house is 30% larger, the commute is cut in half and relationships matter in the business community," Bostelman said.

Related: 10 most inventive states

Meanwhile, Boulder remains the nationwide model for startup hotbeds. It's home to TechStars, the nation's best-rated mentoring and networking program. Since 2007, its Boulder program has helped 65 companies launch and raise $115 million. Most are still active or have been acquired, and TechStars estimates 75% stayed in town.

Boulder's venture capital activity -- $227 million invested in 31 companies so far this year -- also ranks consistently among the top cities in PwC's MoneyTree report.

Lower wages and the University of Colorado's research facilities help. But TechStars graduates say the communal atmosphere matters most.

Yoav Lurie learned that when presenting his company idea at the university last year. He described Simple Energy's plan to create online games that convince everyday people to use less electric power. Utility companies would pay him, because they get closer to meeting regulatory benchmarks when customers use less energy.

Then a cognitive science Ph.D. student in the crowd fired a question.

"I like this approach," Jason Zietz said. "But there's nothing here talking about changing people's behavior in the long term."

Although Lurie initially took the comment as hostile, he soon learned that Zietz, like many in Boulder, felt deeply invested in Simple Energy's success. Better startups mean a better Boulder. Zietz has since peppered him with lengthy, analytical emails and pressing questions -- essentially free work.

"Sure, it's competitive. But it's not cutthroat," Zietz said. "There's a genuine desire to see everyone succeed."

First Published: November 27, 2012: 10:04 AM ET

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8 things that could kill a fiscal cliff deal

Lawmakers will probably compromise on the fiscal cliff before Christmas. But if they do, it won't come easily.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) -- Pete Davis is president of Davis Capital Investment Ideas. He worked for Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill, serving as an economist for the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Senate Budget Committee.

Despite what the optimists say, it's too early to count on a fiscal cliff deal.

Senior staffers have been trying to set the broad outlines of a compromise -- dollar amounts of revenue increases and spending cuts.

They're working up options for President Obama and congressional leaders to consider when they meet for their first substantive talks.

In my experience, the first thing that happens in such a meeting, after opening statements and procedural matters, is they reject all of the options the staff prepared.

Then they start arguing among themselves. After an hour or two, they tire of that and walk out on camera and tell the world they made progress.

Their staff then goes back and works all night on new options, and they meet again, and again, and again.

Here's my short list of why the fiscal cliff won't get resolved easily.

1. President Obama insists on a tax rate increase on those earning $250,000 or more, and House Republicans balk.

2. President Obama and Democrats refuse to accept revenue increases that won't be scored by the Congressional Budget Office -- i.e. that depend upon tax reform and/or upon an assumed increase in economic growth.

3. Republicans won't accept another extension of the temporary 2% payroll tax cut for working Americans. So President Obama may insist on a Making Work Pay tax credit much like the one from the 2009 stimulus package. That credit was worth up to $400 for single workers earning less than $95,000 and up to $800 for married couples making less than $190,000.

4. House Republicans insist on entitlement cuts that Senate Democrats won't accept. Senate Democrats see Social Security as completely off the table, and Medicare cuts will be difficult to achieve because most of the easier ones were used to pay for health care reform.

5. Everyone wants to repeal the $109 billion sequester of defense and nondefense spending, but Republicans may object if it's not "paid for."

6. Democrats want bigger defense cuts than Republicans will accept.

7. Discretionary spending can be shaved a bit more, but not much more without incurring Democratic opposition.

8. Republicans may refuse to accept a debt ceiling increase that is not "paid for." A one-year hike would cost about $1.2 trillion. There's no way they could pay for that.

I'm not ruling out a deal before Christmas, particularly one that combines a very modest "down payment" with procedures to deliver tax and entitlement reform. I've always said I see about a 40% chance of such a deal by December 24.

The problem for the market will be to gauge how much deficit reduction will ultimately be delivered. I expect to be underwhelmed.

This all comes down to how insistent President Obama will be on raising taxes on the rich and whether he will accept a deal without a rate increase.

All of the president's statements so far have upped the ante on a tax rate increase on those earning $250,000 or more. Sure, he has caved many times before on a wide range of issues, but will he do so following an election victory and when he never has to run again?

One big final impediment will remain after a deal is announced. The House may not pass it.

In July 2011, House Speaker John Boehner thought he had agreed to a deal with Obama that his colleagues would support, but House Republicans rejected it because it included revenue increases.

Boehner was put in the embarrassing position of having to return to the bargaining table and ended up cutting a smaller, kick-the-can-down-the-road deal, that resulted in the creation of the so-called Super Committee, which failed, and the $109 billion sequester that no one wants. I'm sure he'll be a lot more careful this time around to whip his support before finally signing off on a deal.

Of course, anything the House Republican Caucus will pass is unlikely to attract more than a handful of Democratic votes, even if Obama supports it. Boehner will not get united House Republican support for any deal. He may need Democratic votes to pass it, and Nancy Pelosi is unlikely to supply them.

I still see a 60% chance that we temporarily go over the fiscal cliff. After Obama and congressional leaders exhaust themselves by trying to reach agreement but failing, they may decide to risk the fiscal cliff for a short time rather than accept a bad deal.

First Published: November 26, 2012: 8:59 AM ET

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Buffett renews argument for millionaire's tax

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Warren Buffett is again arguing for higher taxes on himself and other high-income individuals, calling for an even steeper bite than in the Obama administration's "Buffett Rule."

In an op-ed column in Monday's New York Times, Buffett advocates that taxable income of between $1 million and $10 million should be taxed at a minimum 30% rate, and that income above $10 million should be taxed at 35%.

"A plain and simple rule like that will block the efforts of lobbyists, lawyers and contribution-hungry legislators to keep the ultrarich paying rates well below those incurred by people with income just a tiny fraction of ours," Buffett writes. "Only a minimum tax on very high incomes will prevent the stated tax rate from being eviscerated by these warriors for the wealthy."

President Obama, in arguing for a millionaire's tax that is commonly called the Buffett rule, is seeking a minimum 30% rate on income above $1 million.

While the top marginal tax rate is higher than 30%, many wealthy taxpayers pay less because their income comes from sources such as capital gains or carried interest, which have a lower tax rate.

Related: The wit and wisdom of Warren Buffett

Buffett said he also agrees with President Obama's call for allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for high-income taxpayers, although he would set the cut-off at $500,000 a year, rather than the $250,000 threshold advocated by the president.

And Buffett said he doubts that raising taxes on the wealthy would do anything to slow needed investment and job creation. He cites much higher rates on capital gains and top wage earners that were in effect in the past.

"Never did anyone mention taxes as a reason to forgo an investment opportunity that I offered," he wrote. "So let's forget about the rich and ultrarich going on strike and stuffing their ample funds under their mattresses if — gasp — capital gains rates and ordinary income rates are increased. The ultrarich, including me, will forever pursue investment opportunities."

Related: The Buffett rule quiz

Buffett's column appeared as Congress returns from a holiday recess to resume negotiations on tax rates and federal spending, an effort to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" that will occur if there's not an agreement. Republican leadership has expressed a willingness to limit deductions for top wage earners, but they remain opposed to raising their tax rates.

Some have suggested comprehensive tax reform, which eliminates many deductions across the board and simplifies the tax code, would be the best policy for the economy. Buffett writes he supports such tax reform, but that he believes higher tax rates on the wealthy should be an interim step.

"The reform of such complexities should not promote delay in our correcting simple and expensive inequities," he wrote in the Times. "We can't let those who want to protect the privileged get away with insisting that we do nothing until we can do everything."

First Published: November 26, 2012: 7:57 AM ET

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Stocks lower with fiscal cliff and Greece in spotlight

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks opened lower Monday as investors returned to work with one eye on the results from the first weekend of the holiday shopping season, and the other on upcoming economic negotiations in Washington and Europe.

In the first full trading day since last Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average shed 76 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% and the Nasdaq composite lost 0.3%.

No major economic or corporate reports are expected, so investors will be looking for signs of an economic recovery in retail sales. On Sunday, the National Retail Federation reported that the Black Friday weekend brought in a record $59.1 billion in sales, up 13% from last year.

Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) shares rose more than 2%, making it the strongest performer in the S&P 500, on reports that the retailer has a solid sales weekend.

On Friday, U.S. stocks rallied in a holiday-shortened trading day, led by gains in retail stocks.

Fear & Greed Index

Investors will also be looking again at the fiscal cliff. Congress is back in session, and lawmakers will be under pressure to reach a deal with the White House before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, eurozone finance ministers are meeting for the third time to discuss the latest release of bailout funds for Greece. European stocks were all lower in afternoon trading, with London's FTSE off 0.5%, the CAC 40 in Paris down 0.3%, and the German DAX slipping 0.7%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.5% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slid 0.2%, while Japan's Nikkei added 0.2%.

Companies: Shares of Knight Capital (KCG) jumped after a report late Friday in the Wall Street Journal said the trading firm is weighing the sale of its market-making business, the unit whose trading glitch in August that cost the company more than $400 million.

Research in Motion (RIMM) shares gained ground, as investors are hopeful the BlackBerry 10, debuting Jan. 30, will signal a turnaround for the company. A bullish analyst report triggered a rally Friday, with the stock rising 14%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained on the euro and the British pound but lost ground versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for January delivery slipped 70 cents to $87.58 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery lost $1 to $1,750.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged higher, pushing the yield down to 1.66% from 1.69% Friday.

First Published: November 26, 2012: 9:44 AM ET

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Wal-Mart protests draw hundreds nationwide

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hundreds of people -- including some employees -- have taken part in Black Friday demonstrations at Wal-Mart stores nationwide, protesting what they say is the retailer's retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.

According to organizers from the union-backed group OUR Walmart, hundreds of workers and thousands of supporters rallied across 100 cities, including Landover Hills, Md., Miami, Oakland, Calif., Chicago, Danville, Ky., Dallas and Kenosha, Wis.

Wal-Mart pushed back, saying it knew of only a "few dozen" protests, and that most of the protesters were not its employees

In one of the biggest protests, nine people were arrested outside of a Paramount, Calif., Wal-Mart store for failing to disperse, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department statement. An OUR Walmart spokesman said three of those arrested were Wal-Mart workers. Those arrested were to be released without bail, unless they had previous arrest warrants.

The sheriff's department said about 1,000 people arrived by bus and private vehicles to participate in the Paramount protest, which was characterized as peaceful.

In Landover Hills, near Washington. D.C. ,organizers said about 350 people participated, although video of the event showed around 100 participants. Dawn Le, who works for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which backs OUR Walmart, would not say how many of those taking part were Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), in a statement late Friday, said worker absenteeism was down more than 60% from last year.

"We had our best Black Friday ever and OUR Walmart was unable to recruit more than a small number of associates to participate in these made for TV events," said David Tovar, vice president of corporate communications, in the statement. "Press reports are now exposing what we have said all along -- the large majority of protesters aren't even Walmart workers."

Janna Pea, an OUR Wal-Mart organizer in Dallas, said about 40 workers and about 150 supporters took part in a protest Thursday night.

One of those with her was Josue Mata, who says he walked off his job as an overnight maintenance employee to protest retaliation against people who want to speak out.

"I have four kids and I don't want them to grown up in a society where people disrespect them," he said. "This is a never-ending fight and we're never going to stop."

Related: Wal-Mart: Crowded, and not everyone is smiling.

Mata said he plans to return to work for his next scheduled shift on Sunday evening.

Pea said her protesters went to four Wal-Mart stores across the Dallas area, and while they were able to picket and speak to customers at half of them, they were asked to leave immediately by police at the others.

"We were still able to talk to customers and educate them about what was going on," she said. "We saw one person who was planning to go shopping, but then didn't end up going in. Instead, they rallied with us."

Muhammed Malik, who helped organize a protest at a Miami Wal-Mart, said roughly 70 workers participated in their hour-long demonstration Thursday night. He said one worker walked off his shift as he saw others rallying outside.

Wal-Mart has denied that it has retaliated against protesting workers, and said Friday that it has offered special holiday discounts to its employees for their efforts this season.

The protests were limited in scope, occurring at a handful of the company's approximately 4,000 U.S. stores. One employee at a store near Pittsburgh told CNNMoney he had heard of the protests only through the media.

Related: Black Friday shoppers out in full force

In an effort to stop the protests, Wal-Mart filed a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the demonstrations violated labor laws.

The retailer said the actions have disrupted business, and that the workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a petition to form a union.

On Tuesday, OUR Walmart filed its own charge with the federal agency, claiming that Wal-Mart tried to deter workers from participating in the protests and interfered with their right to speak up.

But the NLRB was not able to rule in time or issue an injunction. Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB, said the complaint is too complex to make a ruling so soon.

Despite the talk of the protests, Wal-Mart reported larger Thanksgiving and Black Friday crowds than last year. As of Friday morning, the company said it had processed nearly 10 million register transactions.

Shares of Wal-Mart rose 1.9% in Friday trading.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 11:48 AM ET

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Cyber Monday starts early this year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Post-Thanksgiving online discounts were once relegated to Cyber Monday -- but these days, websites are launching deals even before Black Friday. And the resulting shopping frenzy is expected to set records.

IBM Benchmark reported total online sales for Black Friday were up nearly 21% from last year. On Thanksgiving, sales rose more than 17% compared to 2011. Black Friday was the stronger of the two days, eclipsing Thanksgiving by 4:10 p.m. ET.

And a long list of retailers -- including Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) and Ann Taylor (ANN) -- unveiled "pre-Black Friday deals" even before Thanksgiving. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) posted its one-day online shopping discounts on Black Friday, as did beauty brand MAC Cosmetics.

"We've absolutely seen this whole weekend turn into one big promotional event," said Jay Henderson, strategy director for IBM Smarter Commerce. "Black Friday deals are no longer just for the [brick-and-mortar] store, and Cyber Monday deals are no longer just for Monday."

Related: 7 apps for holiday deals

Cyber Monday's original appeal, as the first weekday after Thanksgiving, was access to quick Internet speeds while at work. But now broadband at home is ubiquitous, and consumers can also shop on a slew of mobile devices.

And so retailers' online deals stretch well ahead of Cyber Monday -- in some cases, nearly a full week before.

"Retailers are trying to draw consumers in earlier, and one way to do that is to stagger the deals: Pre-Thanksgiving, some on Thanksgiving Day, another set over the weekend, and finally the big bang to close it out on Cyber Monday," Henderson said.

Mobile devices have become increasingly important during that week before Cyber Monday. The number of consumers using their mobile device to make a purchase on Black Friday this year increased by nearly two-thirds from 2011, IBM data show.

Apple's iPad made up nearly 10% of online shopping traffic on Black Friday this year, according to IBM, while the iPhone brought in almost 9% and Android devices comprised 5.5%.

And IBM said shoppers are taking advantage of the technology to find better deals. Despite spending more overall, the average online order fell 4.7% to $181.22, and the number of items in each order decreased 12% to 5.6.

Retailers are taking note. Companies like Macy's (M, Fortune 500) and Target (TGT, Fortune 500) developed special Black Friday mobile apps featuring exclusive deals and store maps.

Still, despite the expanded schedule, Cyber Monday itself remains an important part of the holiday shopping season.

Related: Holiday shopping forecast: Stronger, and predictably crazy

Andrew Lipsman, an industry analyst at data tracking firm ComScore, said he expects sales for the one-day Cyber Monday shopping event to be around $1.5 billion this year. That's up from his calculations of $1.3 billion in 2011.

It will be a few weeks before full details on Thanksgiving week's sales are made clear, but last year both Black Friday and Cyber Monday broke records. Total spending over the four-day weekend after Thanksgiving 2011 reached a record $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Black Friday 2012 was shaping up to be robust, with shoppers turning out even on Thanksgiving Day at stores including Toys R Us and Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500).

First Published: November 23, 2012: 12:08 PM ET

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Black Friday: Crowds grow, but sales are a question

Lots of holiday shoppers hit the stores, such as Toys R Us in New York's Times Square, on Thanksgiving night.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- There were more shoppers in the nation's malls and big-box stores on Black Friday than there were last year, according to a report issued Saturday. But retailers still aren't sure that starting the holiday shopping season on Thanksgiving night proved successful.

ShopperTrak, which measures and analyzes foot traffic at more than 50,000 retail locations nationwide, says Black Friday store visits climbed 3.5% from last year to more than 307.67 million.

But Black Friday retail sales fell 1.8% to $11.2 billion, the firm said.

"While foot traffic did increase on Friday, those Thursday deals attracted some of the spending that's usually meant for Friday," said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak's founder, in a statement.

ShopperTrak said foot traffic rose in most of the nation except for the West, where it was down more than 11%.

"Black Friday shopping continues to expand into Thanksgiving Day and will impact the way we look at all of the 'Black' weekend results, since more shopping hours allows for more shopping visits and a smoothing of sales across all of the days," said Martin.

Shoppers took advantage of early Thanksgiving night openings by retailers such as Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Target (TGT, Fortune 500), Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) and Toys R Us.

Related: Black Friday shoppers out in full force

"By opening even earlier, the retailers have been able to attract a broader spectrum of consumers to participate in Black Friday -- not everyone is willing to wake up at 4 a.m.," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at the NPD Group. "They definitely got a lot more business early and upfront."

Shoppers started lining up at the Sears at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Ga., around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, and by the time the retailer opened, there was a crowd of about 500 people, said Nick Nicolosi, the mall's general manager. When the clock struck midnight and other stores opened, Nicolosi estimated that about 5,000 people were waiting to storm the stores -- the biggest Black Friday crowd North Point has seen since it began hosting its Rockin Shoppin Eve event five years ago.

La Plaza Mall in McAllen, Texas, had to use its off-duty police officers and security to control traffic outside of stores.

"Many stores including Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) had to close their store entrances temporarily as they had reached capacity with hundreds of shoppers waiting to enter the stores," said Isabel Rodriguez-Vera, area director of marketing.

Related: Cyber Monday is already here

Not everyone was willing to wait in line. Online sales soared over the two-day shopping period, climbing more than 17% from last year on Thanksgiving and nearly 21% on Black Friday, according to IBM Benchmark. Sales made from mobile devices grew by nearly two-thirds over 2011.

A long list of online retailers -- including Wal-Mart, Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) and The Disney Store -- unveiled "pre-Black Friday deals" even before Thanksgiving.

"We've absolutely seen this whole weekend turn into one big promotional event," said Jay Henderson, strategy director for IBM Smarter Commerce. "Black Friday deals are no longer just for the [brick-and-mortar] store, and Cyber Monday deals are no longer just for Monday."

However, the initial surge is likely to be temporary. By Sunday morning, Cohen expects shopper traffic to fall back to normal pre-holiday sales levels. "There are more hours to shop, but consumers don't have more relatives or more money in their pocket, so once all the dust settles, we won't see too much growth overall," he said.

Julianne Pepitone and Hibah Yousuf contributed to this article.

First Published: November 24, 2012: 6:12 PM ET

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RIM jumps 14% on BlackBerry 10 hopes

RIM, and CEO Thorsten Heins, have spent months assuring that BlackBerry 10 is worth the wait -- and investors appear optimistic.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hating BlackBerry has become something of a bloodsport, but Research in Motion shares have been on an incredible tear for the past two months -- and the RIM rally continued Friday after a bullish analyst report.

National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson upped his price target on the stock and his predictions for product shipments in 2014. RIM (RIMM) shares closed 14% higher Friday as a result.

Last week, RIM announced that its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system will finally debut on January 30, a year after the company's next-generation smartphones and software were slated to go on sale.

RIM initially said its new BlackBerry 10 software and devices would be available at the beginning of 2012. The company first delayed that to the end of 2012, and then again to the beginning of 2013.

The new operating system is meant to be the crown jewel of the company's turnaround, so the delays were incredibly troublesome. Some critics wondered if RIM would even survive long enough to launch BlackBerry 10.

Related story: RIM's fate hangs on BlackBerry 10

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has spent the past few months assuring naysayers that the software will launch in early 2013, and that it will be worth the wait.

Investors appear to be growing more optimistic as well. RIM shares have gained an astounding 59% over the past two months.

That jump is even more remarkable when compared with the slump Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) suffered in the same two-month period. The smartphone king hit bear-market status this month, falling to an intra-day low of about $506 last Friday -- down nearly $200 from the all-time high it hit on September 21.

The Apple sell-off comes after an incredible runup over the past few years -- and during a tumultuous time in the broader stock market on concerns about the fiscal cliff and Europe's continued debt crisis.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 9:56 AM ET

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Wal-Mart protests draw hundreds nationwide

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hundreds of people -- including some employees -- have taken part in Black Friday demonstrations at Wal-Mart stores nationwide, protesting what they say is the retailer's retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.

According to organizers from the union-backed group OUR Walmart, hundreds of workers and thousands of supporters rallied across 100 cities, including Landover Hills, Md., Miami, Oakland, Calif., Chicago, Danville, Ky., Dallas and Kenosha, Wis.

Wal-Mart pushed back, saying it knew of only a "few dozen" protests, and that most of the protesters were not its employees

In one of the biggest protests, nine people were arrested outside of a Paramount, Calif., Wal-Mart store for failing to disperse, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department statement. An OUR Walmart spokesman said three of those arrested were Wal-Mart workers. Those arrested were to be released without bail, unless they had previous arrest warrants.

The sheriff's department said about 1,000 people arrived by bus and private vehicles to participate in the Paramount protest, which was characterized as peaceful.

In Landover Hills, near Washington. D.C. ,organizers said about 350 people participated, although video of the event showed around 100 participants. Dawn Le, who works for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which backs OUR Walmart, would not say how many of those taking part were Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), in a statement late Friday, said worker absenteeism was down more than 60% from last year.

"We had our best Black Friday ever and OUR Walmart was unable to recruit more than a small number of associates to participate in these made for TV events," said David Tovar, vice president of corporate communications, in the statement. "Press reports are now exposing what we have said all along -- the large majority of protesters aren't even Walmart workers."

Janna Pea, an OUR Wal-Mart organizer in Dallas, said about 40 workers and about 150 supporters took part in a protest Thursday night.

One of those with her was Josue Mata, who says he walked off his job as an overnight maintenance employee to protest retaliation against people who want to speak out.

"I have four kids and I don't want them to grown up in a society where people disrespect them," he said. "This is a never-ending fight and we're never going to stop."

Related: Wal-Mart: Crowded, and not everyone is smiling.

Mata said he plans to return to work for his next scheduled shift on Sunday evening.

Pea said her protesters went to four Wal-Mart stores across the Dallas area, and while they were able to picket and speak to customers at half of them, they were asked to leave immediately by police at the others.

"We were still able to talk to customers and educate them about what was going on," she said. "We saw one person who was planning to go shopping, but then didn't end up going in. Instead, they rallied with us."

Muhammed Malik, who helped organize a protest at a Miami Wal-Mart, said roughly 70 workers participated in their hour-long demonstration Thursday night. He said one worker walked off his shift as he saw others rallying outside.

Wal-Mart has denied that it has retaliated against protesting workers, and said Friday that it has offered special holiday discounts to its employees for their efforts this season.

The protests were limited in scope, occurring at a handful of the company's approximately 4,000 U.S. stores. One employee at a store near Pittsburgh told CNNMoney he had heard of the protests only through the media.

Related: Black Friday shoppers out in full force

In an effort to stop the protests, Wal-Mart filed a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the demonstrations violated labor laws.

The retailer said the actions have disrupted business, and that the workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a petition to form a union.

On Tuesday, OUR Walmart filed its own charge with the federal agency, claiming that Wal-Mart tried to deter workers from participating in the protests and interfered with their right to speak up.

But the NLRB was not able to rule in time or issue an injunction. Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB, said the complaint is too complex to make a ruling so soon.

Despite the talk of the protests, Wal-Mart reported larger Thanksgiving and Black Friday crowds than last year. As of Friday morning, the company said it had processed nearly 10 million register transactions.

Shares of Wal-Mart rose 1.9% in Friday trading.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 11:48 AM ET

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Cyber Monday starts early this year

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Post-Thanksgiving online discounts were once relegated to Cyber Monday -- but these days, websites are launching deals even before Black Friday. And the resulting shopping frenzy is expected to set records.

IBM Benchmark reported total online sales for Black Friday were up nearly 21% from last year. On Thanksgiving, sales rose more than 17% compared to 2011. Black Friday was the stronger of the two days, eclipsing Thanksgiving by 4:10 p.m. ET.

And a long list of retailers -- including Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500) and Ann Taylor (ANN) -- unveiled "pre-Black Friday deals" even before Thanksgiving. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) posted its one-day online shopping discounts on Black Friday, as did beauty brand MAC Cosmetics.

"We've absolutely seen this whole weekend turn into one big promotional event," said Jay Henderson, strategy director for IBM Smarter Commerce. "Black Friday deals are no longer just for the [brick-and-mortar] store, and Cyber Monday deals are no longer just for Monday."

Related: 7 apps for holiday deals

Cyber Monday's original appeal, as the first weekday after Thanksgiving, was access to quick Internet speeds while at work. But now broadband at home is ubiquitous, and consumers can also shop on a slew of mobile devices.

And so retailers' online deals stretch well ahead of Cyber Monday -- in some cases, nearly a full week before.

"Retailers are trying to draw consumers in earlier, and one way to do that is to stagger the deals: Pre-Thanksgiving, some on Thanksgiving Day, another set over the weekend, and finally the big bang to close it out on Cyber Monday," Henderson said.

Mobile devices have become increasingly important during that week before Cyber Monday. The number of consumers using their mobile device to make a purchase on Black Friday this year increased by nearly two-thirds from 2011, IBM data show.

Apple's iPad made up nearly 10% of online shopping traffic on Black Friday this year, according to IBM, while the iPhone brought in almost 9% and Android devices comprised 5.5%.

And IBM said shoppers are taking advantage of the technology to find better deals. Despite spending more overall, the average online order fell 4.7% to $181.22, and the number of items in each order decreased 12% to 5.6.

Retailers are taking note. Companies like Macy's (M, Fortune 500) and Target (TGT, Fortune 500) developed special Black Friday mobile apps featuring exclusive deals and store maps.

Still, despite the expanded schedule, Cyber Monday itself remains an important part of the holiday shopping season.

Related: Holiday shopping forecast: Stronger, and predictably crazy

Andrew Lipsman, an industry analyst at data tracking firm ComScore, said he expects sales for the one-day Cyber Monday shopping event to be around $1.5 billion this year. That's up from his calculations of $1.3 billion in 2011.

It will be a few weeks before full details on Thanksgiving week's sales are made clear, but last year both Black Friday and Cyber Monday broke records. Total spending over the four-day weekend after Thanksgiving 2011 reached a record $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

Black Friday 2012 was shaping up to be robust, with shoppers turning out even on Thanksgiving Day at stores including Toys R Us and Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500).

First Published: November 23, 2012: 12:08 PM ET

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German sentiment buoyed by China, U.S.

Business climate index from Munich's Ifo Institute shows first gain since March

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- The German economy is showing signs of resilience, after growth slowed in the third quarter, as companies look beyond the eurozone crisis to brighter prospects in China and the United States.

The Ifo business climate index published Friday rose to 101.4 in November, from 100 in October, showing its first month-on-month gain since March.

Companies expressed greater satisfaction with their current situation and were slightly less pessimistic about the future.

"The German economy is holding up in the face of the euro crisis," said Ifo Institute president Hans-Werner Sinn.

German growth has been hampered by the recession in the eurozone, with gross domestic product expanding by just 0.2% in the third quarter, compared with 0.3% in the second and 0.5% in the first.

Related: Eurozone risks on the rise

Economists expect Europe's powerhouse to contract in the fourth quarter. But the Ifo survey of some 7,000 companies in manufacturing and trade suggests it should avoid following many of its regional trading partners into recession.

"To the contrary, the creeping decoupling from the rest of the eurozone -- only one third of German exports currently go to eurozone peers -- enables the economy to benefit quickly from any rebound of the global economy," said Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING. "In this regard, latest signs of improvement from the US and China were good news for German companies."

China posted third quarter GDP growth at an annual rate of 7.4%, way below its long-term average of around 10%. But recent data point to a rebound in the fourth quarter.

HSBC's purchasing managers' index published Thursday showed China factory output accelerating.

U.S. growth picked up in the third quarter and there is evidence of a sustained recovery in the housing sector.

Related: Service sector adds to eurozone gloom

But the German economy still faces considerable headwinds, as reflected in deteriorating confidence in the country's service sector.

PMI data this week showed the sharpest fall in activity in Germany's services industry since June 2009. The outlook was the most pessimistic since March 2009, as firms worried about leaner client budgets and the impact of the eurozone crisis on investment decisions.

Ifo's separate survey of some 2,500 service sector firms confirmed that the outlook was deteriorating. The overall climate reading slipped to 8.5 in November, down from 9.1 in October.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 7:16 AM ET

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Stocks up on Black Friday

Click chart for more markets data.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks moved higher Friday, as investors watched the nation's shopping malls for signs of consumer strength during the holiday shopping season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq all moved up between 0.4% and 0.6%.

Many Americans have already raced to shopping malls to get holiday bargains for Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Leading retailers Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) and Target (TGT, Fortune 500) opened at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving night, and large crowds were reported at those stores and others.

During a Friday morning interview with CNN, Toys "R" US CEO Jerry Storch said the long lines at stores were probably a sign that "people do feel a little more relaxed about the economy." Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren, also speaking on CNN, said he enjoyed watching the "stream of humanity" flow into his stores.

Shares of Macy's (M, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart and Target were higher Friday, as were the stocks of other prominent retailers such as J.C. Penney (JCP, Fortune 500). Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) and Best Buy (BBY, Fortune 500).

Related: Black Friday shoppers out in full force

Besides monitoring American consumers, there's little market-moving news expected out of the U.S. on the holiday-shortened trading day, so investors are also turning attention to Europe and the continued questions over Greece's finances.

European finance ministers failed to finalize the details of a debt-reduction package for Greece before the close of their meeting Wednesday. The officials had been expected to agree to release the funds for Greece so it would be able to make payments due in December.

Worries over the next steps in Europe continue to offset some positive economic numbers and signs out of the United States.

U.S. markets were closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. Stocks finished higher Wednesday as investors focused on positive U.S. economic numbers.

Fear & Greed Index

European stocks were higher in morning trading. Asian markets closed with gains.

Companies: Shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM) moved up 11% following a report by Canadian brokerage firm National Bank Financial that anticipates sales of the BlackBerry 10 smartphone, due to roll out early next year, will be better than expected.

Hostess Brands received approval from a bankruptcy judge Wednesday to shut down and begin selling off its assets.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell against the euro, British pound and Japanese yen.

Oil for January delivery rose 19 cents to $87.57 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery climbed $5.30 to $1,733.70 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury stayed put at 1.68%.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 9:39 AM ET

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RIM jumps 11% on BlackBerry 10 hopes

RIM, and CEO Thorsten Heins, have spent months assuring that BlackBerry 10 is worth the wait -- and investors appear optimistic.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hating BlackBerry has become something of a bloodsport, but Research in Motion shares have been on an incredible tear for the past two months -- and the RIM rally continued Friday after a bullish analyst report.

National Bank Financial analyst Kris Thompson upped his price target on the stock and his predictions for product shipments in 2014. RIM (RIMM) shares jumped 11% at the start of trade Friday as a result.

Last week RIM announced that its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system will finally debut on January 30, a year after the company's next-generation smartphones and software were slated to go on sale.

RIM initially said its new BlackBerry 10 software and devices would be available at the beginning of 2012. The company first delayed that to the end of 2012, and then again to the beginning of 2013.

The new operating system is meant to be the crown jewel of the company's turnaround, so the delays were incredibly troublesome. Some critics wondered if RIM would even survive long enough to launch BlackBerry 10.

Related story: RIM's fate hangs on BlackBerry 10

RIM CEO Thorsten Heins has spent the past few months assuring naysayers that the software will launch in early 2013, and that it will be worth the wait.

Investors appear to be growing more optimistic as well. RIM shares have gained an astounding 59% over the past two months.

That jump is even more remarkable when compared with the slump Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) suffered in the same two-month period. The smartphone king hit bear-market status this month, falling to an intra-day low of about $506 last Friday -- down nearly $200 from the all-time high it hit on September 21.

The Apple sell-off comes after an incredible runup over the past few years -- and during a tumultuous time in the broader stock market on concerns about the fiscal cliff and Europe's continued debt crisis.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 9:56 AM ET

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Wal-mart workers get ready for Black Friday protest

Wal-Mart employees in June joined a rally in Los Angeles to protest what they call retaliation from the nation's largest retailer.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Shoppers and stores around the country are preparing for big Black Friday sales, but a group of Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500) workers are getting ready for a protest.

"I'll do whatever it takes to speak out about our concerns -- I'm willing to put my job on the line," says Monique Velasquez, a single mother of five who works in Wal-Mart's photo department in Pico Rivera, California. Velasquez plans to join the protest on Friday.

The union-backed group OUR Walmart, which has helped organize the post-Thanksgiving walk-out, expects thousands of workers around the country to participate. Workers say they are joining the protest to ask the country's largest employer to end what they call retaliation against speaking out for better pay, fair schedules and affordable health care.

In an effort to stop the workers from protesting, Wal-Mart filed a complaint last week with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that the protesters violated labor laws.

The federal labor agency, which was under pressure to act within 72 hours of getting the complaint, has said that it is "highly unlikely" to have a ruling on the complaint in time to stop the Black Friday protests. Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB said the complaint is too complex to make a ruling so soon.

Wal-Mart's complaint claimed that the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and its subsidiary OUR Walmart unlawfully organized picket lines and other demonstrations in the past six months. The retailer said the actions have disrupted business, and that the workers' ongoing actions violate the National Labor Relations Act, which prohibits picketing for any period over 30 days without filing a petition to form a union.

On Tuesday, OUR Walmart filed its own charge with the federal agency, claiming that Wal-Mart tried to deter workers from participating in the protests and interfered with their right to speak up.

The labor agency's Cleeland said that if it finds that Wal-Mart's claims have merit, it will go to court to seek an injunction on behalf of the retailer to stop the union-backed group from organizing the protests.

If the agency doesn't find merit, the charge will be dismissed or withdrawn, she said.

Labor law experts say that Wal-Mart could have a tough time winning this one. That's because the labor laws that prohibit picketing over 30 days applies only to protesters trying to form a union or gain collective bargaining rights, not employees who are protesting against retaliation.

If the employees' claims are true, Wal-Mart could itself be found in violation of the National Labor Rights Act, which protects workers against retaliation for speaking up, according to Angela Cornell, director of the Labor Law Clinic at Cornell University's law school.

For its part, Wal-Mart plans to go full steam ahead on Black Friday. It will start doling out its "doorbuster" deals at 8 p.m. on Thursday, just after shoppers finish their Thanksgiving feasts.

Related: Wal-Mart Black Friday deals

The retailer is offering special deals to customers who are in line inside its stores at 10 p.m., guaranteeing three special offers -- the Apple iPad2, an Emerson 32 inch TV and an LG Blu-ray player.

On Monday, the retailer tweeted: "Don't believe everything you read in the union press releases. We don't think their #BlackFriday activity will have an impact on customers."

OUR Wal-Mart, meanwhile, has more than 30,000 "likes" on its Facebook page, and has collected more than $60,000 in donations to support workers who walk off work in protest on Black Friday.

First Published: November 22, 2012: 12:06 AM ET

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Fitch cuts Sony, Panasonic debt to junk

Sony and Panasonic were downgraded Thursday by Fitch.

HONG KONG (CNNMoney) -- Fitch Ratings downgraded Sony and Panasonic debt to junk status Thursday and said the ailing Japan-based consumer electronic makers both needed radical restructuring to improve their prospects.

Panasonic's rating was cut to BB from BBB-, while Sony was moved to BB- from BBB-, with a negative outlook. Both companies now carry speculative, or junk, ratings.

The downgrades are the latest in a string for Sony and Panasonic, which have been haemorrhaging money and struggling to find positive momentum.

The companies, once the crown jewels of the high-tech Japanese economy, have been hit in recent years by a strong yen and weak demand for televisions. Sony now has a market cap of just more than $10 billion, and hasn't turned a profit in four years.

Its shares are trading near their lowest levels in three decades, and even closed below the 800 yen mark in Tokyo earlier this month.

"We think there is little headroom for Sony," Fitch's Steve Durose said in a statement.

"Without a radical change to the structure of their businesses it is difficult to see profitability improving enough for [Sony and Panasonic] to regain investment-grade ratings," Durose said.

Related: Something is rotten in Japan

Panasonic seems to be in better shape than Sony, and less dependent on its struggling core electronics business. Sony is the subject of frequent speculation as a possible takeover target, with cash-rich competitors like Apple, Google and Microsoft all reported as possible suitors.

Related: Can Sony be saved?

Sony made a play of its own in recent months, taking a stake in Olympus, the scandal-plagued company embroiled in an epic accounting fraud. But analysts remain skeptical that Sony will be able to achieve a long-term turnaround.

"The future of both companies will depend on their ability to curb loss-making segments and rediscover the kind of technological leadership which historically enabled them to develop must-have products," Durose said.

First Published: November 22, 2012: 5:39 AM ET

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Service sector adds to eurozone gloom

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- Service industry companies in the eurozone are more pessimistic about their prospects than at any time since early 2009, pointing to little chance of a return to growth for the region soon, according to business surveys published Thursday.

Preliminary data showed the weakest reading for service sector activity in 40 months, and expectations for the year ahead were at their lowest since March 2009, with sentiment in Germany, Europe's biggest economy, falling particularly sharply.

Markit's composite purchasing managers' index for November stood little changed at 45.8, compared with 45.7 in October.

A fall in the services index to 45.7 from 46 was partly offset by a slower rate of decline in manufacturing. Any reading below 50 signals contraction. Markit said its surveys pointed to contraction of 0.5% in the eurozone economy in the fourth quarter.

Eurozone gross domestic product shrank by 0.2% in the second quarter, and 0.1% in the third, putting the 17-nation currency area back in recession.

Related: Eurozone risks rising as outlook darkens

"While it is reassuring to have seen signs of stabilisation in some survey indicators, the overall rate of decline remains severe and has spread to encompass Germany, suggesting the situation could deteriorate further in the coming months," Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said.

Jobs were being shed at their second-fastest rate since January 2010 as companies become increasingly anxious about the economic outlook and seek to keep costs under control.

"All this suggests that any swift return to growth is unlikely," Williamson said.

The European Commission forecasts growth of 0.1% for the eurozone in 2013, but with more spending cuts and tax rises to come in countries such as France, Italy and Spain, and the prolonged wrangling over Greece's bailout holding back sentiment, many private forecasters are predicting another year of recession.

Related: No deal for Greece as talks drag

That would undermine many of the assumptions underpinning government budget plans and bailout programs, and could lead to another flare up in the sovereign debt crisis as investors lose faith in the ability of the region to chart a path back to growth.

Bond yields for some of the eurozone's more vulnerable states held steady Thursday, but have risen from lows posted in the wake of the European Central Bank's announcement in September that it was ready to buy bonds of eurozone nations if they signed up for formal bailout programs.

Markit said forward-looking indicators in the manufacturing sector also pointed to continuing weakness in the months ahead, with large falls in the volume of goods purchased and inventories.

Employment across the eurozone fell for the eleventh month in succession, with the rate of decline accelerating in services but easing in manufacturing. German employment dropped at the fastest rate since January 2010, while the eurozone periphery saw the fastest rate of job losses since July.

First Published: November 22, 2012: 7:54 AM ET

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Hostess headed for final closing

A failed effort at mediation is likely to mean the final closing of Hostess Brands at a New York hearing Wednesday.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Time will likely run out for Hostess Brands on Wednesday, after a last-ditch mediation effort by a bankruptcy court judge failed to produce a deal between the company and its striking bakers' union.

Judge Robert Drain, who had essentially ordered the two sides to a mediation effort he himself oversaw, is set to rule on Hostess Brands' motion to wind down the company at a hearing in White Plains, N.Y. He adjourned a hearing on the motion Monday after saying he wanted to take one last shot at saving the 18,500 jobs at the company.

But Hostess, maker of such beloved products as Twinkies, Wonder Bread and Drake's snacks, announced Tuesday that the mediation efforts had failed to produce a deal to restart its operations that have been closed since Friday. Its CEO and attorneys had previously said reaching a deal that could restart the company's nationwide network of 33 bakeries and 565 distribution centers would be difficult due to the financial damage done by the strike that started Nov. 9.

Related: Twinkies hoarding begins

The company announced the shutdown of its operations on Friday, and the hearing Monday had been expected to simply confirm the decision to liquidate and start the sale of its assets. Hostess Brands also has asked for approval of $1.75 million in bonuses, ranging from $7,400 to $130,500, to be paid to 19 executives to oversee the liquidation of the company. It said it needs the bonuses to make sure the executives it needs stay with the company through the end.

"The cessation of ... operations is not a simple matter of turning off the lights and shutting the doors," the company wrote in a court filing on Friday.

Unions at Hostess are on record opposing the bonus requests.

The Bakery Workers union did not comment on the failed mediation. It has repeatedly said that mismanagement and the debt placed on the company by its current and past owners were the reasons for the company's failure, not the strike. It said its membership was overwhelmingly opposed to the wage and benefit concessions agreed to by other Hostess employees, including the majority of the 6,700 members of the Teamsters' union at Hostess.

Related: Hostess jobs - 'Great' to 'not worth saving'

The Teamsters issued a statement Tuesday saying the failure of mediation and the likely liquidation of the company was a tragic outcome. It did not comment on who it blamed for the shutdown.

A statement last week blamed poor management for the shutdown, but also appeared to also criticize the bakers' union without explicitly naming it, saying that "not all stakeholders were willing to be constructive."

Assuming Drain approves the company's motion, Hostess will start to sell off its assets, including its iconic brands and recipes, which could return its beloved products to store shelves at some time in the future.

On Monday, private equity firm Sun Capital Partners told Fortune that it wants to buy Hostess as a going concern. It would reopen the shuttered factories, and keep the Hostess workers and their unions. But it's not clear Sun Capital's offer would top those of other bidders who would simply produce the product with the bidders' existing staff facilities, leaving the Hostess workers out of luck.

First Published: November 21, 2012: 7:49 AM ET

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