Congress, Dow Jones Industrial Average | featured news

Stocks soared 2% Wednesday in the first trading of 2013, after Congress' last-minute passage of a plan to avert the brunt of the so-called fiscal cliff. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 234 points, or 1.8%, to 13,338 shortly after the opening bell on Wall Street. Wednesday morning's rally follows the Dow's 1.3% jump late in trading on New Year's Eve on signs of an emerging deal between President Obama and congressional leaders.

The markets are already fretting over the "fiscal cliff": On Thursday, the Dow seemed to surge and fall with every bit of micro-news about a deal or lack thereof, as Joe Weisenthal documented.

The "fiscal cliff" sounds like a scary place. Headlines about "taxmaggeddon" are flashing on TV screens, next to clocks ticking down to Jan. 1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has skidded more than 7 percent over the last month, largely due to concerns about the standoff in Congress over how to stop a barrage of tax hikes and spending cuts. But some major investors say the doomsayers are getting too much attention and cliff watchers should relax a bit.