Stocks, Investor | featured news

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.

How is your portfolio doing since the 2008 financial crisis? If you’re like most Americans, it’s probably healed some. After all, stocks are up about 13 percent since October 2008. Bonds are up about 30 percent. “Winnie-the-Pooh” is doing a bit better. A 1926 first-edition copy of the fabled children’s classic can fetch nearly four times what it did in 2008 — a return of almost 300 percent.

Investors hoping for relief from the tumultuous market swings of the past few months should double up on antacid and hang on: Economists predict more gyrations in the days and weeks ahead.

Investors in Asia continued to sell off risky assets like stocks on Monday, as Europe's prolonged debt crisis and the possibility of a global recession caused investors to flee riskier assets like stocks.

Bottom Line: Stocks rose in mid-morning trade on Wall Street Tuesday as investors grew more optimistic that the Federal Reserve would announce new moves to stimulate the economy.

Investors Thursday had a muted reaction to news that Steve Jobs has resigned as chief executive of Apple, sending the high-flying shares down less than 2 percent.

Investors seem to think you want an iPad more than oil, as Apple Inc. became the most valuable company in the United States, surpassing Exxon Mobil Corp. on Wednesday.

The price of gold streaked past $1,700 an ounce for the first time Monday. Investors, beset by worries about the U.S. debt downgrade, Europe's financial crisis and slowing global growth, sought safety in the metal as stocks tumbled around the world.

Investors fled Wall Street in the worst stock-market selloff since the middle of the financial crisis in early 2009 in what has turned into a full-fledged correction. The Dow and the S&P tumbled more than 4 percent on Thursday and the Nasdaq lost 5 percent on fear the United States is staring at another recession and that Europe's sovereign debt crisis is swallowing two of its largest economies.

Some investors found reasons to be optimistic in Mr. Obama’s proposal to cut corporate taxes and increase spending for education, innovation and infrastructure.