Weekly Roundup: MarketWatch's top 10 stories, Dec. 3 - 7

	Weekly Roundup DECEMBER 07, 2012 MarketWatch's top 10 stories, Dec. 3 - 7 By MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — So here we are, another week closer to the fiscal cliff and, publicly at least, it's looking and sounding a lot like a week ago. Speaker of the House John Boehner said Friday that President Barack Obama and his team had "wasted another week". House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi earlier called the Republican proposal to settle the argument "an assault" on the middle class. Doesn't sound very promising, does it? On the other hand, Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei over at Politico have penned an entertaining and, hopefully, insightful look at what might be going on behind the veil of public insults and bluster. Read Politico's post about what Obama and Boehner are thinking. The encouraging thing about the post is that it makes clear that both men understand what the other needs politically to do a deal and that getting there is going to come down to timing and a few other considerations. The two reporters suggest a deal won't be done by Christmas but will likely happen in the following days. Meanwhile, U.S. stocks were essentially flat for the week, as unremarkable economic data combined with worries about the fiscal cliff to sap investor enthusiasm. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 Index (SPX) closed on Friday at 1,418.07, a gain of 4.13 points or 0.3% on the day and 0.1% for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) rose 81.09 points or 0.6% on Friday to close at 13,155.13 points, a 1% gain on the week. The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) fell 11.23 points or 0.4% on Friday to close at 2,978.04, a drop of 1% on the week. Check out MarketWatch over the weekend, where we'll be monitoring the fiscal cliff talks, and all the other news you need to organize your portfolio and your life. In the meantime please check out MarketWatch's Retirement section, a one-stop destination for the data, stories and information you need to prepare for retirement. Please have a look at MarketWatch's week ahead videos, too.  U.S. week ahead: Waiting on the Fed, fiscal cliff talks  Europe's week ahead: FOMC meeting, Italian politics — Christopher Noble , assistant managing editor. Last to first For all the investors who think of themselves as independent thinkers, are you ready to jump in and buy one of the most beaten down stocks of the year in the hopes that it will rebound next year? Now is the chance to jump in and buy Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) at an 18-year low. This year's worst stock could be 2013's best. Move along, nothing to see here It's always wise to avoid the urge to put too much emphasis on any one economic data point, particularly the monthly nonfarm payrolls report. What's important is not the month-to-month change, but the trends. In any given month, the change in employment across the nation is barely discernible in the data. Ignore November jobs data, hiring trend too slow. Crushed Apple Apple Inc. (AAPL) is in the midst of another sell-off, leaving market observers and analysts to ponder the reasons why a company that is still expected to gin up strong double-digit sales growth next year has seen its market value clipped again this week – and more than 20% over the last 10 weeks. Five downside catalysts for Apple. No more Midas touch? Gold was a quiet winner before its big sell-off this week. The yellow metal had worked its way up from around $1,560 an ounce back in July to almost $1,800 in October. Just last week it changed hands at $1,750. But then came waves of selling, which drove the price below $1,690 by Thursday morning, still slightly above support levels. Has gold lost its Midas touch for good? Slashing debt Households went back to shedding debt in the third quarter, with Americans repaying mortgages even as student and car loans piled up, according to the Federal Reserve. Households back to slashing debt. IRA mistakes, part deux Missed rollovers, spousal rollover traps, SEPPS missteps, prohibited transactions and unrelated business taxable income are just the latest five of MarketWatch's top 10 IRA-planning mistakes you need to avoid. Top 10 IRA-planning mistakes, part 2. Not all created equal Investors for several years have been pulling money out of stock mutual funds and piling into bond funds — but not all stock funds. Data show investors are favoring stock funds that buy shares of large-cap growth companies and dividend-paying stocks among just a few others. Five top stock funds raking in your money. Hot homes Investing in single-family homes is becoming big business and a driving force stabilizing home values in communities across the country, as institutional investors see value in foreclosures that can have new life as rental homes. Soon, average investors may be able to get in the act, too — without having to buy a house themselves. Single-family homes are hot investments. It's the building's fault Some lenders can make condo buyers with pristine credit feel like rejects. That's because before making a loan to a would-be buyer, lenders comb through the building's financial statements to see if too many condos remain unsold, or if units are mostly rentals instead of owner-occupied. Lenders also look to see if the building's cash reserves, which help cover maintenance costs, are too low. Condo loan denied? Blame the building. 401(k) tax breaks under fire As the fiscal-cliff debate drags on, some in the retirement industry have come out swinging against the possibility that lawmakers will slash tax benefits for 401(k)s and similar retirement plans. But do 401(k)s need protection? That is, are lawmakers really gunning for the billions of dollars of uncollected tax revenue sitting in retirement plans? 401(k) tax breaks in lawmakers' gunsights. Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2012 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. 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