AIG’s Sale, iPad Mini in China, and Telecom Consolidation: Market Recap

Buoyed by signs of real progress in the fiscal cliff discussions, the markets closed up today on Wall Street:

At the close: DJIA: +0.76%, S&P 500: +1.19%, Nasdaq: +1.32%.

On the commodities front, Oil (NYSE:USO) climbed 0.83 percent to $87.45 per barrel. Precious metals were also up, with Gold (NYSE:GLD) climbing 0.12 percent to $1,699.10 per ounce, and Silver (NYSE:SLV) climbing 0.05% to $32.32 per ounce about 15 minutes after the bell.

Here’s your Cheat Sheet to today’s top stock stories:

After several shareholders, including Mount Kellett, declared Sprint’s (NYSE:S) first offer of $2.1 billion for Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) too low, the wireless carrier returned with a second bid; this time, the proposal of $2.2 billion, or $2.97 per share, was accepted by the company’s board… (Read more.)

It seems American International Group (NYSE:AIG) will finally be cutting ties with its roots, as it tries selling off its last 1.65 billion shares in AIA, AIG’s Asia-based predecessor. The sale, prompted by AIG’s near-collapse and subsequent bailout in 2008, could raise nearly $6.5 billion for AIG, which the group will use for corporate purposes… (Read more.)

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The iPad Mini Leads the Way: The world’s largest publicly traded company announced in early November that it sold three million iPads in only three days. The figure included the iPad mini and fourth generation iPad, making it difficult to judge the success of Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) first 7-inch tablet. However, a recent chart shows just how popular the iPad mini has become during the holiday shopping season… (Read more.)

A Heavy Blow or Pocket Change? For its part in rigging Libor interest rates, UBS (NYSE:UBS) will likely be fined $1.5 billion. While a settlement is not expected to be reached between the bank and U.S., British, and Swiss regulators before Wednesday, sources familiar with the deal told Reuters that the Swiss bank will admit that 36 of its traders manipulated the yen Libor between 2005 and 2010… (Read more.)

Fiscal Cliff: New Chapter, Same Story: On Sunday, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) concluded a long and tenuous chapter in the fiscal cliff discussions. Deciding to leave ideological trench warfare behind, Boehner has agreed to accept tax increases on the wealthy and a higher total revenue target as components of a solution to the fiscal cliff. Now it is up to the other side of the aisle to leave their fox holes and approach no man’s land… (Read more.)

Don’t Miss: Fiscal Cliff: New Chapter, Same Story.