Executive Shakeup, Bullish Earnings, and the Fiscal Cliff: Market Recap

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE:AMD) closed up 5.03 percent after Reuters reported that the chipmaker has hired a bank and is exploring options such as a potential sale.

With just seven weeks until the fiscal cliff, Congress assembled on Tuesday to begin what may become the most closely watched session this year. An estimated $560 billion in spending cuts and tax increases set to automatically trigger at the end of the year could cut GDP by four percentage points, and raise unemployment by one if a solution is not found beforehand. With the dust of the election settling, banks such as JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) are pointing at the fiscal cliff as the single largest roadblock to economic growth. (Read more.)

There’s good news and bad news about Greece. The good news is that the country managed to raise at least 4 billion euros ($5 billion) from an auction of one-month and three-month T-bills, and will be able to pay off 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) worth of debt that comes due later this week. The bad news is that disagreement among Greece’s creditors is heating up and raising concerns that decision making will be delayed. Eurozone officials are apparently in open disagreement about the right strategy and timeline to bring down Greece’s overall debt. (Read more.)

Don’t Miss: These 4 Mega Banks Weigh in on the Fiscal Cliff.