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As the days pass by, the U.S. economy continues to careen toward the year-end fiscal cliff. Most economists believe the nation's economy will enter into another recession if the automatic tax cuts and $1.2 trillion sequester are allowed to take effect.

Without any reasonable solutions on the table, Corporate America is growing wary of what could be in store for 2013.

CEO confidence has fallen to levels not seen since 2009 due to uncertainty over U.S. tax policy and fiscal matters, according to the Business Roundtable's quarterly survey of chief executives. Additionally, the survey discovered that more CEOs expect hiring to fall rather than rise over the next 6 months.

Related: Jobs Data Disconnect from Consumer Spending, Markets Disconnect from Reality

Another report by Deloitte finds CFOs are growing increasingly negative about the future of their companies. In its quarterly CFO Signals survey, 40% of CFOs are pessimistic, up 12% from last

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In Hanna Rosin's new book "The End of Men: And the Rise of Women" she argues that women have gained a competitive advantage over men in the workplace.

There are more female employees in 12 of the 15 fastest growing industries and more women are choosing occupations that were previously monopolized by men. Women are even better educated — for every two men who graduate college, there are three female graduates.

In an interview with The Daily Ticker, Rosin says the gender ratio balance has shifted partly because of the six million manufacturing jobs lost during the recession — an industry that was heavily employed by men.

"The manufacturing sector is never going to come back exactly the way it was," she notes. "We can safely assume that era is over. What the "man-cession revealed," she says, "was deeper trends in the economy. [Trends] that allow women to adapt themselves more easily to what's going on."

Related: Re-Made in America: 5M Jobs Are Coming

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Sales of new single-family homes fell 0.3% in August to an annual rate of 373,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

The pace of sales last month was less than what most analysts had expected. Economists polled by Reuters predicted sales of 380,000. July sales were revised higher to 374,000 units from 372,000 units -- the fastest pace since August 2010.

CoreLogic chief economist Mark Fleming joined The Daily Ticker to discuss the numbers.

Related: More Good News on Housing But Hold the Champagne

"I think they were pretty good," says Fleming. "No change from July is a relatively good number and you know we are still slowly growing out of the very very low troughs of a year or so ago."

Although the August figures are down slightly from the previous month, "we expect sales, new and existing, to slow down as we head into the off season at this time of the year," adds Fleming.

New homes sales are up nearly 30% from a year ago.

Meanwhile, U.S. home

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Driverless cars are no longer science fiction — they're reality.

California became the second state (the first was Nevada) to approve autonomous, self-driving cars on the road. Jerry Brown, governor of California, signed the bill at Google's (GOOG) headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., on Tuesday.

Google has trumpeted its computer-controlled cars and claims that its modified, driverless Toyota (TM) Priuses and Lexus RX 450h cars have logged more than 300,000 miles on busy highways and roads without an accident. (Google did say that one of its Priuses was involved in a minor accident last year).

"This law will allow California's pioneering engineers to safely test and implement this amazing new technology," Brown said.

Related: The Future Is Electric Cars: Fmr. GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz

Google developed its autonomous cars in 2010. The artificial intelligence software system in the cars can navigate intersections, curves and roads by collecting

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You probably missed it. National Plug-in Day this past Sunday when owners of electric cars and plug-in hybrids gathered in 60 cities to celebrate the fledging technology. The celebration didn't get much coverage given the relatively small number of electric vehicle owners, but their numbers are growing.

More electric cars than ever are expected to be sold in the U.S. this year, but the totals are, at most, in the tens of thousands and nowhere near the 14 million-plus vehicles that are expected to be sold. And the news for electric vehicles is mixed.

Related: Why the Electric Car Is Doomed to Fail

Toyota Motor Corp (TM) announced Monday it had scrapped plans for wide release of its second all-electric car, citing the limitations of the technology and high costs for the vehicles.

That same day said Electric car maker Tesla (TSLA) announced its first Supercharger stations to allow its Model S electric vehicle to travel long distances. But a day later

Yesterday, Google's stock hit a new all-time high. It's up again this morning.

These moves cap an extraordinary run in which Google's stock has surged more than 30% since July, when it traded around $560.

So, what gives?

Why is Google flying?

I did an informal survey via Twitter yesterday, and here's what I heard back (combined with some of my own thoughts):

• Motorola is proving to be less of a disaster than people expected (and Google is selling off some of the really crappy parts)
• Everyone is realizing that Facebook isn't really a threat to Google's core business and that Facebook is not "the next Google."
• The core business, search, is still growing like a weed.
• Android, Google's mobile operating system, is the world leader, and it continues to gain market share at almost everyone's expense.
• Android-based phones are finally as good as Apple phones, and Google's new tablet has also gotten rave reviews.
• Founder and new CEO Larry Page has re-energized the company.
• Stock-market investors

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Stocks are trading near 5-year highs even though more signs are pointing to a global economic slowdown. How long can that disconnect continue?

Caterpillar (CAT), the world's biggest construction and mining equipment manufacturer, just cut its 2015 earnings outlook, citing slowing global economic growth. FedEx (FDX), Intel (INTC) and Norfolk Southern (NSC) have also issued earnings warnings.

Standard & Poor's cut its forecasts for growth in Asia and Europe and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde warns that the global economy is "still fraught with uncertainty."

"There's a real disparity" between the markets and the global economy, says The Daily Ticker's Henry Blodget.

In the U.S. the fiscal cliff is fast approaching. That's when billions in spending cuts and tax increases mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 will take effect, cutting the deficit but also slowing growth and raising unemployment. In Europe, the Spanish economy is spiraling

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Thousands of American Airlines (AAMRQ) passengers received bad news last week. The airline canceled hundreds of scheduled flights — many at a moment's notice.

American said its planes were grounded because of aircraft maintenance concerns and a high number of pilots calling out sick. According to American, pilots' "sick leave usage has been running higher than historical norms" and maintenance write-ups "have covered items such as torn seat pockets, frayed seat belts and malfunctioning coffee machines and passenger reading lights."

American Spokesman Bruce Hicks told The Wall Street Journal that management has "seen unprecedented pilot maintenance write-ups, many at the time of scheduled departure, which is having an impact on our operations" in the past two weeks.

AMR Corp., the parent company of American and the regional American Eagle division, cut more than 300 departures or a little more than 1 percent of its scheduled flights between Sept. 18