STOCKS FALL: Here's What You Need To Know

Markets closed at their lows of the day as fiscal cliff talks seem to go nowhere.

First the scoreboard:

Dow: 12,878, -89.2, -0.6 percent
S&P 500: 1,398, -7.3, -0.5 percent
NASDAQ: 2,967, -8.9, -0.3 percent

And now the top stories:

• After much delay, last night, Euro area leaders agreed on a deal that would get Greece its next round of bailout funds. Markets initially rallied on the news, but that rally lost steam.

• For the most part, U.S. economic data was encouraging. Durable goods orders growth was flat in October, which was better than the 0.7 percent decline expected by economists. More importantly, orders excluding transportation jumped 1.5 percent, which was far ahead of expectations. The surprise improvement in core capital goods orders was particularly encouraging as it is widely recognized as a reliable recession indicator.

• Housing data continues to be positive. The Case-Shiller home price index climbed 3.0 percent year-over-year, which was just marginally better than the expectation for a 2.95 percent increase.

• The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence report was particularly encouraging. The index jumped to 73.7 from 72.2 in October. This was higher than the 73.0 economists were looking for. This was also the highest level since February 2008.

• The stock market action was pretty tame for most of the day. But the wind got knocked out just before 2:30 when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came out of fiscal cliff talks and said he was "disappointed" as "little progress" was made today. Here are 13 must-see charts on taxes, spending, and the fiscal cliff >

• Don't Miss: QUIZ TIME: How Many Of These 12 Charts Can You Identify?
  

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