Its 4 00 p. M. On wall street. Welcome back to the closing bell. Some very important headlines coming out of washington as we speak. You just heard, by the way, the very last closing bell of 2012. Coming up in the next hour, were going to break it down for you. Help you use that knowledge to navigate well in 2013. Here are the nearfinal figure y figures. One trader said to me we were lower friday because nobody wanted to go into the weekend long the market. Now nobody wants to go short the market tonight in case theyre able to get this deal done and vote on it in the next couple days. The dow at 13,106. 98 to close out. The s p up today. And a strong day for the nasdaq. Up 2 right now at 3,019. Certainly the market didnt seem to be particularly deterred by the news that john harwood just broke there, the fact it looks like no vote in the house tonight. Which would mean technically wed go over the cliff. But he still thinks a deal will be struck but just not tonight. 2012, check. Its in the books at least for the markets, that is. And while the clock keeps on ticking, no deal yet. What is an investor to do in the new year . Edward pangin with us, james buckingham, rick santelli. Everybody on board to pick apart what has just happened and what may happen going into the new year. What do you think . Are you hopeful to get a deal . Do you want to buy stocks at this point what do you think . Thanks for having me on. I think were getting some closure on the fiscal cliff. But we want to look behind the scenes. Earning estimates for the s p 500 and the broader market. Over the last tlie months you see negative pressure on earnings. Thats led by Energy Sector and stocks. Exfinancials. And whats also giving us a bit of pause heading into 2013 is the fact that these expectations are calling for about a 7 increase in earnings for next year which may not seem heroic on the surface, but it is a reacceleration from the 5 that were going to post most likely in 2012. You have to think about fundamentals then. Yeah. Im worried a bit about that and the fact were probably going to see a reset in earnings estimates in the next three or four weeks. Because these negotiations, were going to get some closure and resolution. Its still going to be a 1 , 1. 5 fiscal drag. Thats going to be an impact on earnings heading into 2013. Rick santelli, what do you make of the reporting that john harwood just came out with a moment ago . What do you think that means . Well, i found it a little bit curious. Because here we are with Mitch Mcconnell and the Vice President trying to work this out from a senate perspective. And the story is the house isnt going to vote for it. Id like to back up a square on this game board. The senate hasnt voted for it yet. Uhhuh. So i dont know. I think the negotiations are going on between a couple individuals. To throw this out in the full senate for a vote much less the house has a whiff of plan b and boehner on it. I think it may still get worked out in the bandaid form, but i dont think thats complete at this point. So i think maybe were all going to be working tomorrow. Im just getting word now that the house gop is going to caucus in an hour. They may not vote, but theyll be talking about what theyre hearing coming from the senate and probably get more details at that point. Its not like were not going to get any progress. But as i said before, rick, for something this important, would you want this to be that much of a rush job in. I agree with you. I totally absolutely agree with you. That it needs to be taken time. My reservation all day that i kept mum was is the house going to get this at ten minutes to midnight . I think those guys have some responsibility to do the job a little differently than the health care plan. I dont think they want to find out whats in it after they vote on it. Without stating the obvious, it would be nice they took their time before the deadline opposed to after it. But im going to leave that alone. I want to get to you, john. Because i would really like to know whether or not the market is just relieved that it looks like a deal is going to get done. The market hates uncertainty. What is going to happen once that uncertainty is taken away . Does it matter what the deal looks like . Well, certainly thats important, but really getting rid of some of this uncertainty as you mentioned is the important thing. You know, corporations, i know were talking about, you know, earning estimates coming down. But corporations have a tough time planning when you dont know what the tax rules are going to be and you dont know what the health of the consumer is going to be. Getting this behind us is key. And i do think that equities would be able to have a solid year in 2013 once we get rid of some of this mess that were in. What about eds point to the fundamentals and the slowdown in earnings . Well, we still are expecting earnings to rise next year. And again, im of the camp that so many investors are rarely pessimistic. Many have been positioned negatively john john, im sorry to cut you off there but weve just got breaking news out of washington. Lets get back to john harwood. I talked to an aide that said house gop caucus meeting is not principally about the fiscal cliff. Its mostly going to be about sandy relief money from the superstorm. The cliff will come up, but the source said we are not going over any potential deal because there isnt one and the senate hasnt acted yet. But even if theyre intending to talk more about sandy relief, dont you think the fiscal cliff issue is going to kind of come up . Of course its going to come up, but my only point is the meeting thats not what the meeting is about. Its a further indication that from the house of representatives that they dont consider this thing ripe enough that theyre going to bolt and move on it tonight. Thatll please new Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Governor Cuomo of new york. But you dont think thats a head fake to try and lower expectations . Or not to raise them needlessly on the fiscal cliff . Look. We sound skeptical, dont we . Yes. But were not that far from 5 00. And were not that far from midnight. Knowing the way the senate acts, the fact the Senate Leaders have not announced a deal. I dont think its a trech to say that the house at this point is standing back and saying we havent moved the ball yet. Understood. Okay. Well get back to you shortly, im sure. Therell be more coming out of washington. In the meantime, we just closed out the trading year for 2012. As the dust settles, Courtney Reagan now breaks down what was i would say among the developed markets a pretty good year for stocks. Not that bad. Lots of green. Were ending on a high note today. All three indexes closing up today and for 2012. The nasdaq the biggest winner. Up almost 16 . The s p notches a 13. 4 gain. And the dow up 7. 3 for 2012. When it comes to the blue chips, there was some flipflopping going on. The biggest gainer last year, the biggest dog of the dow. Bank of america. Doubled in price this year as the bank improved its financial footing. Home depot and disney all saw strong earnings. Consumers proved resilient in 2012. Jpmorgan another of last years dogs round out the top five with all big double digit percentage increases. If you look at the numbers, bank of america up a whopping 108 . Home depot up 46 . Now, hewlettpackard, the dows second biggest loser in 2011 is this years worst performer ending the year at a tenyear low down about 45 . After its ceo and accounting scandals. Intel struggling with the slowdown in pcs. Shares down about 15 . And last years best dow performer mcdonalds posting a double digit loss this year. Dupont and caterpillar round out the top five of losses. Thank you. When we come back, weve got some wild predictions for technology in the new year. How about facebook buying netflix . How about microsoft taking over research in motion . And wait until you hear what experts are saying about apple. And what are the best bets for the market in the new year . Three of wall streets investing pros give you their best ideas the the back half of the show. You cannot afford to miss them. Also well get the view from top lawmakers. We have representative barrasso and yarmouth. Along with our own Maria Bartiromo on the fiscal cliff. Stay tuned. Youre watching cnbc the first in business worldwide. Ive always had to keep my eye on her. But, i didnt always watch out for myself. With so much noise about health care. I tuned it all out. With unitedhealthcare, i get information that matters. My individual health profile. Not random statistics. They even reward me for addressing my health risks. So im doing fine. But shes still going to give me a heart attack. Were more than 78,000 people looking out for more than 70 million americans. Thats health in numbers. Unitedhealthcare. Well, its crunch time. The president says a deal is close but not done. Weve heard the same from Mitch Mcconnell. Then the president threw in this Monkey Wrench this afternoon. If republicans think that i will finish the job of deficit reduction through spending cuts alone without asking also equivalent sacrifice from millionaires or companies with a lot of lobbyists, et cetera, if they think thats going to be the formula for how to solve this thing, theyve got another thing coming. Lets get some reaction now with senate john barrasso. Have asked Vice President biden to come to capitol hill to sell the deal to democratic lawmakers. What do you make of that headline . I know the republicans are going to meet at 4 30 this afternoon. All the republicans in the senate to go over the proposal. It sounds like the democrats are as well. But the democrats have been very divided over the level for raising taxes, over how to tax Small Businesses which are the job makers in this country, as well as the death tax which hits so many Small Businesses and farms and ranches and job creators. So the democrats are divided. Were going to meet at 4 30 to go over the specifics of the agreement to see if its something that we will vote for. How are you on the republican side . Are you divided on this tax issue theyve agreed apparently to an income tax increase to 39. 6 on individuals making 400,000 and 450,000 for couples. Were united in wanting to make sure any increase in tax revenue specifically goes to dealing with the debt and the deficit and is not used on additional programs. I mean, the president seems to underplay the magnitude of the mess we are in financially with our debt. 16 trillion debt and yet he only wants to raise taxes and spend it for more additional programs rather than address the fundamental problems. As you know, theyre talking about a delay of the sequestration cuts. The republicans have said they want as much as three months. The democrats want longer. Maybe as long as a year. What would be acceptable to you and your colleagues in the senate . Well, as i said, were going to meet, all the republicans are going to meet at 4 30 this afternoon in ten or fifteen minutes to go over all of the specific details, what the tradeoffs are and to make sure any increase in revenue is applied to dealing with the debt and the deficit and not for spending on new programs. Do you think that mandy, do you have a question . Go ahead. No, no. Go ahead. Do you think youre going to have a bill that can make it through the house . Where theyre much more resistant to raising taxes . Well,ic that the president s comments a little earlier this afternoon made that actually tougher. The president should at this time be working with the house and the senate. Hes the only one who can sign it with the pen. And he needs something that can pass a republicancontrolled house and a democratcontrolled senate. I think the president ought to try to get that passed and signed before he goes after the republicans in the house again. Thank you very much for speaking with us, sir. Thank you. Thanks for having me. All right. Now weve got Maria Bartiromo on the phone. Shes been talking to lawmakers. She can never rest on vacation. She has the latest on what shes hearing on the fiscal cliff negotiations. What you got, m . Hi there. Thanks much. Ive been on the phone all day with a number of House Republicans and senators. And what im hearing is that the president s press conference made this bill a much tougher sell in the house. At this point, yes they are meeting at 5 00 p. M. , that gop conference. But its not about anything fiscal cliff related as you heard from john harwood. Basically thes gop expected that even though they were reluctant to agree to any tax increases, they were going back to their constituents and saying we are agreeing to taxes going up on anyone making 450,000 or higher and they expected that the tax conversation would be done for 2012 and that they would begin going into 2013 with the conversation over spending cuts. However, that press conference where he basically said its not going to be on the backs of seniors and we need more revenue suggested that the president is going to seek loopholes closed, exemptions closed in the tax code and possibly further tax increases for more revenue. And my sources are telling me that that changed the outlook and the conversation. That the house believed this was the end of the tax debate. They would move to the spending cuts in the new year. Now he says he wants more taxes. They say why would we give on that knowing the president is going to be pushing for higher taxes. How will we explain that. The house is not likely to vote on anything related to the fiscal cliff tonight. Obviously we are going over the fiscal cliff. We go over regardless. The main point here is that this bill did not solve anything as far as the debt is concerned. You know, the democrats have said to me today look, weve already put cuts in. Now, yes, they agreed to spending cuts in 2011 as you know over a tenyear period. But those cuts have not occurred yet. These are cuts over ten years that really very few people believe will actually happen. There are also cuts of projected increases. So so far we havent seen any cuts to spending. Were only seeing expectations and conversations of cuts of projected increases in spending. Right. It certainly feels weve got a way to go. Thats where the republicans have the leverage, the debt ceiling. Exactly. And this is going to be another fight over and over again. What we heard from Mitch Mcconnell earlier today was lets get a vote on the tax portion of this agreement and then they can worry about the spending cuts. And i think its all pretty clear that theyre waiting for that debt ceiling limit to be hit in march. Thats why they want the delay of the sequestration until that time. That thats when they can talk about meaningful cuts at that time. Dont you agree . Absolutely, bill. But the problem is then the president came out in that press conference and suggested that during that conversation around the debt ceiling, he is going to seek even higher taxes or certainly higher revenue from changes in the tax code. And thats what apparently according to my sources infuriated certain republicans. And they basically said why would i agree to this when this is only the beginning of more talk of higher taxes to support further spending Going Forward . And thats really what turned many people off, and they said no vote tonight. We go over the cliff and well have to deal with this alongside the debt ceiling debate. Which makes everything more difficult for the economy and the markets. What im surprised about, bill, is that we are not hearing more of a upset from the democrats and not demanding that the sequestration be undone. So now youve got everything happening as we expected on the fiscal cliff. The sequestration, the spending cuts, and the tax increases. Which as we know will lead to a recession in 2013 likely. Okay. We got to leave it there. All right. Thank you. Good job. Happy new year. I dont know if this means you won the bet or not. I cant decide. Whats that . I think i won the bet. I didnt want to win the bet. Wooell talk. Happy new year, kid. Keep it here for the latest on the cliff developments. Were not done with this yet. Americas economy held hostage gips at 6 00 p. M. Eastern time tonight. Indeed it does. Also insiders view now it is a fact we are going over the cliff. What does it mean when we start trading on wednesday . When we come back, a couple of Technology Pros gaze into their crystal balls this new years eve. One of them thinks facebook will buy netflix and microfox will take over research in motion. Oh, yeah . Well talk about that coming up. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. So we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, inbranch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. Our teams have the information you want when you need it. Its another reason more investors are saying. [ all ] im with scottrade. Its another reason more investors are saying. Are you flo . Yes. Is this the thing you gave my husband . Well, yeah, yes. The name your price tool. You tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. Careful, though that kind of power can go to your head. That explains a lot. Yo, buddy i got this. Gimme one, gimme one, gimme one the power of the name your price tool. Only from progressive. Of all the major indices, the nasdaq was the best performer in 2012. Lets see who the biggest losers and winners were in that category. Well, the nasdaq gained nearly 6 this year. Another 2 today. Now looking at some of the top tech performers in 2012. Global travel company, expedia. Com. Recently announced theyre growing in europe. Seagate technology has a 5 dividend and a plan to cut the number of outstanding shares. And ebay could well be positioned to take advantage of the trend. Now apple, despite a tough quarter, the launches of the iphone 5 and the ipad mini helped them return over 30 this year. Though its been a tough three months. It wasnt all positive in tech for everyone. Marvel Technology Group down. The chip company hurt by a ruling against them in a lawsuit. Hewlettpackard hurt. Most recently because of possible accounting issues. And dell hurt by a pc industry that has well passed its prime. Theyve been looking to more of a services driven business. The biggest ipos of the year didnt turn out as spectacularly. Facebook shares went down to 26. 60 today. Love that. Thank you. The nasdaq did better than the dow in 2012 and even better than the s p 500. So now lets get tech predictions for next year and hold on to your h