2013 may look a lot like 2012

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Time for some holiday cheer. Sorta. If you want to know how the economy and markets will do next year, just look back at how they fared in 2012.

Many economists and investment strategists are pulling a MORE

Bond bubble isn't bursting ... yet

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

They say you can't fight the Fed. But the bond market is giving it the good old college try.

The Federal Reserve announced last week that it was expanding its current bond buying program and that it MORE

Blankfein: Hold on, 2013 will be tricky

Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein thinks Washington will resolve the fiscal cliff before the end of the year, but says 2013 will still be a tough year.

"The next 12 months will be tricky," warned Blankfein, speaking at a conference Wednesday hosted by The New York Times' Dealbook. "Any compromise will involve some dose of austerity -- a deflationary policy."

That's a stark contrast to fellow Wall Street titan Jamie MORE

Dimon: Solve fiscal cliff, U.S. economy will soar

JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon says the U.S. economy is poised to boom if Washington lawmakers can strike a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

But of course, that's a really big "if."

"I don't know the odds," said Dimon, speaking at a conference Wednesday hosted by The New York Times' Dealbook. "We could go off the fiscal cliff, and it may not be as big of a deal as people MORE

We are working too hard

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

November's jobs report is probably not going to be good. There will likely be a lot of noise in the data tied to Superstorm Sandy and the closing of Twinkie-maker Hostess Brands.

But some economists see hope MORE

The fiscal cliff: 2013's Y2K bug

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

If you take a look at the performance of the broader market since Election Day, many stocks have already taken a tumble off of something resembling a steep overhanging face of rock. Too bad there isn't MORE

Ford and GM rev up after earnings

Ford and GM rallied Wednesday after both automakers topped third-quarter earnings forecasts, despite soaring losses in Europe.

Shares of Ford (F) climbed more than 5%, as the company's record profit of $2.3 billion in North America helped offset its $468 million loss in Europe, bringing losses in Europe so far this year to just over $1 billion.

Meanwhile, General Motors (GM), the largest U.S. automaker, reported a third-quarter profit that trounced analysts' estimates. Though MORE

Sandy should be wake-up call to avoid fiscal cliff

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

The federal government is going to spend money to help those on the East Coast who are hurt by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. That's what governments are supposed to do, assist people in need.

But politicians shouldn't MORE

Spanish economy mired in recession

The Spanish economy continues to shrink as the nation suffers its second recession in three years.

Spain's gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell by 0.3% in the third quarter, compared with the same period last year, according to government data published Tuesday. In the second quarter, Spain's GDP declined by 0.4%.

The report from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística confirmed estimates released earlier this month by the MORE

Uh-oh. We're saving less again

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Paul R. La Monica. Other than Time Warner, the parent of CNNMoney, and Abbott Laboratories, La Monica does not own positions in any individual stocks.

Today's personal income report may not get much attention for a lot of reasons.  If a piece of government data falls in a forest and nobody's around because they're bracing for Hurricane Sandy, does it make a MORE