Blog Posts by Morgan Korn

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% annual rate in the third-quarter, more than previous government estimates of 2% and 2.7%. The July to September quarter was the nation’s fastest rate of growth since the fourth-quarter of 2011. Inventory investment was the main driver of economic growth in Q3 according to the Commerce Department. Stronger trade, increased consumer demand for durable goods and health care services as well as a rebound in local, state and federal defense spending also contributed to higher growth. The economy expanded at a 1.3% rate in the second-quarter.

Related: Want Economic Growth in 2013? Get Govt. Out of the Way, Says Ayn Rand’s Brook

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says in an interview with The Daily Ticker that the big increase in inventory accumulation would likely “steal growth away” from the current quarter. He predicts that economic growth will stay in the 2% to 2.5% range over the next year, roughly the same level as three years ago when the

Fitch Ratings warned U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday that it was prepared to downgrade the nation’s "AAA" rating if a fiscal cliff deal was not completed before Dec. 31.

“Failure to avoid the fiscal cliff…would exacerbate rather than diminish the uncertainty over fiscal policy, and tip the U.S. into an avoidable and unnecessary recession," Fitch said in its 2013 global outlook.

Standard & Poor’s stripped the U.S. of its triple-A status in August of 2011. Fitch currently has a negative outlook on its U.S. sovereign rating.

President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have each dropped some of their key demands as the fiscal cliff negotiations come down to the wire.

Related: Not the End of the World if Fiscal Cliff Deal Happens Next Year: Heidi Moore

The President says he would now accept $1.2 trillion in new revenue, down from his initial $1.6 trillion proposal, as well as increase the income bracket for the Bush-era tax cut extensions to $400,000 from $250,000 for joint filers.

After a brief post-election swoon, stocks have been on a tear, with both the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and the S&P 500 Index (GSPC) up more than 6% in the last four weeks. Entering Wednesday's session, the Dow and S&P were at their highest levels since Oct. 18 and pointing higher in early trading thanks, in part, to better-than-expected results last night from Oracle (ORCL).

Equities are attracting investors again after November’s sell-off for one simple reason: "There aren’t any alternatives to stocks," says Josh Brown, vice president of investments at Fusion Analytics and author of the popular “The Reformed Broker."

“Stocks are able to go up on neutral, good and negative earnings because of QE,” Brown notes and he recommends that investors buy shares of companies like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), one of many blue chips that have bond-like qualities. JNJ’s dividend yield is currently 3.4% versus just 1.83% on the 10-year Treasury.

Brown prefers bond-like-equities any day over

President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are one step closer to reaching an agreement on the so-called fiscal cliff — the $600 billion in government spending cuts and tax increases that will affect all Americans in January. Over the weekend Boehner reportedly lowered his resistance to raising new revenue by agreeing to increase taxes on incomes over $1 million.

Related: Boehner Caves on Taxing the Rich: Will Republicans Go Along?

He also signaled that he would extend the debt limit for a year, angering Republicans who are opposed to raising the nation's borrowing limit. Boehner's latest overture in the tense fiscal cliff discussions has led many to believe a deal will get done before Dec. 31.

Obama, eager to resolve the looming fiscal crisis, made Boehner an offer Monday that cut his proposed $1.4 trillion in new revenue over 10 years to $1.2 trillion. The president has also agreed to allow the Bush-era tax cuts to cover more Americans: he would extend the expiring cuts to

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that retail sales rose 0.3% in November after falling 0.3% in October. Retail spending over the past 12 months has grown 3.7%, in line with modest economic growth. Even as many Americans struggle to find jobs and pay bills, one sector of the economy has been resilient in this weak economic environment. Wealthy Americans are continuing to spend their money and Web sites like Gilt — a flash sales site that offers discounts on designer apparel and jewelry as well as deals on exotic vacations, restaurants, Broadway shows and gym memberships -- have experienced a surge in sales as high-end consumers chose online shopping over brick-and-mortar stores.

Even the prospect of higher taxes next year has had little effect on the shopping habits of these individuals. Kevin Ryan, CEO and founder of Gilt, estimates that sales for the current quarter will increase 30% from the same period a year ago. The site saw a 60% year-over-year gain during the

President Obama hit the road this week to build national support for increasing taxes on wealthy Americans. On Monday the president addressed autoworkers in Redford, Mich., outlining his budget proposal and explaining why higher tax rates were necessary at this critical juncture.

"Our economic success has never come from the top down," Obama said. "It comes from the middle out; it comes from the bottom up."

Raising taxes on the top 2% of U.S. households has been a controversial topic as the "fiscal cliff" negotiations drag on in Washington. The "cliff" refers to the billions of dollars in spending cuts and tax increases that are scheduled to take effect early next year. Obama has not relented on his campaign pledge to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire for individuals earning at least $200,000 a year ($250,000 for families). Obama says his proposal would not affect the tax rates of 98% of Americans and his recommended tax hikes on the rich would not touch the first $250,000 of income.

Monday, Dec. 10 marks the busiest shipping day of the year for FedEx (FDX). The couriers and drivers who deliver packages to individuals and businesses around the country will be responsible for 19 million packages on Monday — nearly an 11% increase from 2011. The company's central processing plant in Memphis, Tenn., will pump 200 packages per second on 42 miles of conveyer belt.

The Daily Ticker visited FedEx's 48^th Street shipping hub in midtown Manhattan to get a firsthand look at how millions of online orders arrive at customers' doorsteps.

FedEx couriers in this New York facility start loading up their trucks as early as 7 a.m. after their daily stretch and exercise routine. Packages of all shapes and sizes tumble down the conveyer belt for over an hour and are quickly sorted by neighborhood and street address. The men and women who drive the trucks will not return to the hub until every one of their packages has been signed for and delivered. John Scott, a 15-year veteran of the

U.S. employers added 146,000 new jobs in November and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7% from 7.9% -- the lowest since December 2008. The consensus was for a jobs gain of just 90,000.

The uptick in jobs was "a pleasant surprise" but the report was "mixed," says Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS. The unemployment rate fell largely because 350,000 Americans dropped out of the labor force, Behravesh notes. In addition, the government revised down the jobs tally for September and October by 49,000.

Behravesh admits he was "surprised" by the faster pace of job creation in November and attributes the shock to an overestimation of Sandy's impact on Northeast employers. The government reported that Superstorm Sandy had a minimal effect on the labor market. The economy could see a bounce in the next few months as thousands of workers are hired to rebuild and reconstruct communities devastated by the storm, Behravesh believes.

"Natural disasters tend to shift the numbers around a