If you look up the word ''progress" it is defined as movement toward a goal. But if you take that same word and use it within the context of the tax-and-spend talks we call the fiscal cliff negotiations, it takes on an entirely different meaning. If something is standing still or going nowhere, even the slightest movement could technically be considered progress.

To make things more confusing, the normal way that lawmakers would inform the public and gauge support for a proposed budget cut or tax increase (whether incremental or monumental) would be to float a so-called trial balloon of information through the media and then gauge reaction. But even that is gone now that the President and Congressional leadership have signed a "strict moratorium on public commentary concerning the negotiations" — a development that will make it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to assess the merits and drawbacks of a deal before it is actually reached.

Welcome to progress, Washington style!

Not to mention comment moratorium, Washington style,  This as House Speaker John Boehner opened the day's legislative session by voicing optimism while posing questions.

"Where are the president's spending cuts? The longer the White House slow-walks this process the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff," Boehner remarked.

To help fill this informational gap, my co-host Jeff Macke and I discuss the probability of reaching a deal, and if a deal is reached, what effect (if any) it would have on the stock market.

"Anything is an upside surprise," Macke says in the attached video, likening the alleged movement by a "confederacy of dunces" as the first step toward a solution that will see the Republicans buckle.

Facebook (FB) officially joins the ranks of the tech elite tomorrow when it's added to the Nasdaq 100 (^NDX).

The widely watched index is comprised of the top 100 non-financial stocks by market cap that trade on the Nasdaq (^IXIC), including heavyweights like Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Microsoft (MSFT) and Oracle (ORCL). With a $60+ billion market cap, Facebook replaces Infosys (INFY), which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange (NYX).

Facebook's inclusion is largely seen as a positive due to the popularity of the NDX among ETFs and mutual funds. "The question that has to be asked though, is that given the corporate governance practices in place at Facebook -- namely Zuckerberg's totalitarian control of the company and the ability to appoint his own successor and the risk that puts on minority shareholders -- are other indices like the S&P 500 going to follow suit?" asks David Garrity, principal at GVA Research. "That is very much an open question because there have been doubts raised about Facebook."

Facebook shares have seen plenty of ups and downs since the initial public offering on May 18. The stock debuted at $38 a share and was more than cut in half after a series of insider share lockup periods began expiring.

The first expiration in mid-August set off a downward spiral that took the stock to its all-time low of $17.55 on Sept. 4. Facebook has since recovered 55% from the low despite expirations in October and November that put a combined 1 billion shares on the market.