Stocks cross into 2011 with a positive tilt, but the December jobs report and other data will put investor faith in the recovery to the test in the very first week of the year.

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Week Ahead: Stocks Kick Off New Year on an Up Note

The race to the top of the global mergers and acquisitions league table looks set to end with Goldman Sachs retaking the honors from the rival which derailed its nine-year grip on the ranking last year.

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Goldman Looks Set for Win in M&A Photo Finish

Ever since Apple introduced the iPad, tech experts have predicted that consumers will all but abandon their laptops for lighter and more compact tablet computers. But others believe those predictions are premature.

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Will Rise of Tablet Computers End Up Killing  the Laptop?

While traders fear rising bond yields could crimp stocks’ gains in 2011, some bond strategists don’t expect interest rates to rise beyond the range of the past year.

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Look Ahead: Rate Fears Stalk Market as 2010 Draws to Close

Eurozone end-of-year financial market tensions have been highlighted by the European Central Bank’s failure to reabsorb funds it has spent on buying government bonds to combat the region’s debt crisis, reports the Financial Times.

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Euro Zone Banks Reluctant to Return ECB Funds

U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly deteriorated in December, hurt by increasing worries about the jobs market, according to a private report released on Tuesday.

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Consumer Confidence Shows Surprise Drop in December

As U.S.

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Consumer Spending Back to Normal? Not So Fast

The Australian dollar and commodity prices slid on Monday following an interest rate hike by China’s central bank over the Christmas weekend, but volumes were light due to holidays in the final week of 2010.

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China’s Surprise Rate Hike Hurts Aussie, Commodities

Should homeowners be foreclosed upon en masse, or should banks work with them to reduce the loans to levels that homeowners can manage? The New York Times reports.

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For One Couple, A Mortgage Nightmare Has a Happy Ending

The government’s latest measures to bolster the economy have led many forecasters and policy makers to express new optimism that the recovery will gain substantial momentum in 2011, the New York Times reports.

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Experts Cite Rising Hopes for Recovery in Coming Year