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

Unless Congress hammers out an agreement on extending a whole range of tax breaks beyond this year, many Americans will find it more expensive to be married, have a child, send them to college or buy an energy-efficient car.

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Ending the Bush-Era Tax Cuts Won’t Just Affect the Wealthy

In the unlikely event that your Christmas list this year includes every item mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” be prepared to pay nearly $100,000.

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‘12 Days of Christmas’ Now 10.8% More Expensive

The latest version of the popular handset, the iPhone 4, was released in June, but the white model was delayed first to July, then to the end of the year.

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Apple Delays White iPhone Until Next Spring

This year’s rescue plans for Greece and the euro zone were driven partly by rising US anxiety about the risks to global financial stability stemming from Europe’s slowness to take action. The FT reports.

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How Washington Pushed Europe to Save the Euro

Buoyed by the busiest August in more than a decade, global mergers and acquisitions have risen 21 percent so far this year, with stable activity in the U.S.

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Deals Come Back in Third Quarter, Outlook Still Cautious

Friday’s jobs data looms as the first major economic report of the year’s second half, which promises to challenge markets with slower economic growth.

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Week Ahead: Jobs Report Sets Tone for Start of Second Half

Berkshire Hathaway sold a lot of stock during the first three months of the year, including more than 31 million shares of Kraft Foods. That sale follows his outspoken criticism of Kraft and its management for acquiring Cadbury’s.

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Warren Buffett Reveals What He Sold in the First Quarter

Despite turbulent world markets, four giants of American finance managed to make money from trading every single day during the first three months of the year, the New York Times reports.

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How 4 Big Banks Made Profits Every Trading Day in Quarter

Analysts say $3 a gallon gasoline is a “done deal” this summer. Will high prices derail the economic recovery

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Winners and Losers: Who’s Hurt, and Who’s Not, by $3 Gas