US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has sounded a warning over the very real possibility of the US government failing to reach a deal on the fiscal cliff.
President Obama began his first term in the White House on 4 November 2008 at the height of the credit crisis, vowing to rescue the financial system.
Barack Obama has led the Democrats to victory in the US elections, being appointed for a second four-year term as President, defeating his Republican opponent Mitt Romney.
Investment veteran Warren Buffett expects US growth to continue "inching ahead" of its Western counterparts, despite the looming fiscal cliff putting the country at risk of slipping back into recession.
BlackRock plans to float a North American equity income investment trust next month, to be managed by Bob Shearer and Kathleen Anderson.