Stocks rose sharply on after comments by President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner bolstered thinking a budget deal would be reached. On the economic front, new home sales fell 0.3% in October from the month before, although sales were up 17.2% versus October of last year. Also, according to the Fed’s Beige Book, economic activity across the central bank's 12 districts expanded at a "measured pace" in recent weeks. In corporate news, Costco soared 6% after the co. announced a special dividend, which will pay shareholders a total of $3 billion on Dec. 18. Tech stocks put in a strong performance, led by Groupon, which soared 11.6% after an appearance by CEO Andrew Mason at a technology conference. Advanced Micro Devices rose 4.3% as an analyst for Longbow Research said sales of the new Wii u console from Nintendo could add between $60 million and $90 million to the chipmaker’s revenue in the fourth quarter. Google rose 1.9% while Amazon.com rose 1.5% after Cowen & Co. picked both stocks as their favored in the sector in an initiation note and set neutral ratings on eBay, Netflix, LinkedIn, Yahoo and Pandora. Losses came from Apple and Dell.
