fiscal

But after finally clinching a (literally) last-minute deal to break a weeks-long deadlock over the so-called fiscal cliff, tech investors had a field day on the first day of trading for 2013.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index closed up more than 3 percent on the day, led by the usual roster of big names with Google finishing at $723.25, up 2.24 percent and Apple gaining almost 3 percent to close at $548.07. Facebook, which for much of the spring and summer had been a neglected stock, continued its recent climb, finishing up … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Jill gives us 2012 year-end tax tips: four benefit changes.

- "Fiscal cliff" primer: Breaking down the plans.

- Alan Simpson goes "Gangnam Style."

- The Fiscal Cliff Huxtable.… Read more

With Apple's fourth-quarter earnings in the bag, we now have a full picture of how the company has done during its entire fiscal year.

Though Apple's last quarter was a disappointment on the profit side, and soft on iPad sales, the company surprised with stronger-than-expected iPhone sales.

The company's current quarter, during which Apple expects to bring in $52 billion in sales, kicked off last month.

Here's some of Apple's 2012 by the numbers:

$156.5 billion. Apple's total sales for the year. The biggest chunk of that came during the first quarter, when … Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook said today that there's plenty of room for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company to grow in China.

"We continue to see it as an extremely exciting market," Cook said during a conference call with analysts held after Apple disclosed its most recent earnings.

Cook said that Apple's revenue in China over the last few months was $5.7 billion, the bulk of its overall Asia-Pacific revenue of $7.5 billion. Apple's total China revenue for the entire fiscal year ending last month was $23.8 billion, he said, now making up … Read more

Apple said today that it sold 26.9 million iPhones in the last three months, an increase of 58 percent from the same period last year and slightly more than analysts had expected.

The popular phone -- the iPhone 5 went on sale last month -- accounted for the largest category of Apple's hardware sales, up from 26 million sold in the previous quarter and 17 million sold during the same period last year.

By comparison, Apple said in this afternoon's earnings statement that it sold 4.9 million Macs, 5.3 million iPods, and 14 million iPads … Read more

Apple may disappoint investors tomorrow with fiscal fourth-quarter results that show weaker sales of its key iPad and iPhone product lines.

Wall Street is expecting Apple to report $36.27 billion in sales, with earnings per share of $8.91. Apple's own forecast for the quarter is $34 billion, with earnings per share of $7.65. Much of that tally is expected to come from the iPhone and iPad, which together made up 72 percent of the company's revenue last quarter.

This is the first quarter to include sales of Apple's iPhone 5, but only a few … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Apple's iPhone 5 could add half a percent to U.S. GDP.

- Apple launches iPhone trade in program with competitive prices.

- What is a fiscal cliff?

- Aunt Jill recommends "Bernie," a film starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine.

- Follow Jill Schlesinger on Twitter and check out her podcast, Jill on Money!… Read more

Hard disk drive supplier Seagate Technology provided a financial update today, reiterating that demand for HDD units will exceed supply in 2012 in the wake of flooding last year in Thailand.

Seagate updated its financial outlook for fiscal second quarter 2012 on Wednesday afternoon, stating it shipped approximately 47 million disk drives, which included approximately 700,000 Samsung disk drives.

Revenue is expected to be between $3.1 billion and $3.2 billion, the company said. Analysts had projected revenue of $2.79 billion on average, according to Bloomberg. Seagate completed the acquisition of Samsung's hard disk drive business … Read more

Research In Motion reported declining profits and revenue in the third quarter as it continues its downward spiral.

For its fiscal third quarter, the Canadian mobile devices maker reported (PDF) a profit of $265 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $911.1 million, or $1.74 a share. Excluding one-time charges, including one taken for its unsold PlayBook tablets, the company earned $667 million, or $1.27 per share.

Revenue was $5.17 billion, a modest decline from RIM's year-earlier revenue of $5.49 billion.

Wall Street analysts, on average, had forecast earnings … Read more