News Summary: Precious metals rise, oil falls
News Summary: Gold, silver rise as fiscal cliff nears, oil and stocks fall
FIVE GOLDEN RINGS?: Investors put their money into gold and silver as talks on how to fix the U.S. budget deficit sputtered in Washington. Silver gained nearly 2 percent.
OIL DOLDRUMS: Crude oil fell, a sign that investors fear the economy is slowing. The price of benchmark crude fell in New York to the lowest point in three weeks.
'CLIFF' HANGER: With no major economic news, investors watched budget negotiations in Washington. Without a compromise between the political parties, taxes increases and government spending cuts will kick in Jan. 1, the so-called "fiscal cliff."
