:00:05. > :00:14.are the latest headlines from BBC News. We now have the latest
:00:14. > :00:21.financial news with World Business Report. This is World Business
:00:21. > :00:26.Report. Republicans in the US Congress reverse course, agreeing
:00:26. > :00:32.to a short-term deal to extend the payroll tax break for 160 million
:00:32. > :00:42.Americans. What is in store for the market as we come to the end of the
:00:42. > :00:48.
:00:48. > :00:53.year? Republicans in Congress have finally agreed to pass a bill to
:00:53. > :00:58.extend a tax break for working Americans. The deal will extend
:00:58. > :01:02.payroll tax cuts for another two months. There was intense pressure
:01:02. > :01:10.from Democrats and within the republican Party to do the deal and
:01:10. > :01:16.prevent taxes going up for millions of employees. It went down to the
:01:16. > :01:21.wire, but the prospect of raising taxes on 160 million Americans was
:01:21. > :01:28.just too much. Republicans in Congress finally agreed to a deal,
:01:29. > :01:34.already approved by the Senate to approve a tax break for another two
:01:34. > :01:38.months. John Boehner explained the change of heart. Sometimes it is
:01:38. > :01:43.difficult to do the right thing. Sometimes it is politically
:01:43. > :01:49.difficult to do the right thing. John Boehner says that if the
:01:49. > :01:53.Republicans agree to the deal there will not be the need for a vote. In
:01:53. > :01:59.exchange for these short-term deal, Republicans will get the chance to
:01:59. > :02:05.negotiate on a longer one year extension and perhaps include some
:02:06. > :02:10.of their own demands. Barack Obama welcomed the agreement, saying it
:02:10. > :02:16.was the right thing to do. The saga showed the crippling conflict
:02:16. > :02:23.between the two political sides in America, even when it comes to
:02:24. > :02:33.something with big economic consequences. 2011 has been a wild
:02:34. > :02:35.
:02:35. > :02:44.ride for the markets. Many have yet to recover. Europe's problems have
:02:44. > :02:50.dragged down the Asia market. Let's look at the prospect for next year.
:02:50. > :02:58.America may end up leading the recovery. It has been an
:02:58. > :03:08.interesting year? It has. People will be glad to see the back of it.
:03:08. > :03:12.
:03:12. > :03:16.We have seen enormous false -- falls. One thing that has defined a
:03:16. > :03:24.2011 is volatility. Is that something we will have to get used
:03:24. > :03:34.to? The race is for the next three -6 months, we should brace
:03:34. > :03:36.
:03:36. > :03:40.ourselves for a volatile day or couple of weeks. -- risk. Many
:03:40. > :03:48.people have money invested in the market, they have their pensions
:03:48. > :03:58.tied to the market, what will 2012 hold in terms of those investments?
:03:58. > :04:00.
:04:00. > :04:05.The riskiest, because of the European debt crisis, no growth is
:04:05. > :04:10.expected, at US growth has been revised downwards. The best we can
:04:10. > :04:18.hope for is for markets marking time until the European crisis gets
:04:18. > :04:22.put behind us. 2011 has been the year of the credit rating agency.
:04:22. > :04:27.Their impact has been so severe on the way that people see sovereign
:04:27. > :04:37.debt, the way people see companies. What impact will they have next
:04:37. > :04:46.year? They have lost some credibility. They were a little bit
:04:46. > :04:51.behind calling the sub Prime crisis and the banking crisis. They do
:04:51. > :04:55.have an impact. They are seen as an independent view of financial
:04:55. > :05:01.stability of certain countries, but they do not have the same strength
:05:01. > :05:11.as a couple of years ago. Let's take a look at what is happening in
:05:11. > :05:12.
:05:12. > :05:18.Asia. What is this I hear about Yahoo's Asian operations? We saw
:05:18. > :05:24.Yahoo share is rising earlier this week on reports that it planned to
:05:24. > :05:28.unload most of its Asia assets in a deal which sources were valuing at
:05:28. > :05:35.$17 billion. This transaction was meant to happen on Thursday in the
:05:35. > :05:43.US. So far, nothing has been disclosed. Plenty of speculation
:05:43. > :05:53.that it was offloading 40% of its stake in Ali Baba. This was a
:05:53. > :06:09.
:06:09. > :06:13.fairly complicated deal. Yahoo is planning to trade in Japan. Ali
:06:13. > :06:22.Baba founder has been trying to buy-back the company's Stakes from
:06:22. > :06:29.Yahoo for some time. This deal will please shareholders. They have been
:06:29. > :06:34.upset with the share performance over the years. Yahoo are competing
:06:34. > :06:44.with Google and Facebook, that has forced it to try and change its
:06:44. > :06:45.
:06:45. > :06:53.business. Despite his languishing performance, it does still have a
:06:53. > :07:01.market share of $18.5 billion. other stories making headlines, the
:07:01. > :07:06.Italian Senate has voted in favour of the austerity programme. Mario
:07:06. > :07:11.Monti said the approval of the package would restore market
:07:11. > :07:16.confidence in the country and allow Italy to hold its head high. The UK
:07:16. > :07:20.government has said it is going to ban said charges by credit cards if
:07:20. > :07:25.the charges are more than the cost of payment. Consumer groups had
:07:25. > :07:33.been complaining that airlines, booking agencies and chances were
:07:33. > :07:40.imposing excessive charges for using eight credit card. --
:07:40. > :07:50.councils. Traditional stores study online sales to decide which store
:07:50. > :08:02.
:08:02. > :08:09.to -- Tories to stop. -- goods to stock. We have got children telling
:08:09. > :08:12.us what they want through these online website. It is moving faster.
:08:12. > :08:18.Eight-year-olds change their mind overnight as to what they want.
:08:18. > :08:22.There are advantages, but with it comes risk. What happens online
:08:22. > :08:28.happens at speed. It was on the verge of going broke when this
:08:28. > :08:35.internet firm created this website, an interactive game that is fast
:08:35. > :08:39.becoming the must-have toy of the year. It now receives a new
:08:39. > :08:43.subscription every second. After the phenomenal success of the
:08:43. > :08:53.online world, it has pursued aggressive licensing deals to
:08:53. > :09:06.
:09:06. > :09:15.launch real-world francs. -- pre- - - products. Licensing has become a
:09:15. > :09:19.secondary revenue model. There is no upfront cost. We receive royalty
:09:19. > :09:29.cheques, when you expand that across the world, it does become
:09:29. > :09:35.quite a significant business. may look like child's play, but