they reviewed extensive -- on the npd. they reviewed extensive documentation before making up their mind. >> i never would have thought they were so anti-democratic or anti-semitic. or so oriented towards violence and so unconstitutional. we have been discussing a ban for 12 years. now we have a lot of material to go on, much more than ever before. >> the ministers will seek to the government's support for the ban. one federal interior minister said they have a good case, but he admits there are risks. >> the danger is that these proceedings could give new life to a party that is clearly on the decline. >> next, germany's premiers must decide if they want to follow the recommendation. experts say the process to outlaw the npd could take years. >> ok. peter craven has more from our parliamentary studios. does this mean the npd party will be banned? >> it is difficult to say. i can say it is want to be a long and winding road. the people who support this ban are hoping that both government and parliament will rally around an

. >> germany's 16 state premiers have agreed to pursue a ban against the right wing radical npd party. >> and the prohibition would have to be upheld by germany's constitutional court. angela merkel government has so far been skeptical of the measure, saying that if it fails as a similar move did in 2003, i too will only encourage the far right. merkel says she will announce her position early next year. the european central bank has presented its economic outlook for 2013, and it was not exactly filled with seasonal cheer. >> the bank has cut its growth forecast for the eurozone. it has also decided not to change the base interest rate, at least for now. >> it will remain as a historic way of -- historical low of 0.75%, although a cut may still be in store for next year. >> all eyes were on mario draghi as he entered the press conference room, but the ecb president managed a smile before delivering another gloomy projection for the eurozone. the bank expects the 17-nation economy to contract again in 2013, meaning another year of recession, but there is a glimmer of hope ahead. >> la

we got new data out from npd. just yesterday showing us windows 8 sales aren't doing sort of the revival of the pc industry, aren't contributing to the revival of the pc industry as many people haa expected. in fact, npd has said that pc sales, remember, everyone thought windows 8 would come out, pcs, the overall industry would get a boost, they're actually down 21% in the first four weeks of windows 8 being available. compare that to the first four weeks. the first week that windows 7 came out, a boost in pc sales about 47%. but the company still maintains it sold 40 million licenses. they account for their data in very different ways. npd looks at retail channel. windows, microsoft talking about a broader scope here. things not panning out as investors had hoped. i think the stock is showing early signs of that as i mentioned. the stock is down in the latter part of this year. melissa: interesting. shibani joshi, thanks so much. lori: growing number of companies fear fiscal cliff tax hikes are coming so they're

. >> germany is looking increasingly likely to push for a ban on the far right npd party. >> lower saxony has supported a host to join a host of states that support a constitutional and and to outlaw the group. it is described as racist -- the group is described as racist and estimate. an attempt to ban the party 10 years ago failed after it emerged that leading members of the group were paid police informers. germany continues preparations for its withdrawal from afghanistan. >> and to give up its most dangerous based in 2013. at the moment, some 1100 german soldiers are stationed there. an observation post will also close in the coming year. it is currently home to 600 soldiers. final withdrawal of german combat troops is scheduled for 2014, but at least 1000 soldiers will remain behind for training purposes. this sunday is the beginning of advent, the season of spiritual preparation for christians that peace with christmas. in a number of european countries including german, it also marks the opening of the traditional christmas markets. >> for centuries, they've been the best place to

remember windows 8 system supposed to boost sales, turns out pc sales got no boost and research firm npd says sales of windows devices fell 2 is% since windows 8 was released in late october. the report comes as we're learning microsoft is planning to speed up the frequency of the windows upgrades to about once per year. microsoft shares down a little more than 1%. in today's trading session. meantime, verisign shares down after the company's new contract with the government came out, it can manage domain name buzz may no longer be able to raise prices without prior approval. >> let's talk about the broader markets. stocks will changed. investors weighed on budget talks. apple, cisco, yahoo dragging the index down. it is the second day senior citizens unable to access the interthet but google are letting syrians get the message out with a communications service called speak to tweet. users call a phone number, leaving a message that is posted to the speak to stweet account. in san sfran, back to you vrx a good weekend. >> you too, john. thank autos 30 years ago today michael jackson rele

the npd says the shoes are the most popular gift this season. experts say the trend makes sense because americans tend to give more practical gifts during economic downturns. send it back to you. >> erica ferrari. >> all right, erica. thanks. >> last check. >> santa is over the great wall of that. >> that's good timing. >> a billion and 100 million gifts already delivered. >> a billion -- i hope that's oneless for me. >> have you been good? >> i think i did pretty good. this weekend, what a stormy weekend, indeed, around the bay area. things beginning to settle down. a few scattered light showers along the peninsula la. this is the last gap of the storm system. through the day today, a mostly dry day. a little sun. temperatures staying cool; but expecting another storm on christmas day. all the water rolling down the mountains. the possibility of flooding near guenville. we're thinking the river will stay above flood stage. we're not done with the rain. there's another storm off the coastline. this one doesn't look as potent as the last one. >>>

research group npd says customer traffic was in line with last year but consumers are spending less. a combination of factors may be weighing on their minds including the tax impact of the fiscal cliff, aftereffects of sandy and shootings in connecticut. 'tis the season for giving but many charities aren't on the receiving end. the single biggest source of revenue for most charities are down as you are big gifts from endowments. the u.s. million dollar list which tracks large donations has found that big gifts have declined for five straight years from 43 billion in 2007 to just 11 billion this year. back over to you. >> thanks. >> hail to the redskins. burgundy and gold had the sixth straight win with a win over the philadelphia eagles. robert griffin iii returned to the game throwing two touchdowns in that victory. this win sets up a thrilling end to the regular season. a winner take all showdown against dallas and as danella sealock tel-- dan hellie tells they are focused on the cowboys. >> reporter: they improved to 9-6 on the year in position to win the first division title si

research group npd says customer traffic was in line with last year but consumers were spending less. a combination of factors may be weighing on their minds including the tax impact of the fiscal cliff, the continued after effects of hurricane sandy. 'tis the season for giving but many charities aren't on the receiving end. individual donations the single biggest source of revenue for most charities are also down as are big gifts from endowments. the u.s. million dollar list which tracks large donations has found many big gifts have declined for five straight years from 43 billion in 2007 to just 11 billion this year. that's it for us. back over to you. >>> 60% of people say tipping is part of their holiday tradition according to consumer reports. most people say they tip whoever delivers the newspaper, mechanic, the hairdresser and mailman. some find a gift for a holiday teacher. who's the least tipped? >> the least tipped by the way were garbage collectors. only 10% of people said they tipped their garbage collectors. >> a tip doesn't have to be a monetary gift. just a sincere than

research group npd is saying that customer traffic was in line with last year.but consumers, they seem to be spending less. analysts say a combination of factors seem to be weighing on their minds. and the continued after of courses of hurricane sandy, plus the dampened mood cast over the country by the recent school shootings in connecticut. >> what's on today's agenda for you to follow in the united states? there's no economic earnings starting to speak of on this christmas eve. the markets will be closing early with the nyse closing at 1:00 p.m. even, the cme at 1:15, nymex at 1:30 and the cme global index closes at 1:45 eastern so basically they can go shopping. now, u.s. markets were higher last week despite friday's lack of a deal on the fiscal cliff. the nax das was up by 1.7% and the s&p 500 by 1.2%. that may have been the santa claus rally. we're joined now by ben lichtenste lichtenstein. ben, if we look at futures this morning, looking negative. it doesn't look as though santa is going to visit on christmas eve. >> well, we have seen a significant santa rally. if you look at

a part of that clean water act at the state level is a program called npds program, which is where a wastewater discharger gets a permit. so whatever they put out in the wastewater is monitored. if the industry supplies them with wastewater, the treatment plant is expected to clean it up to the level that meets their permit regulation. so that permit is under the clean water act. for people to go around and say that the industry is not regulated by the clean water act is kind of twisting words, because their wastewater is at the wastewater outfall. >> there are trace chemicals and others that are not under the clean water act that happen to come up nginside when fracking fluids are up in the ground and they come back up as wastewater. some are not covered in terms of the route that they have to go in order to be cleaned up and then released into rivers and so forth here. most of them are. most of them are. some are not. >> the permit is the one that determines what that wastewater plant is supposed to put out. >> right. yes. the collection of the information is highly nonstandardized

npd says a variety of issues, including the fiscal cliff and possible higher taxes are dampening holiday spirits. >>> and as we mentioned before, italy's mario monti tendered his resignation as italy's prime minister in a move that sets up a parliamentary election in february, but monti said he would consider seeking a second term if approached by allies committed to his version of austerity reforms. the former economics professor has the backing of italy's business community, as well as international support from german chancellor merkel. recent polls show voters are far less enamored of monti's tax increases, spending cuts and reforms to entitlement programs. >>> and the race will be complicated by former prime minister silvio berlusconi who stepped down in november two thud eleven amid sex scandals and a crumbling economy. he told cnbc italy that he doesn't want to run for prime minister but he feels obligated to do so. coming up, what do you need to know about the economy and the markets in the new year? the asset classes and sectors that will hopefully make you some money next year,