Business_Finance

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., arrives at the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, for a closed-door meeting between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to negotiate the framework for a deal on the fiscal cliff. The negotiations are a last ditch effort to avoid across-the-board first of the year tax increases and deep spending cuts. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada leaves the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, after a closed-door meeting between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders to negotiate the framework for a deal on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

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This Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, photo shows a Citibank in Philadelphia. U.S. banks are closing the year with the strongest profits since 2006 and fewer failures than at any time since the financial crisis struck in 2008. They're helping support an economy slowed by high unemployment, flat pay, sluggish manufacturing and anxious consumers. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York on Dec. 28, 2012. (Associated Press)

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Republican Sens. Bob Corker (left) and Lamar Alexander, both of Tennessee, leave a news conference Dec. 28, 2012, on Capitol Hill in Washington where they discuss the fiscal cliff. (Associated Press)

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President Obama waves as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington on Dec. 27, 2012, as he returned early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (Associated Press)

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A woman walks by an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo on Dec. 27, 2012. Asian markets have risen amid optimism that Japan’s new leaders will stimulate its sluggish economy. (Associated Press)

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House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer said Thursday that the chamber should be in session working to avoid the looming “fiscal cliff.” (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Andrew Neitlich, a former financial analyst who once picked stocks for a mutual fund, is among investors across the country who are selling their stocks. Mr. Neitlich, standing in front of one of his investment homes in Venice, Fla., kept his holdings during the dot.com crash 12 years ago but is unloading them now. An analysis by The Associated Press found that individual investors have pulled at least $380 billion from U.S. stock funds since they started selling in April 2007. (Associated Press)