A slew of companies are rushing to offer special dividends before the end of the year because of the prospect of higher taxes in 2013 as part of any "Fiscal Cliff" deal.

So far this quarter, about 63 companies with market caps greater than $500 million in the Russell 3000 index have issued special—or one-time—dividend payments. That compares with only 44 for all of 2011.

Does offering extra cash to shareholders improve a company's stock performance? Not necessarily.

Does Thanksgiving turkey really make you sleepy? The jury's still out. But some "turkey stocks" are seemingly having a tryptophan-induced powernap.

There are 38 companies in the S&P 500 index that have not moved more than 2 percent positive or negative year-to-date.

Names on the list includeBoeing, Bed Bath & Beyond, Nike, Dollar Tree andTexas Instruments.

The turkey stocks below are sorted by November performance.

As of Tuesday's close, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ composite have recovered more than 3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, from the post-election low set on Friday last week. However, even with significant gains made on 'fiscal cliff' optimism, all three indexes are still negative close to 3 percent since the election.

How then, have the indexes fared historically from Thanksgiving to end of the year, when they have lost ground from election to the Thanksgiving holiday?

Technical indicators are showing that stocks are oversold short-term, but the market still continues to fall.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 index closed down 7.31 percent from its recent high in September and is 87.28 points away from testing its low for the year of 1266.04 in June.

While oversold conditions don't mean the indexes can't go lower, we looked at broader market sentiment to see if there will be any temporary relief for the markets from recent downslide.

The post-election selloff comes on the heels of downbeat comments from ECB President Mario Draghi regarding Germany's outlook and the uncertainty of "fiscal cliff" in the U.S.

As of Thursday, Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 5.87 percent from high set in the week ending Oct. 6. If the index closes negative for the week, it would be the third straight down week since May.

The Dow Industrial Average, down 369 points at the lows of Wednesday's session, posted its worst decline since November 2011.

It's a broad decline for the markets. All 10 S&P sectors are down more than 1 percent. If losses hold, it will be the first time since Dec. 8, 2011, that all 10 sectors end with declines of more than 1 percent.

And if the Dow closes below 13,000, it will be the first time since Aug. 2, 2012.

Downbeat comments from ECB President Mario Draghi regarding Germany's outlook, the U.S. presidential election, and Apple's slide are all partly responsible for the sell-off.

This article was originally published on Thursday, October 11. It has been updated to reflect the latest values.

Ahead of the presidential election, CNBC created two indexes featuring companies that could be viewed as winners or losers, depending on the outcome of the race.

The lists have been compiled from various sources, who have researched the potential for reaction in the below stocks and sectors. However, CNBC is not proposing these portfolios as investment vehicles, and does not believe that the current U.S. presidential race is the only factor affecting the stock prices of the companies in our indexes.

CNBC's Romney Index has gained positive momentum since the first presidential debate on October 3, up about a percent.

Stocks got off to a great start for the month Thursday, with the Dow posting its largest gain since Sept. 13. After a lousy October, will the market reverse its course and end the month in the black?

November marks the start of the Stock Trader's Almanac "Best Six Months Switching Strategy," which involves investing in the Dow Jones Industrial Average between Nov. 1 and April 30, and switching to fixed income for the other six months.

Since 1950, November has been the second-best month of the year for the S&P 500 and third for the Dow. Historically, it's also the start of the most bullish months of the year, up to April.

In the past 12 years, the Dow posted a gain of 1.24 percent in November, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index have averaged a return of 0.67 percent and 0.22 percent, respectively (The average for the Nasdaq goes up to 2.32 percent, if you exclude the 23 percent drop the index suffered in Nov. 2000 during the "tech bubble" burst).

As Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Atlantic coast, CNBC looked at the Dow and S&P 500 performance the day after the market was closed due to a major event.

U.S. exchanges closed Monday as millions of people in more than a half-dozen states in the Northeast were impacted by the effects of the storm.

Since 1945, the largest loss the day after a catastrophe occurred on Monday September 17, 2001, the date following the 9-11 terrorist attacks (note that the market remained closed for 4 full trading days).

On average, however, the market has been relatively unchanged the last 13 times it closed due to a major event (1985 was the last time the market closed due to weather).

NYSE Euronext announced that the exchange would remain closed on Tuesday, Oct. 30, marking the first unscheduled multiple-day closing for a weather-related reason since the blizzard of 1888 — the only other time the NYSE closed for more than a day due to weather.

Gold prices eased below $1,700 on Wednesday for the first time in seven weeks, as the market continued to see money flowing out of gold as indicated by open interest. Indeed, bullion is on track to break a 4-month winning streak, down about 4 percent in October.

Early this month, gold futures prices failed to cross above the $1,800 level, prompting speculators to reduce their net-long positions. With gold now trading below its 50-day moving average, is the precious metal poised for a comeback?

Asians are the largest consumers of gold bullion. And according to the World Gold Council, India and China dominate the global consumer demand for gold which accounted for a combined 45 percent of total jewelry, bar and coin demand in Q2 of 2012.

As the autumn festivals of Diwali approach in India, so does the lavish wedding season when high demand hits into gear. Similarly, the Chinese New Year in the spring, historically, provides an additional boost in demand.

Dating back to 2,000 gold has gained an average of 8.3 percent from November 1 through the end of April, outperforming the broader S&P 500 index by 4.6 percent. Will history repeat itself this year?