STOCK MARKET - as we near the closing bell, Newt Gingrich looks to be finishing the day slightly up, with a gain of 2 points over Tuesday. Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum all edged slightly down. Mitt Romney gained and is holding steady in the low 60s - on par with President Obama. And Jon Huntsman edged up slightly to 30. Will he break into 40 tomorrow? If so, it will be the first time he has done so.

Despite the modest gain in the ABC stock market, it was a rough day for Newt Gingrich. He was ambushed by Occupy protesters in Iowa, as Elicia Dover reports.  The protesters interrupted a Gingrich event with reporters, shouting "Put people first!" before they were also escorted from the room.

 Mitt Romney was busy in New Hampshire today, on the first day of his bus tour in that state. He bought the press some fancy Hawaiian pizza and told a Boston radio host that he approves of deporting President Obama's Kenyan-born uncle.

 While Romney's New Hampshire tour rolled on, Jon Huntsman's campaign pointed out that the former Utah governor has logged more than 4,400 miles in the Granite state, and the Romney bus has some catching up to do.

 Off the campaign trail, the melodrama on Capitol Hill  over the payroll tax still doesn't have an endgame clearly in sight, as Huma Khan and John Parkinson report.

  But Jonathan Karl  explains the House Republicans are feeling the heat and may cave into the pressure and pass a two-month extension. Why? "I base this on conversations with House Republicans who know they are losing the public relations battle and losing it badly," Karl says.

 It's a drama that Senate Democrats are enjoying, as Sunlen Miller reports.

 Meanwhile in Hawaii, Yunji De Nies reports the Obama family may be spending the holiday without the president. While the first lady and the girls are already in his homestate, the president is shopping for Wii games and pet toys in D.C..

   RickPerry's wife Anita took to the airwaves in Iowa today, as Arlette Saenz reports, in an ad in which she "tells the story of their relationship, small-town upbringing and Christian values."

 And Rick Perry is praying - that he won't make any more mistakes. And if that doesn't work, his SuperPAC is releasing some tough ads against his opponents.