Car sales zoomed ahead in January, with many automakers reporting solid sales at the start of a year expected to show a steady gain in vehicle purchases.

Chrysler, now privately held and majority owned by Italy’s Fiat, was the notable standout for the month. It posted a 44 percent rise in U.S. auto sales, led by gains for its Jeep brand, while its larger domestic rival General Motors lost ground in a month marked by modest growth.

Chrysler’s sales blew past some analysts’ expectations of a 35 percent increase, demonstrating the remarkable comeback of the smallest U.S. automaker nearly three years after its taxpayer-funded bankruptcy restructuring. It also reported its first full-year profit since 1997.

NEW YORK — January has turned out strong for equities with just two trading days to go. If you’re afraid to miss the ride, there’s still time to jump in. You just might want to wear a neck brace.

The new year lured buyers into growth-related sectors, the ones that were more beaten down last year. The economy is getting better, but not dramatically. Earnings are beating expectations, but at a lower rate than in recent quarters. Nothing too bad is coming out of Europe’s debt crisis — and nothing good, either — at least not yet.

“No one item is a major positive, but collectively, it’s been enough to tilt it towards net buying,” said John Schlitz, chief market technician at Instinet in New York.

The housing market ended the year on a positive note with strong sales in December, but a glut of unsold homes will likely push prices lower through much of this year, forecasters said Friday.

Sales of existing homes hit an 11-month high last month and the number of properties on the market fell to the lowest level in nearly seven years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Unseasonably warm weather may have helped boost sales, but analysts said a strengthening job market and record low mortgage rates should buoy housing in coming months. Still, they were troubled by the high level of “distressed homes” for sale, including short sales of underwater properties or sales of foreclosed properties. Nearly one-third of existing-home sales were distressed last month, according to the Realtors.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Chrysler Group unveiled its much-needed new small car, the Dodge Dart small car at the Detroit auto show Monday. The car is expected to go on sale later this year at prices starting at about $16,000. Official fuel economy estimates aren’t available, yet.

The Dart is based on engineering shared with Italy’s Fiat, Chrysler’s parent company.

It will be built in Chrysler’s Belvidere, Ill., factory. It will go on sale with a base price of $15,995.

Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne conceded at a press conference later Monday that the company won’t make a lot of money at that price for the stripped down model. But he’s betting that buyers drawn in by the low price will add options. “You start shopping there and by the time you finish, maybe you’ll pay more,” he said.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to hold off on closing any more post offices or mail facilities until May 15, 2012, to allow Congress time to work on a plan to save the service.

The U.S. Postal Service agreed to voluntarily enact a moratorium on closures, after a series of talks with senators, lawmakers said. Sen. Richard Durbin said the postal service agreed to the deal, and he called it a challenge to Congress to “put up or shut up.”

The news of the moratorium comes just a week after the Postal Service announced a plan to slow down first-class mail, which would have closed some 250 mail processing plants nationwide and eliminated 28,000 jobs.

WASHINGTON (CNNMoney) — The U.S. Postal Service on Monday will announce a cost-savings proposal that would no longer guarantee next-day delivery of first-class mail.

The financially troubled agency will present to its overseers a proposal to change its national standard for first-class mail to two-to-five days from one-to-three, according to interviews with several mail industry officials who received a presentation by the agency this week.

“This isn’t a change we’re happy about,” said Art Sackler, executive director of the National Postal Policy Council, a trade group for large mailers. “But if they don’t cut somewhere and substantially, they’re going to run out of cash next summer. It’s one of the lesser evils.”

WASHINGTON — AT&T said it would take a $4 billion charge in case its takeover of T-Mobile USA fails, reflecting the dwindling chances for the deal seen as job-destroying by powerful political opponents.

The telecommunications group and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom, said they would continue to pursue anti-trust approval for the $39 billion takeover from the U.S. Department of Justice, but withdrew for now applications to the industry regulator.

“AT&T Inc and Deutsche Telekom AG are continuing to pursue the sale of Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. wireless assets to AT&T,” they said in a statement on Thursday, the Thanksgiving Day holiday in the United States.

AT&T declined to comment on the timing of the announcement beyond the statement.

Both the DOJ and telecoms watchdog the Federal Communications Commission oppose the deal, which would reduce the number of national mobile carriers to three while consumers are struggling to make ends meet and unemployment rises.

Last year Hyundai entertained — or annoyed — television viewers with advertisements featuring carol-singing hipsters. This year, the automaker is taking a different tack in early radio ads, urging listeners to “give yourself a gift” of a new Hyundai this holiday season.

Retailers, struggling with sluggish consumer spending are pulling out all the stops to get shoppers, including pushing gift-buying for your best friend –- yourself.

Apparel retailer J Crew debuted a campaign with the tag line “To: You — From: You.” Shoppers can barely escape the “buy it for yourself” message on the website of online footwear megastore Zappos.com: Nearly every holiday-themed landing page includes text urging browsers to pick up a pair of boots or something else for themselves. Even Starbucks ran a “One for you, one for me” holiday promotion.

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Available on Android and iPhone, the app keeps you up-to-the-minute on the latest deals. Users can search for their favorite stores or browse by category. You can save deals that intrigue you to your shopping list, share deals on Facebook and Twitter, and seek out stores near you. For deals available online, the app will let you make purchases straight from your phone.

NEXT: TGI Black Friday

The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service is raising rates for its more profitable express mail and priority mail shipping next year, part of its efforts to stave off bankruptcy.

The new prices, which take effect Jan. 22, include the introduction of a new flat rate of $39.95 for overnight express mail boxes weighing up to 70 pounds that are sent domestically; the flat rate for express letters is being increased separately to $18.95. Previously, prices for the overnight service were $13.25 or higher based on package weight and distance.

The prices for priority mail, which promises two-to-three-day delivery, also will increase by an average of 3.1 percent.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The city of Fort Smith, Ark., got hit with a double whammy on Friday, as one factory closed down and another faced imminent demise.

Whirlpool Corp. (WHR, Fortune 500) said it will shut down its factory next year, putting about 1,000 people will be out of work, in addition to the 800 lay offs that have already occurred at the appliance plant.

On the same day, Fortis Plastics shuttered its doors, resulting in another 90 lost jobs.

Mayor Sandy Sanders, who worked at Whirlpool for 32 years in human resources, acknowledged the “dwindling” demand in the area of manufacturing, noting that 5,000 people had worked at the factory when he retired in 1998.

WASHINGTON — Americans spent in September at three times the pace of the previous month, even though their incomes barely budged. They financed their spending binges by saving at the lowest level since the start of the Great Recession.

Consumer spending rose 0.6 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Friday. The gain was driven by a big rise in purchases of durable goods, such as autos.

Consumers earned only 0.1 percent more after their income fell by the same amount in August. And after adjusting for inflation, their after-tax incomes fell 0.1 percent last month — the third straight monthly decline.

As a result, they saved less. The savings rate fell to 3.6 percent, the lowest level since December 2007.

Expectations were high after the government said Thursday that consumer spending helped fuel annual growth of 2.5 percent in the July-September quarter, the best quarterly expansion in a year.