DC: We're announcing that we're almost ready to announce an agreement.

OMG, you have to be kidding me.  The President comes out this morning to announce that they're close to agreeing on a deal to resolve the fiscal cliff?

If you read between the lines, this is what he actually said:

"We can't get a deal done before the end of the year, but we don't want markets to panic."

In the mean time, no agreement over the debt ceiling.  What the fiscal cliff compromise saves, the debt ceiling slices, and a whole lot more.

So here's my fictional dialogue to reflect upon the situation we're in:

Nurse: "Doctor, this patient cut his finger off, then accidentally sliced into a primary artery; what should we do?" 

Doctor: "Nurse, we'll treat the finger first, because it occurred first." 

Nurse: "Shall we let the patient know what we're about to do?" 

Doctor: "Great idea!  Stop what we're doing and get the patient conscious so that we can tell him the good news!"