Morning Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock futures were suggesting Wall Street would open with losses as the White House and Congress faced a Monday night deadline to prevent the U.S. economy going over the so-called fiscal cliff.

European markets were trading lower on Monday, while Asian shares finished mostly to the downside. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, trading for a half-day, closed marginally lower at 22,656.92. Japanese markets were closed.

The U.S. Senate is set to meet Monday morning with the goal of hammering out a deal acceptable to House Republicans that would avert steep tax increases and spending cuts going into effect on Jan. 1.

"There's still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday night.

The economic calendar in the U.S. Monday includes the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey at 10:30 a.m. EST.

U.S. stocks on Friday fell for the fifth trading day in a row, as investors grew anxious about the fiscal-cliff stalemate that threatens to tip the economy into a recession if an agreement isn't reached by Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 158 points, or 1.2%, to 12,938.11 on Friday. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% to 1,402.43, bringing the week's decrease to 1.9%. The Nasdaq dropped 25.60 points, or 0.9%, to 2,960.31.

Duff & Phelps (DUF) said Sunday it agreed to be purchased for $665.5 million in cash by a group of private-equity investors.

The purchasing consortium consists of Carlyle Group, Stone Point Capital LLC, Pictet & Cie and Edmond de Rothschild Group.

The group will pay $15.55 a share, a 19% premium to the $13.05 closing level of Duff & Phelps' shares on Friday.

Tribune Co., the owner of The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune, said it would emerge from bankruptcy on Monday.

The publisher sought bankruptcy in 2008.