DAVIE, Fla., Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- As Washington took last minute action to avoid the so-called 'Fiscal Cliff', businesses are changing their outlook for the next year. Avoiding the Cliff means that the Bush Tax Cuts will remain in place for 98% of Americans. The Cliff, an artifice manufactured by Congress to force action on the budget, would have raised taxed and cut federal spending across the board. By putting a deal together at the 11^th hour, Congress was able to avert billions of dollars from exiting the economy.

Wall Street reacted to the news immediately, adding nearly 2.4% to the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the first day of trading in 2013. Although how small and medium sized businesses, as well as consumers, will react to the deal still remains dubious, the early indicators are positive.

The prospects for some have improved dramatically since Tuesday, however. Steve Green, Lead Sales Strategist for American Auto Move, believes that 2013 would be an even stronger year than expected after a deal had finally been struck. "The truth is that if people don't have money in their pockets, they can't spend. And if they're not spending, everybody gets burned – especially small and medium sized businesses like ours. Transport is considered by some to be a luxury, so even the perception that taxes are going up, that people are going to have to budget their expenses more, and so on, forces a bit of a pull back on what people are willing to spend with us. But with a deal in place, we know that things aren't going to get any worse, at least from a consumer spending perspective. And now that we know more or less what our tax situation will look like in 2013, we are ready to make the necessary investments to grow."

The automotive industry, which appears to have made a sizable resurgence since the Auto Bailout Deal, is one of the most important sources of business for American Auto Move, and a fiscal deal in Washington means that the outlook for that sector should remain upbeat. "Specifically, we're looking at how the automotive industry is going to perform in light of this deal. Car dealerships are a huge revenue stream for us. If people are buying new cars, the dealerships have more work for us." Mr. Green also suspects that internet sales will continue to grow at fever pitch as consumers will most likely have a sunnier economic outlook in general.

But the deal that averted imminent disaster on Tuesday does little to solve the long term fiscal issues that the country faces. Both parties are digging in for another showdown over the nation's debt limit, and the overall deficit problem has yet to be tackled in earnest. And while these issues still loom large in the mind of decision makers, the immediate relief of actions taken by Congress will suffice for now. "We're not worried about the debt limit debate right now. The way we see it is that if Congress can make it through [the Fiscal Cliff negotiations] without utterly imploding, then we'll most likely be able to do enough dealing to avert disaster."

Many forecasters had seemed to take the idea that Washington would reach a deal as inevitable, but given how close the country came to stepping over the precipice, some are still unsure, but optimistic about the future. "It all boils down to what people are willing to spend," says Mr. Green. "If people are ready to spend a little extra on auto transport, I'm sure consumer spending will be up across the board."

Media Contact: Bobby Russell, American Auto Move, 954-854-0694, bobby@autotransportaat.com

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SOURCE American Auto Move