If you want to see just how much the fiscal cliff has taken over the discussion on Wall Street, then you can just look at today's chart. Stocks opened higher when third-quarter GDP was revised up from 2% growth to 2.7%, a very good sign for the economy. But when House Speaker John Boehner said that there was "no substantive progress" on the fiscal cliff stocks tumbled to negative territory. Sanity returned shortly after, and near the end of trading we've recovered most of the lost ground: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES:^DJI) is up 0.35% while the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) has gained 0.50%.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) led the declines today, falling 2.1% and 1.2% respectively. NPD Group, a retail research firm, said that Windows-powered PC sales were down 21% last month when Windows 8 debuted. Laptop sales fell 24% and desktop sales fell 9%, a disappointing figure for investors looking for a bump in PC sales. The only bright side was that 6% of Windows laptop sales were touchscreen devices, a new addition to the Windows lineup.  

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) gained 2.6% to lead the Dow today. There wasn't any big news out about the company but investors are clearly more comfortable that the Affordable Care Act won't be a huge hindrance to profits in coming years. About 9 million people are expected to enroll in exchange plans in 2014 with the number topping 26 million by 2018. More customers should be good for insurers.  

This won't be the last time the fiscal cliff sends stocks into a whirlwind, but we have seen a lot of positive economic data in recent weeks so there's reason to be bullish. If Washington gets its act together then the market will again turn to fundamentals; I think stocks will continue to move higher.

Fool contributor Travis Hoium manages an account that owns shares of Intel and Microsoft. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw. 

The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel and Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Intel, Microsoft, and UnitedHealth Group. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.