MINYANVILLE ORIGINAL The White House and housing starts helped stopped a two-session stock surge in its tracks as fiscal cliff talks stalled and new housing starts fell 3% in November. John Boehner’s pledge to pursue a parallel legislative track on taxes did at least send American Railcar (ARII) rising 4.77% to a fresh 52-week peak on an otherwise down day.   A ratings reduction on General Electric (GE) a company uncomfortably connected to the Connecticut shooting took it down 3.14% to lead Dow (^DJI) laggards. Firearms firm Smith & Wesson (SWHC) was also downgraded yet surged 7.19% on the same day Dirty Harry — whose bloody body count stood at seven — was added ...