it's nbru tonight, margaret blair of vanderbilt university. you can read more on this and other investing and business research, visit nbr.com. click on that nbru tachblt >> tom: stocks took a breather after their big gains last week. with no news regarding the fiscal cliff, corporate earnings or economic data, the index traded in a 10 point range, with the losses reduced in the final hour of trading, ending down 0.3%. trading volume was 625 million shares on the big board. 1.75 billion on the nasdaq. the utility sector suffered the most selling, down 1.1%, while the telecommunication sector had the best gain, up 0.6%. big banking stocks did not see much movement today despite the mortgage servicing settlement with the federal government, but mortgage servicing stocks were in focus thanks to a bank of america deal. bank of america sold the mortgage servicing rights on $215 billion or home loans to nation-star mortgage. the deal doubles the number of home owners nation-star will work with. shares of nation-star jumped 16.9%. volume was 10 times

its author vanderbilt's margaret blair joins us. as we start the new year, many people are working on resolutions. and this week, lou's been thinking about priorities. here's author and educator lou heckler. >> 36 years ago, alex haley published his amazing family saga "roots," tracing his ancestry back to people to slave ships from africa. it later became a landmark mini- series on television and caused thousands, maybe millions, of people to start their own roots search. one of our friends eventually arranged a massive family reunion where he presented each family with a 70-page booklet he had compiled about their history. i was working in commercial television at the time haley did his book tour and he came to our station for an interview. to what do you attribute your exceptional success? the interviewer asked. haley thought for a moment and then said this, "decide what you want. decide what you're willing to give up to get it." do you have sentences in your head that never go away? i do, and none has been more meaningful to me

margaret good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. blairso where incoming presidents live until inauguration day. reporters rarely get a look inside, but the chief of protocol took us on a tour. >> welcome to the blair house, the president's guest house. >> this is gorgeous. >> reporter: built in 1824 blair house is named for its one-time owner, francis blair, an adviser to several presidents including abraham lincoln. >> this is the lincoln sitting room and used often by many president presidents when they first arrive here on their inauguration weekend. and this portrait here is the last portrait that was painted of president lincoln before his assassination. >> reporter: inside this room robert e. lee was offered the position of heading up the union army. >> he declined the offer and resigned from the army and then of course, we know in history, took up with the other side. >> reporter: the federal government bought blair house during world war ii when large numbers of official visitors came to washington. each dignitary who passed throu