What shutdown? My two kids,14 and 20, asked me what the Government shut down meant. They never ask me about current events. They get all the info they need about the world from Facebook and You Tube but they asked me about the shutdown. First of all there really is no shutdown, I told them. I also told them there was not much to worry about yet. Since we weren’t going to any national parks or D.C, they wouldn’t notice it. I didn’t tell them that if the country didn’t pay its bills, the results would be cataclysmic. I don’t think that’s a likely option and nor do any commentators. All the more to worry about.
In the near term this kind of uncertainty is a way perversely good for the market. The market fears an overheated economy and these fiscal doubts might sow enough uncertainty to damper the acceleration. That would be good for a bull that’s getting long in the tooth.