Everyone in the Capitol is patting themselves on the back and glad-handing for the news media, rattling on about “fighting the good fight.” Sure, we’ve avoided default… for just 112 more days. Most of us won’t even pay four phone bills by the time the “crisis” gets brewing again. As ridiculous as that fact is, it gets worse. You see, the “Great Band-Aid Treaty” doesn’t actually do anything to address the fundamental challenges facing our economy right now.
Here are the four biggest issues that Congress ducked out on...
By themselves, they don't seem to mean much: 630,000, 700%, $3.65 million, 19. But once you see them in context, you'll realize why these numbers matter. Besides, where else can you read about frontier markets, Bitcoins, and a phantom Twitter stock
While the U.S. government shutdown may merely be an afterthought or an inconvenience for some people, it's costing the economy and taxpayers plenty.
So how much does the government shutdown cost?
The daily tab for the government shutdown is a whopping $160 million.
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While the markets have mostly brushed off the government shutdown, a failure by Congress to raise the debt ceiling within the next week could trigger the kind of meltdown not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. But instead of just hoping Washington averts disaster in the nick of time,
you can take steps to protect yourself...
This morning (Monday), FOX Business' "Varney & Co."hosted Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald to ask, "Will the government shutdown affect the market long-term?"
The majority of pundits believe the market will go up when the shutdown ends, as more confidence and predictability return.
However, Fitz-Gerald isn't convinced...
810,000 federal workers, give or take a few, were furloughed this week as Shutdown 2013 began. Those employees had to report to work to "prepare" for a shutdown, in many cases simply reporting, signing a form acknowledging the furlough, and leaving again. The "average" American lives 16 miles from wherever they work, driving 32 miles round trip in a car that averages 24.6 miles per gallon. This trip uses 1.3 gallons of gas, at an average price of $3.39 per gallon, which comes out to $4.41 per trip. Going on national averages for fuel economy, commuting distance, and gasoline, these 810,000 furloughed federal employees collectively shelled out at least $3,572,100 on gas for a short, short workday.
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It's Day 4 of the government shutdown - which means Day 4 of your life being more dangerous than it was in September...
You see, besides the effects of 800,000 workers being furloughed, the government shutdown affects the general public in ways most of us don't realize.
Some are downright scary.
Here are 10 you should know now:
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The government shutdown is a big headache for the entire country, but it's also having an impact on individual investors. With several key agencies closed for business, investors can't get something they must have in order to make sound financial decisions...
Yesterday, CNBC hosted Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald to talk about what the government shutdown is doing to the markets.
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While the stock markets so far have reacted mildly to the government shutdown, the looming Washington fight over the need to raise the federal debt ceiling could lead to a U.S. debt default.
And that, everyone agrees, would trigger a much more pronounced reaction from Wall Street.
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Biggest stock market news today, before the opening bell: The government shutdown that kicked in yesterday after lawmakers could not agree on a federal budget last night has done little in the way of dampening the stock market. With politicians at odds now, investors are anticipating a faster resolution to another issue -- the debt ceiling issues that will come to the foreground in about two weeks.
While some 800,000 government employees are now furloughed with another million asked to work without pay, investors seem to believe this closure will be short-lived. The shutdown is the first in the U.S. in since 1995.
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Today has surprised some people who went about their daily business without knowing what's closed in a government shutdown.
Another surprise: Markets didn't plummet. There are a few reasons for that:
And assuming a deal is reached sometime within the next few weeks, the impact on fourth-quarter economic growth from this U.S. government shutdown is expected to be relatively minimal. Any loss is expected to be easily made up in Q1 of 2014.
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As of midnight Monday, the government shutdown is upon us. But this is only the first of several budget-battle flashpoints coming over the next few months that will thrash the markets. And despite the angst it will bring, every Washington screwup has a silver lining for investors who know how to play it...
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