Never a dull moment...

"After Congress failed to reach an agreement on a new spending bill, the federal government officially shut down. So roads won't get fixed, public employees won't be able to help you, and getting a federal loan for a house will be very difficult — but there will also be a lot of differences." Jimmy Fallon

It's day 4 and we're still here. Still no deal, but Boehner says there'll be no default. He's clearly attempting to create a little space between himself and his colleagues who are beholden to the Tea Party. And, from what I can tell, he's receiving some pats on the back as a result. Nobody wants to bear the blame for a government default (not even, I suspect, the Tea Party). At this juncture, those who've been assigned the task of killing the Affordable Care Act, knowing it ain't happening, are praying that appearing to try really hard will keep their supporters engaged.

As for the market, while the down days were down more than the up days were up this week, nothing resembling panic has yet hit the trading floor. Going into the weekend with green arrows tells us that traders---for the moment anyway---believe the political risk will ultimately take care of the market risk.

Rest assured---potential fireworks notwithstanding---this will soon blow over and it'll be smooth sailing from then on. I mean, from then until the market begins thinking about the QE taper, 3rd quarter earnings, the Middle East, interest rates rising, revenue growth, Euro Zone debt, Italian politics, consumer sentiment, industrial production, capacity utilization, the unemployment rate, durable goods orders, 52 week moving averages, China GDP, and roughly a zillion other things. Never a dull moment...