Here Comes The Beige Book...

At 2:00 p.m. ET, the Federal Reserve will release its "Beige Book" of economic anecdotes collected by the Fed's regional banks.

This should provide a picture of how businesses (and the Fed) are interpreting Washington's ongoing fiscal battle.

"We will be looking for any indication that the lead up to - and start of - the government shutdown impeded on business activity," Credit Suisse's Neal Soss recently wrote to clients.

"Such anecdotes may push back the timing of any cutback in Fed asset purchases. At least one FOMC member, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart, already has said that September's no-taper decision 'now is vindicated by the developments' in DC," he wrote.