Today though: A little more calm as we're seeing modest gains in Europe and in US futures.
What's the latest?
Well, for one thing, Obama is going to nominate Janet Yellen today to lead the Fed this was expected for awhile, but it's good news that this is happening for the market, as it's seen that she's dovish (in favor of easy money) and not going to depart from the current plan of the Fed.
There's also some chatter about, perhaps, Obama having opened the door a little bit to a deal by being open to some short term lift to debt ceiling while the two sides engaged in more substantive debate about the budget.
It's thin stuff, and the Boehner kind of rejected it a little. But there's a glimmer now where the day before that wasn't so clear.