Markets Going Nowhere On Critical Day For The Deal

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There's no getting around the fact that today is going to be critical for any debt ceiling deal, if a deal is to be reached before October 17. There just isn't time left to keep stalling.

Markets are going nowhere in the US, with futures down a hair.

Markets are a bit higher in Europe, which might represent a little catch-up to the US gains yesterday.

Japan also ended higher.

As for the US situation, there are reasons for optimism and pessimism.

The optimism is that by all accounts, the Senate has been making good progress, and the talk is of an agreement coming out today.

The pessimism stems from the fact that a lot of House Republicans are upset, and there's no guarantee that they pass, let alone vote on, anything that comes out of the Senate.