As the leadership in Washington continues to lock horns over the

As the leadership in Washington continues to lock horns over the Affordable Care Act and the partial government shutdown, there is a new glimmer of hope this morning that both sides of the isle may be able to come to an understanding when it comes to the debt ceiling that is set to be reached in a week’s time. U.S. equities have shot up more 1% as there are reports that the U.S. congress is meeting to hammer out a deal that would temporarily increase the debt ceiling in order to avoid a U.S. default and the ensuing economic Armageddon so many have warned us about. However, there are still seven days left to hammer out a deal and given how stubborn both sides can be and have been, there is still an aura of uncertainty.  U.S. initial jobless claims reporting appears to be an essential, yet not totally reliable, function of the U.S. government as the Labor department released first time claims data this morning. Initial jobless claims came in at 66,000 last week but more than half of that increase came from California where computer problems continue to cause problems. One would think that the home of Silicon Valley would be able to find someone to fix the glitch, but hey, what do I know? The seasonally adjusted first time claims now stand at 374,000. Have a great day!