Political leaders in Washington are not inspiring much confidence lately. And because of that, investors have been shying away from the stock market.

A possible govt shutdown and a rapidly approaching debt limit could prevent the govt from paying all its bills.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-29/government-shutdown-nears-with-house-vote-on-obamacare.html

U.S. govt hurtled toward a partial shutdown for the first time in 17 years as Congress deadlocked over Republicans? insistence on delaying the 2010 health-care law.

House voted 231-192 just after midnight today to stop many of the Affordable Care Act?s central provisions for one year and tie that to an extension of government funding through Dec. 15. Senate Democrats said they will reject the plan, and President Barack Obama said he would veto it.

Budget Showdown

Portfolio Rebalancing

Fed Watch

World Markets

Asian Indexes

	Index	Country	Change	% Change	Level	Last Update
	Australia ASX All Ordinaries	Australia	+14.10	+0.27%	5,302.30	5:26am ET
	Shanghai SE Composite Index	China	+4.22	+0.20%	2,160.03	3:15am ET
	Hang Seng	Hong Kong	+82.01	+0.35%	23,207.04	4:01am ET
	Mumbai Sensex	India	-166.58	-0.84%	19,727.27	6:30am ET
	Nikkei 225	Japan	-39.05	-0.26%	14,760.07	2:28am ET
	Taiwan TSEC 50 Index	Taiwan	+46.00	+0.56%	8,230.68	8:48am ET

World Markets

Asian Indexes

	Index	Country	Change	% Change	Level	Last Update
	Australia ASX All Ordinaries	Australia	+14.10	+0.27%	5,302.30	5:26am ET
	Shanghai SE Composite Index	China	+4.22	+0.20%	2,160.03	3:15am ET
	Hang Seng	Hong Kong	+82.01	+0.35%	23,207.04	4:01am ET
	Mumbai Sensex	India	-166.58	-0.84%	19,727.27	6:30am ET
	Nikkei 225	Japan	-39.05	-0.26%	14,760.07	2:28am ET
	Taiwan TSEC 50 Index	Taiwan	+46.00	+0.56%	8,230.68	8:48am ET

Market Snapshot - Markets Watch DC Drama as Stocks Get Jobs Boost

Written By Stock Fanatic on Friday, September 27, 2013 | 9/27/2013

Global Equities

US equity markets stopped a recent rot, ending higher as the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell to a six-year low. This number beat the uncertainty surrounding US Federal Reserve policy and debt ceiling talks in Washington. The Dow Jones and the S& P 500 both rose 0.4% while the Nasdaq leapt 0.7%.

Initial jobless claims for the latest week fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 305,000. This beat economic forecasts and was its lowest since September 2007. The number of US citizens (3.9 million) receiving unemployment benefits is around 32% lower in the past year. Those figures helped pushed equities higher as uncertainty swirled over the debt ceiling and how the US government is going to keep itself going with limited cash reserves left. By October, when the US government financial year begins, politicians must approve a budget or vote to temporarily increase its debt ceiling of USD16.7 trillion.

This weekend is crucial
To keep the government chugging along, the US Congress ? comprising Senate and the House in opposing camps ? must approve a bill to avoid a temporary shutdown. Washington faces two deadlines: 1 October when they have to approve a budget for FY14 and one in mid-October when the government has no more money to meet its debt obligations on time and in full.

Europe shares were little changed as jobs numbers in the US failed to convince European bourses. Concerns remain over US politicians and their ability to avoid a shutdown with opponents already squaring up on Capitol Hill. In Italy, the main MIB bourse slid 1.2% with the party of former premier Silvio Berlusconi threatening a pullout if the billionaire is removed from Senate for tax fraud.

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia stocks fell as uncertainty over how debt and budget talks in the US would play out. Singapore?s STI eased 0.4% for the fifth straight session despite manufacturing output numbers that showed growth in August. Output grew 3.5% on-year from 3% in July on improving electronics and a spurt in maritime and offshore services. Malaysia's KLCI slipped 0.6%. Indonesia?s JCI was flat.

North Asia

North Asia markets closed lower as the euphoria over Shanghai?s new free trade zone faded. Hong Kong?s Hang Seng was down, taking cues from China and purported weakness in US consumer spending. China?s SHCOMP slipped 1.9% ahead of a weeklong holiday next week.

Hong Kong stocks took cues from Wall Street and on China weakness. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.4% as Shanghai prepared to close for a weeklong holiday. Retail middleman Li & Fung fell 3.1% after a report indicated a slowing down in US consumer spending. In Shanghai, companies linked to the free trade zone fell with signs there would be no immediate change in policy, and on concerns for banks on lending.

Tokyo stocks rebounded after falling three straight sessions, as a stronger USD helped exporters with the Nikkei up 1.2% at the close. Early Friday, the government said core goods as a measure of inflation was up 0.8% in August on-year ? a sign that higher energy and imports are helping the government?s goal in beating deflation.  (Read Report)

$5.25 Million For Senate Hair Care And 21 Other Ways Politicians Are Living The High Life At Your Expense



If you want to live the high life, you don't have to become a rap star, a professional athlete or a Wall Street banker.  All it really takes is winning an election.  Right now, more than half of all the members of Congress are millionaires, and most of them leave " public service" far wealthier than when they entered it.  Since most of them have so much money, you would think that they would be willing to do a little " belt-tightening" for the sake of the American people.  After all, things are supposedly " extremely tight" in Washington D.C. right now.  In fact, just the other day Nancy Pelosi insisted that there were " no more cuts to make" to the federal budget.  But even as they claim that things are so tough right now, our politicians continue to live the high life at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.  The statistics that I am about to share with you are very disturbing.  Please share them with everyone that you know.  The American people deserve the truth.

According to the Weekly Standard, an absolutely insane amount of money is being spent on the " hair care needs" of U.S. Senators...

Keep in mind that there are only 100 U.S. Senators, and many of them don't have much hair left at this point.

But hair care is just the tip of the iceberg.  The following are 21 other ways that our politicians are living the high life at your expense...

#1 According to Roll Call's annual survey of Congressional wealth, the super wealthy in Congress just continue to get much wealthier even though they are supposedly dedicating their lives to " public service" ...

#2 Amazingly, the 50th most wealthy member of Congress has a net worth of 6.14 million dollars.

#3 At this point, more than half of those " serving the American people" in Congress are millionaires.

#4 In one recent year, an average of $4,005,900 of U.S. taxpayer money was spent on " personal" and " office" expenses per U.S. Senator.

#5 Once they leave Washington, former members of Congress continue to collect huge checks for the rest of their lives...

#6 Speaker of the House John Boehner would bring home a yearly pension of  close to $85,000 if he left Congress when his current term ends in 2014.

#7 At this point, quite a few former lawmakers are collecting federal pensions for life worth at least $100,000 annually.  That list includes such notable names as Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Trent Lott, Dick Gephardt and Dick Cheney.

#8 The U.S. government is spending approximately 3.6 million dollars a year to support the lavish lifestyles of former presidents such as George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

#9 Nearly 500,000 federal employees now make at least $100,000 a year.

#10 During one recent year, the average federal employee in the Washington D.C. area received total compensation worth more than $126,000.

#11 During one recent year, compensation for federal employees came to a grand total of approximately 447 billion dollars.

#12 If you can believe it, there are 77,000 federal workers that make more than the governors of their own states do.

#13 When Joe Biden and his staff took a trip to London, the hotel bill cost U.S. taxpayers $459,388.65.

#14 Joe Biden and his staff also stopped in Paris for one night.  The hotel bill for that one night came to $585,000.50.

#15 When Biden and his staff visited Moscow for two days in 2011, the total hotel bill came to $665,445.00.

#16 During 2012, the salaries of Barack Obama?s three climate change advisers combined came to a grand total of more than $370,000.

#17 Overall, 139 different White House staffers were making at least $100,000 during 2012, and there were 20 staffers that made the maximum of $172,200.

#18 It is estimated that the trip that the Obamas took to Africa cost U.S. taxpayers about 100 million dollars.

#19 The Obamas only have one dog named " Bo" , but the White House " dog handler" reportedly makes $102,000 per year and sometimes he is even flown to where the Obamas are vacationing so that he can take care of the dog.

#20 There is always at least one projectionist at the White House 24 hours a day just in case there is someone that wants to watch a movie.  Apparently turning on a DVD player is too much to ask.

#21 In one recent year, more than 1.4 billion dollars was spent on the Obamas.  Meanwhile, British taxpayers only spent about 58 million dollars on the entire royal family.

So who pays for all of this extravagance?

The American people do of course.

Unfortunately, what most of our politicians fail to understand is that most families are  struggling tremendously right now.

This week, Yahoo featured the story of a 77-year-old former executive that is now flipping burgers and serving drinks to make ends meet.  He says that he now earns in a week what he once earned in a single hour, but he is thankful to have a job in this economic environment...

So many Americans are barely making it from month to month at this point.  Most people work very, very hard for their money, and it is very discouraging to see our politicians waste our hard-earned tax dollars so frivolously.

Fortunately, there are signs that the American people are starting to get fed up with all of this.  According to a stunning new Gallup survey, more Americans than ever before (60 percent) believe that the federal government has too much power.

So what do you think?