It’s been a pretty ugly week for the stock market and things might not be getting any better throughout the next several weeks if uncertainty in Washington continues to build. There are several factors contributing to the uncertainty at this point in time.
The debt ceiling is one of the major factors because there’s still a possibility that the United States defaults on its national debt in the middle of October if Republicans and Democrats are unable to agree on legislation that would either raise the debt ceiling or suspend it indefinitely.
That’s a pretty significant development and it could be a devastating time for stock markets if the United States is unable to avoid going delinquent on its debt. That would have devastating consequences that could result in a terrible plunge to stocks in the coming weeks.
In addition to the debt ceiling, there’s still a national worker shortage that could become much worse if employees continue to quit their jobs over vaccine mandates that are spreading throughout the nation. It’s expected that Biden’s vaccine mandate will go into effect by the end of the year that will force companies to mandate vaccines for their workers if they have more than 100 employees.
As health care workers, police officers, and employees from some of the nation’s most prominent businesses weigh their options, an expanded worker shortage would not be a good thing for the stock market’s near-term potential.
Investors should be prepared for anything in the coming weeks as a ton of factors are coming together to create a very uncertain economic environment, especially in the stock indexes that hold a ton of influence across the U.S. economy.
If congress is able to secure a solution to the pending crisis that relates to the debt ceiling, the stock market may be able to avoid further declines after already suffering a pretty ugly week of struggles. When additional information becomes available about Biden’s vaccine mandate for employees, that might be able to clear up some of the uncertainty that might be harming the markets as well.
