U.S. Stock Market Faces Growing Fears Ahead of Deadline

The big worries center around this Friday’s sequestration deadline that, until today, has largely been a non-event. Investors apparently have been confident that yet another 11th hour solution would be reached by Congress and the White House, however, with just four days to go and both sides digging into their positions, the likelihood of the enforced cuts in government spending appears to be growing.

Today President Obama continued his informational blitz by calling on Republican Governors for cooperation and on Congress for compromise, while top Republican Congressmen John Boehner and Eric Cantor said that the President should work with Republicans.  Despite these calls for working together, both sides remain far apart on the twin issues of increased taxes and government spending cuts in their respective prescriptions for avoiding the sequester.

With the clock ticking towards Friday, this high stakes game of chicken will likely continue rattling markets all week and even beyond should the cuts go into force…