Shut It Down.

Asia had a good night, but Europe is looking as disfunctional as the US -- the Italian coalition government is becoming more and more unstable by the hour and seems to have the same chilling effect on their markets as the looming government shutdown and debt ceiling debate is having here. European markets are down across the board, while S&P futures head deeper into the bad neighborhood mentioned yesterday.

Gold is up and the US dollar is down, and if there is a threat of default on our debt, it is likely a bluff by Treasury secretary Jack Lew who is acting rather like a schoolyard punk, because it is certainly not reflected in bond yields.

It appears the market may seek comfort and support at the 50-day moving average, now sitting at 1680. Doing so would close the gap at 1687.99.

Unless the internals begin to confirm to the downside, however, a strong buy set up may be developing. The decline is not appearing impulsive, but instead looks decidedly corrective. A little lower on lackluster internals (meaning not very weak) will have me looking for buys.

Personally I'd love it if the government shut down.