Progress In Debt Ceiling Talks Lifts Stock Prices

Stock prices are up this morning on news that both the Democrats and the Republicans want to get a deal done on the debt ceiling issue. “I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNBC in a “Squawk Box” interview this morning. President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment later in remarks from the White House: “We’re going to come together because these is no alternative,” he said. “Every leader in the room understands the consequences of failure.”

We asked our friend Jim Lucier of Capital Alpha for an update on his thoughts: "My basic thesis remains the same. They are going to do a deal.  They will take as long as they need to do it. They can extend the deadline as necessary. There is no ticking time bomb counting down the seconds to a default on Treasury securities."