Stocks Edged Lower, Budget Stalemate in Focus

U.S. stocks edged lower in the early trading on Tuesday as investors monitored budget developments
in Washington. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately slipped 17.60 points, or 0.12%, to 14,918.64
and the S&P 500 index was off 1.04%, or 0.06%, at 1,675.08. The Nasdaq Composite was down 3.23
points, or 0.09%, to 3,767.15.

Japan’s finance minister pressed the United States on Tuesday to quickly resolve its political
deadlock over government finances to avoid a fiscal crisis that could damage the global economy.

Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corp’s outspoken CEO, on Monday urged fellow business leaders to ratchet
up the pressure on U.S. political leaders to end the stalemate that has partially shut down the
federal government since last week.

A government shutdown that drags on for a month or longer could trigger a 20% to 30% correction in
the market, Barry Ritholtz said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.

World growth will be slower than expected this year and next, and will take another big hit if the
U.S. fails to resolve its debt drama, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.