Stocks closed higher with all of the major indexes in the green, led the by small-cap Russell 2000 with a gain of 0.66%. The big three indexes (Dow, S&P and Nasdaq), all made new all-time high closes in the process.

Yesterday was day 2 of the government shutdown. Today is day 3.

We'll see how long it lasts.

But as I wrote yesterday, the market doesn't seem to care that much. And that's because shutdowns, historically, have had little impact on the market.

Since 1980, there have been 14 government shutdowns (10 if you exclude technical shutdowns, i.e., procedural delays, etc., that lasted less than 24 hours). The average length of those shutdowns is 9 days. The longest one was in 2018/2019 and lasted 35 days. 1995/96 was next at 21 days. And 2013 was third at 16 days. Other than that, they've usually lasted about 2-3 days.

During those shutdowns, the S&P averaged a gain of 1.69% (median of 1.1%). A full 9 of those 10 times was higher. Only decline was in October 1990, when it lost -3.60%. The government shut down for only 3 days. But recession fears had gripped the market, and stocks had been falling for months prior to that.

In other news, yesterday's Challenger Job-Cut report showed 54,064 announced corporate layoffs last month vs. 85,979 the month before.

We were supposed to get weekly Jobless Claims yesterday, along with Factory Orders and Vehicle Sales. But the government shutdown means reports coming from government agencies will not be available until the government reopens.

On deck for today was supposed to be the Employment Situation report. But that too is produced by a government agency (the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reports to the Department of Labor).

We will, however, get the PMI Composite report and the ISM Services Index, as those are produced by private organizations.

Separately, Tesla reported better-than-expected vehicle deliveries yesterday morning. They delivered 497,000 vehicles in Q3, up from last quarter's 384,000, and beating the consensus, which was expecting 440,000. Analysts point to buyers rushing to take advantage of expiring EV tax credits ($7,500), for some of the surge. Tesla was up as much as 2.46% yesterday before giving up -5.11% by the close. Elon Musk briefly surpassed $500 billion in net worth (half a trillion). Many believe he'll be the first trillionaire. And could achieve it by 2033. We shall see.

In addition to Tesla, he owns 42% of SpaceX (valued at $400B), 53% of xAI Holdings (valued at $113B), as well as X, Neuralink, and Boring Co.

With 1 more day to go, all of the major indexes are poised to close higher for the week.

If so, it would be a fitting way to start the month, and the quarter, given that Q4 is considered the best quarter for stocks.

Best,