Government Shutdown Day 8; Air-Traffic Controllers Seen as Possible Remedy; Gold Breaks Above $4,000, Silver Headed Toward $50

Of the few visible effects from the federal government shutdown - now in Day 8 - none stand out as prominently as flight delays and cancellations at airports across the United States, where air traffic controllers have been in short supply.

Already facing a long-standing shortage of controllers, the FAA continues to monitor the situation as workers call in sick rather than work without pay. It was the air traffic controllers who were responsible for ending the 2018-19 shutdown, when numbers of them began calling in sick as the government standoff reached its fifth week.

This time, having learned from the previous experience, the controllers may be taking swifter action. On Monday, Hollywood Burbank Airport was without any air traffic controllers for six hours. Reports continue to detail flight delays in airports across the country. Newark, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Orlando, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Nashville and elsewhere.

Thus far, neither the Republicans nor Democrats in the Senate have budged, nor has the president. The House remains in recess until March 14 as the airline industry begins to creak. Almost always operating at razor-thin margins, companies such as Delta, United, and Southwest can hardly afford disruptions, especially if the shutdown begins to be measured in weeks instead of days.

For now, there hasn't been much movement in airline stocks, though they began moving lower mid-September. They have enjoyed enormous gains in 2025, with United (UAL) up 72% year-to-date, Delta (DAL) up 57%, and even downtrodden American up 28% for the year.

On Tuesday, investors got a little reminder of just how overvalued stocks are, with all the major indices shedding some froth, though by the session's end, the losses had been minimized.

At the same time, gold breached the $4,000 mark early Tuesday and continued to ramp higher, hitting a high of $4,071 early Wednesday morning. Silver continues to follow dutifully along, reaching $48.83 overnight. Silver stackers are eager for a breakout above $50, though the riggers at the COMEX seem to have other ideas. There are some theories being shopped around that silver cannot be allowed to break though $50, the long-standing psychological high point set by the LBMA, COMEX, and others of the nefarious cult of fiat endorsers.

Suggesting that major banking interests and derivative plays are in danger of being triggered by a silver move above $50. It's probably not as big a deal as some are making it out to be, but the resistance dates back to 1979-80 and 2011, when silver approached the magic number and then fell precipitously from the highs by as much as 80%. The betting is that this time is different, though only those with a cynical attitude toward real money oppose that view. As far back as 1873 silver there has been a sustained effort to demonetize silver and classify it as only and industrial metal with no monetary value. Obviously, that is not the case. Already on ebay and at online precious metals retailers, it's nearly impossible to purchase silver in any quantity at a price below $50 per ounce. The physical market is making a mockery of the COMEX manipulation and, like a coiled spring, once silver breaches $50 to the upside, there may be no turning back.

Just a week into the shutdown, it's beginning to get interesting. There appears to be much more excitement in markets dead ahead.

After all, it is October.

At the Close, Tuesday, October 7, 2025:
Dow: 46,602.98, -91.99 (-0.20%)
NASDAQ: 22,788.36, -153.31 (-0.67%)
S&P 500: 6,714.59, -25.69 (-0.38%)
NYSE Composite: 21,663.10, -101.90 (-0.47%)