Counting Wednesday, the longest-ever U.S. government shutdown lasted 42 days, ended after the House rubber-stamped the amended continuing resolution (CR) sent back to them by the Senate, which will keep the lights on until January 30. Some areas were separately funded through what's being called a "minibus", which will guarantee funding for the Department of Agriculture (which administers SNAP, aka food stamps), FDA, military construction, veterans affairs and the legislative branch through Sept. 30, 2026 and also includes a reversal of federal layoffs that the Trump administration executed during the shutdown.
It's worth pointing out that most Democrats in the Senate and the House voted against the measures, which illustrates just how divided the parties are in Washington. The political posture on both sides has become almost dogmatic. Views on how best to operate the government for the good of the American people - or whatever else they may have in mind - are skewed violently by ideology.
Six House Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Adam Gray (D-CA), Don Davis (D-NC), Henry Cuellar (D-TX), Tom Suozzi (D-NY) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) — and two House Republicans — Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Greg Steube (R-FL) — broke with their caucus on the vote. The votes of Cuellar and Suozzi stand out. They are tools of the deeper state and do the bidding of their supporters and donors rather than representing their local constituencies. That's just how business gets done in D.C.; all it takes is a few sheep straying off the meadow. No doubt there will be finger-pointing and endless recrimination in the Democratic caucus.
Getting on to the business of business, the Dow Industrials have been bid to record highs the past two days while the S&P and, more so, the NASDAQ, have taken a snooze. While the Senate was busy playing footsie the past week, the AI narrative has come under pressure, as more and more analysts are sounding the alarm over enormous sums of money pledged to build out data farms and associated power plants to spread a technology that so far has been short on results, both in its application and revenue production.
Questioning of the financial super-structure underpinning the massive AI rollout has led to recent declines in Mag7 and AI-related stocks. META Platforms (Facebook) has been the hardest hit; others are only slightly below all-time highs.
As the opening bell approaches, stock futures are sliding. Dow futures are off 105; NASDAQ futures down 95, and S&P futures lower by 20 points. Could this be a case of "buy the rumor, sell the news" concerning the shutdown?
Brighter prospects appear for precious metals, which have been on a tear since Monday morning. Silver is up more than 10%, hitting a high on spot markets this morning of $54.45. Gold has been bid as high as $4245.60 this morning.
WTI crude oil was smacked back down into the 50s, hitting a low of $58.22 late Wednesday, but has rallied this morning above $59.
At the Close, Wednesday, November 12, 2025:
Dow: 48,254.82, +326.86 (+0.68%)
NASDAQ: 23,406.45, -61.844 (-0.26%)
S&P 500: 6,850.92, +4.31 (+0.06%)
NYSE Composite: 21,807.33, +90.60 (0.42%)
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