Crisis averted - well, at least until January

Crisis averted - well, at least until January. Senate leaders finally reached an agreement to end the 16-day US government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. The government will be funded through January 15th, while the debt ceiling will be raised through roughly February 7th. House leaders and President Obama have signaled they will sign off on this agreement, which should be voted on later today. The deal was put together after Fitch put the US credit on ratings watch negative. The news sent US stock futures down sharply - and you can bet Washington noticed. The question becomes, will we have to go through all this again in January? As part of the agreement, the Senate and House have to meet on the budget by December 13th. That will hopefully give the necessary time for a long-term agreement to come about.