Despite the S&P 500 being up over 20% for the year, there's still a lot that can go wrong these last 3 months

Despite the S&P 500 being up over 20% for the year, there's still a lot that can go wrong these last 3 months. Of course, the potential US government shutdown is bad news, but don't forget the debt ceiling debate is also in play this month. There's also the Fed's decision on when to start tapering bond purchases, something the financial markets have been following very closely this year. Additionally, we have another round of corporate earnings right around the corner. Worse than expected earnings/outlooks could certainly hurt stocks. (Can any company's outlook possibly be positive with the huge political mess going on?) That doesn't even include international factors. Can China's growth continue? Is Europe's economy healing fast enough? Will further military action be required in the Middle East? Bottom line, the next 3 months could be interesting.