If the U.S. government's latest shutdown can't stop the stock market, what can?

Stock prices keep rising, even as the shutdown delays important economic reports that usually steer trading. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average set all-time highs Oct. 3.

It's not just Big Tech driving the market, which has often been the case in recent years. Sure, Nvidia and other darlings of the artificial-intelligence frenzy are still climbing, but almost everything on Wall Street is coming up a winner. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks set a record after taking nearly four years to get back to its prior all-time high. Gold also hit a record in an unusual confluence, while the most popular U.S. bond fund is on track for its best year in at least five.

Past shutdowns have had minimal effe

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