Biden

Howdy readers. I'm Phil Rosen, writing to you from New York City.

The Oval Office is no stranger to high drama, but Tuesday's meeting held particular gravity — President Joe Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders to hash out debt-ceiling particulars.

As expected, the rendezvous produced nothing definitive as far as conclusions.

In any case, one outcome that many hold with a high degree of certainty is that financial markets are going to feel pain if the "x-date" bell tolls.