Day three of the government shutdown sailed by with no end in sight.
But on Thursday, for the first time since things ground to a halt, the stock market began to show signs of stress, at one point sinking to the lowest level in a month.
Some people are worried about the effect an extended shutdown could have on their 401K.
"I have 40 years of 401k stocks and I don't want to lose all that," investor Anthony Anderson said.
But Dmitri Eliopoulos, Senior Wealth Manager for RMB Capital Management, said there's no need to panic. He said the right move is to stay the course, and when the market drops like it did Thursday, it might even be a good idea to buy in.
"To use a baseball analogy we're in the fifth or sixth inning, so any dips in the market are short term," Eliopoulos said.
While the last shutdown saw 401ks shrink, even factoring in Thursday's close, stocks are still close to record levels and history tells us they're likely to get back on track.
Eliopoulos says the bigger issue is the debt ceiling. The U.S. Treasury warned Thursday that the economy could spiral if Congress fails to raise the borrowing limit, which would put the country in debt default.
"For us to default on that, to not make good on our promises, would be catastrophic," Eliopoulos said. "It would hurt our economy, it could trigger a recession, and the financial markets, including the stock markets, would have a negative effect."
While everyone waits for the stalemate to end, experts agree there's no way to forecast a finicky market. But the longer this shutown and budget battle linger, the bigger the impact it will have on the economy.
