Day Eight. We’ve officially passed the one-week mark in the government shutdown. But investors continue to shrug off the funding lapse, perhaps because there have been few real-world disruptions so far.

That may change if President Donald Trump follows through with his threat to deny back pay to furloughed federal workers or if flight delays continue to rise. Remember, the record-breaking 35 day shutdown that ended in 2019 was resolved after just a handful of air-traffic controllers refused to show up for work.

For now, it’s a worry for another day. Today, the Nasdaq Composite closed up 1.1% and the S&P 500 was up 0.6%, putting both at record levels. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat.

The release of the latest minutes from the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee didn’t do much to move the needle for stocks—in part because there no real surprises.

As my colleague Nicole Goodkind put it in her report today, there were some hints that the market may get its two additional rate cuts this year, but it’s still far from a sure bet:

In the latest summary of economic projections released at the conclusion of the meeting, 10 Fed officials signaled they saw two more rate cuts this year, while nine believed there should be one or fewer.

“The overall message appears to be that, although most participants are on board with further cuts, it probably won’t take much for the FOMC to take a slower approach than it indicated last month,” writes Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

The Hot Stock: Advanced Micro Devices +11.4%
The Biggest Loser: Fair Isaac -9.8%

Best Sector: Technology +1.8%
Worst Sector: Energy -0.6%

The next chair of the Federal Reserve has been a hot topic in Washington, D.C. since President Trump returned to office in January.

Now, the time for a decision is approaching, and the pick will have wide-ranging implications for the central bank.

My colleague Matt Peterson sat down for an interview with one of the top three contenders for the role, Kevin Warsh.

Warsh told Matt that the next Fed chair needs to overhaul the way the central bank thinks about its relationship with the markets, the economy, and the rest of the government:

In talking to Matt, Warsh ticked off a list of perceived flaws at Jerome Powell’s Fed: “Wrong track record, wrong operating framework, lack of curiosity, and lack of credibility.”

As a result, Warsh is calling for a “regime change” at the Fed. “We need to fundamentally rethink macro, which is a fundamental rethink of the core economic models that the Fed is using—rethink what is the core theory of inflation that the Fed is using, which I think is mistaken.”

He is also advocating that the Fed pull back on activities like banking supervision, saying other agencies can handle those tasks. Reforms to the Fed’s balance sheet operations would also be on the agenda if Warsh is ultimately nominated.

As investors anxiously await news of the next Fed chair, Matt’s story is vital reading.

Delta Air Lines, Levi Strauss, and PepsiCo report earnings tomorrow.

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