President Barack Obama heard details of a Senate Democratic plan that would rely on spending cuts, not new tax revenue, which would violate one of his key demands. Edgy markets responded to the stalemate, but not in dramatic fashion. Although some had predicted global markets would fall apart without a deal before the Asian markets opened, the reaction was relatively modest as investors pulled out of riskier investments like stocks and headed for safe haven assets like gold, pushing the metal to a new record. US stock futures fell, signalling a poor open for US markets and showing that investors were increasingly ... (full story)