Continuing on the default scenario, business have an odd relationship with government. Big banks, investment firms, and the corporate world have relied on the government for business, innovation,(Nasa, government research at universities,etc), and of coarse bail outs. The mere fact of a potential governmental cutoff in payments to the world is going to create a trading market death dive possibility.
However you may be saved. A story yesterday in MarketWatch had a headline that Apple was better than Gold. Now that says it all. Performance in itself by two overpriced entities reflects the push of investment dollars into those lemming flow manias which have the least resistance to selling because of a psychology about their value. It is always about the money. Apple and gold share a racing card where choices are narrowed into the ever so human habit of trading on a popular concept. The concept for gold is that it is an alternative currency. The concept for Apple is that it will forever be without peer in producing gadgetry. Gold is a medal popular in making jewelry and no one will ever use it as a currency. Every Apple product has an already functioning substitute. Sell them both.
Given the appallingly low confidence the world has in its economic future it is no doubt that investors should believe that by limiting their choices to just a few stocks or commodities, they are avoiding making bad investments. All in is always all bad.
As for stocks in general, default is like catching a cold when your immune system is already compromised with another disease. The species will survive but you may not.
