Debt Ceiling Standoff: Solutions and Divisions

Failure to resolve the impasse over the US debt ceiling in time could trigger a "constitutional crisis" and call the federal government's creditworthiness into question, warns US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The last full week lawmakers in Washington have to hash out an agreement is this week. Most analysts believe there will be a resolution to the crisis in time, but markets show investors are not taking any chances. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey is likely to attract a lot more attention than usual, as it will show the extent to which lenders say credit has tightened in the first quarter of the year.