(CNN/13WHAM-TV) - According to CNN Money, some investors are skeptical that lawmakers will resolve a self-inflicted crisis that could tip the economy into recession, while others are betting on a short-term compromise that prevents the worst and delays more difficult decisions to later in the year.
A letter from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to Congress sent after the bell on Wednesday may also weigh on markets.
In the letter, Geithner wrote that government borrowing will hit the debt ceiling on Monday. As a result, the Treasury Department will soon start using what it calls "extraordinary measures" to prevent government borrowing from exceeding the legal limit.
Such measures include suspending the reinvestment of federal workers' retirement contributions in short-term government bonds.