In Case You Think Gridlock in D.C. Is a Good Thing...

As if investors didn't have enough to be concerned about, add this: gridlock in Washington.

No, we're not talking about the weekend blizzard that's keeping the Capital area closed for a couple of days. We're talking about political gridlock, in which divided government -- Democratic control of the White House and, in this case, lack of ironclad control of the Senate -- prevents progress on key legislation, including the federal budget, banking regulation overhaul, energy policy, health care reform and others issues important to the financial markets.