THE PARTIAL shutdown of the federal government continued on Wednesday with no end in sight.

One day before a new Congress is set to convene, talks to end the partial shutdown of the federal government aren’t showing many signs of progress.

Congressional leaders from both parties met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday and all parties emerged from the talks with no good news.

The President is demanding $5 billion to build a wall along the Mexico-U.S. border, which is a non-starter for Democrats. who will control the House of Representatives as of Thursday. 

What’s been offered is $1.6 billion for border security, which is a non-starter for the President. “We need a physical barrier,” he said.

One possibility raised by the White House was a deal by which the House would fund $5.6 billion for border security – including money for the wall – in exchange for some legal status for younger children of illegal immigrant parents and some protections for refugees with a temporary legal status in the U.S.

At present, about 800,000 federal workers or either furloughed of working without pay.

Up and down and up … barely

Wall Street went on another wild ride on Wednesday, as the Dow Jones average dipped 299 points before reversing course and closing up 19 points to 23,346.

The S&L 500 stock index was up 0.1 percent.

The volatility in the market was blamed on weak economic data from China, which is now America’s biggest trading partner, a situation complicated by the tariff battles between the two nations.