Call it American exceptionalism.  Call it the indomitable spirit of capitalistic innovation. Call it whatever you like.  America’s energy production is surging thanks to new technologies for extracting oil.  Hydraulic fracturing (fracking as it is often referred to) has allowed US companies to access shale-rock formations of oil and natural gas that were not fathomed as recent as a decade ago.

The Wall Street Journal posted a front-page headline today that said:  “U.S. Rises to No. 1 Energy Producer.”  Overtaking Russia as the largest producer of oil and natural gas in the world.

Our energy advantage is making American companies more competitive around the globe.  So much so that manufacturers are beginning to move facilities back onto U.S. soil.  This is the kind of macro trend that will eventually rise above the noise of government shutdowns and poor government policies and drive growth for company earnings…in spite of Washington.

I am not advocating that stocks will rise tomorrow but they will over the long-term.  Recently the head of a major European company told The Wall Street Journal he hadn’t seen this kind of economic and competitive advantage available to any company during his entire career.  This energy advantage is going to make U.S. companies very hard to compete with he concluded.

You should always buy stocks for the long-term.  If you have a shorter time horizon this may not be the time for you to invest.  But with the market fretting over government shutdown and default now may be a good time to pick away at some of your best ideas.