Stocks are generally weaker, with most folks blaming the debt dicker.

Beneath the surface, however, economically sensitive stocks are performing far worse than more defensive, growth names. Makes a certain amount of sense, since a lot of folks think the circus in Washington isn’t exactly boosting consumer or corporate confidence.

The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index is off 1.3%, which is about three times as big a loss as the Morgan Stanley Growth Index is seeing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, stung by 3M’s decline, is off 0.7%.

Among cyclicals, United Technologies, Boeing, Deere, Honeywell and DuPont are underperfoming. GM and Ford are getting stung, too. Nothing like the debtpocalypse chatter to make one wonder if now is the right time to buy a new vehicle.

Investors are finding safety in gold and some gold mining shares such Barrick Gold. Tech and telecom sectors are also doing decently, the former boosted by Apple, Broadcom, Tellabs and Baidu. Sprint, AT&T and Verizon are also higher. Suppose folks still gotta make phone calls.

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