Anything for a Buck

The mind stopping stupidity of the media goes on. A few posts below I gave a quick synopsis of today's US stock market action. Now I am sure that Vivian Chu had this all ready to go at press time, and couldn't simply opt out. So, this is what we get:

Analysts See Bigger Stock Rally -If Bin Laden Found

Mon December 15, 2003 05:01 PM ET

(Page 1 of 2)

By Vivian Chu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gave an initial boost to stock markets worldwide on Monday, leading some analysts to believe that a bigger rally would occur if the United States reels in Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Market players said capturing the elusive al Qaeda leader would give stock markets a significant boost, at least in the short term, since bin Laden is seen as having a more direct link to global terrorism than Saddam Hussein.

"Osama bin Laden has a more direct impact on the global war on terror, so the impact (from his capture) would be larger than what we're seeing after Saddam's capture," said Peter Gottlieb, president of Gottlieb Investment Management Corp. in Chicago.

News that U.S. troops had captured the former Iraqi dictator over the weekend sparked early rallies in stock markets from Tokyo to London and New York on Monday, only to peter out by the close of trade in some locales.

"I'm somewhat surprised the gains aren't bigger, but the feeling is that major military operations were already completed and Saddam's capture was inevitable," Gottlieb said. "It also won't affect the outcome of the U.S. presence in Iraq."

On Wall Street, the three major U.S. stock indexes finished lower, erasing earlier gains, as investors digested news of Saddam's capture.

But Japan's benchmark Nikkei average surged more than 3 percent, while Britain's FTSE 100 ended nearly unchanged after rallying earlier in the session.

MAN IN CHARGE

Unlike Saddam -- who did not appear to be in charge of leading Iraqi resistance when he was caught hiding in a hole at an isolated farm -- bin Laden appears to be more firmly in control and capable of mobilizing members of al Qaeda, the militant group behind the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, market analysts said......Lots more

So, here we have two non-stories. First, the early rally not only faded, but the US indices, save for metals, ended the day in the red, and secondly, the "Osama Factor"™ is UNKNOWN.

Shorter version. Markets' reaction to Hussein capture negligible. Osama Factor™, unknown and unknowable. If and when we find OBL, any number of things could be far more important. They get paid to write this stuff. Meh.