Stock Market Prognosticators WRONG!

CBS MarketWatch was crowing yesterday about a, "Saddam Capture Rally All But Assured," and indeed in pre-opening trading, futures prices were indeed trending higher, following gains in Asian and European markets. But as the day wore on, all three of the major US indices lost ground, and all three ultimately ended in the red. The NASDAQ Composite losing the most ground, roughly 30.75 points, or 1.6%.

After digesting all of the good cheer associated with Hussein's arrest, the markets ended the day with a hangover. The markets are generally a good indicator as to the gravity of a situation, and the weekend's capture of Hussein appears to have been a wash.

The loss was pretty much across all industry sectors with semi-conductors, and retailers amongst the days biggest losers. Wal*Mart gave a sales projection update, with sales tracking at the lower end of their earlier guidance.