Why, when someone blows up a bus, bus-stop, niteclub, bar, restaurant, car, themselves, or whatever, in Israel, OUR stock-market drops?

One caveat:  I want an answer/opinion, not the whole "Pro-Israel/Anti-Israel/Pro-Palestine/Anti-Palestine" flame war.

FOTBR

I think that it has to do with the whole idea of trepidition with regard to the future.  People are afraid so they go to "hard" currency to wait out the storm.


IMHO.

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Thanks all

Storm -- makes more since that most ideas I've heard: "well, people are afraid companies won't be able to do business over there"  

Sweep -- I know what you mean there.  Re-did my home page so I don't have to see the bad news as well.

Torf -- LOL

The entire Middle East is on the brink, Israel/Palestine, India/Pakistan and the US/Iraq, Iran, and maybe even N Korea. Wars or potential wars make very investors nervous. The Middle East is where most of the Earth’s oil resides. Trouble can affect energy supplies and prices everywhere and thus business expenses go up and profits fall.

But if you noticed that our stock markets have been going in a horizontal pattern for the past 2 - 3 years now. Pessimism is the current norm. But that does not mean profits can't be made. In fact with every tiny boost in the market followed by an immediate sell off, many people are making a good amount of money, only pennies per stock.

Whenever there is uncertainty in the world, investors get nervous.  They look to put their money in safer investmesnts, thus pulling it out of the market, thus devaluing the market.  Notable exception to this is defense industry stocks.  They understanable tend to go the reverse direction.

I've stopped trying to make any sense out of the market. Jobless numbers are bad, stocks go up, jobless numbers good, stocks down. Alan Greenspan sneezes stocks go down, Alan Greenspan hiccups stocks go up. Tiger Woods wins golf tounament stocks go up. WTF, it's all voodoo now.

 Stepped-init

Take a look at DRI.

Institutional investors react to world events whether or not it has anything to do with earnings, P/E, etc. One would think that these people would be a little more rational than the average joe.

Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks this is a little rediculous.

FOTBR

General Motors is their parent company,If you didn't already know.

government conspiracy

NO, they were at one time owned by GENERAL MILLS.  In 1995, the restaurant division spun off to form their own corp.

As one who does not own any stock anywhere, my point of view may be a lttle suspect, but I've always seen the stock market as a gigantic craps game, where the dice are loaded, but the load factor keeps changing on every roll depending on which set of loaded dice the dealer hands you.  He knows which way they're loaded but you don't.

With all due respect for the number of internet friends I've made on this site, and my sympathy for any of you who have lost significant money in the market,  you got into a crooked game.  They let just enough of the little guys who come in make enough to encourage all the others to take their roll of the dice.  And then it's ZAP, we gotcha.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti private enterprise. Rather, I'm anti enterprises big enough to screw little people---and screw you they will if you try to play with the big boys.  Family owned and small corporate units; just fine with me. But as soon as they get big enough to make one of the major stock markets; they'll screw the small investor over every time.

Of course, what the hell do I know? I don't even own a share of stock [:D]