It was fun at first, admit it--watching those bratty dotcom billionaires, oops, millionaires--ha!--thousandaires squirm as their cyberpriced stocks came screaming back to earth and their dotcoms disappeared overnight. But then something else dawned. It wasn't just kids from Stanford taking it on the chin. It was us. Suddenly, warning lights are flashing. In recent weeks, everyone from mighty Intel--whose microchips power 80% of the world's computers--to lumber and housewares seller Home Depot has signaled a sharp drop in profits, leading nervous investors to pummel their stocks.
To that growing disquiet add the recurrence of warfare and terrorism in the Middle...