Ken Starr Spooks the Market

Wall Street abhors political upheaval. Watergate took a brutal toll on the market, and Sexgate appears to be having a similar effect. One word traders particularly don't like to hear is impeachment. "I don't think it helps that Washington is discussing impeaching the President," says TIME business correspondent Daniel Kadlec. "That creates a lot of uncertainty, and the market prefers to see stability."

So Ken Starr's August "endgame" promises to play as something of a horror movie on Wall Street, while the fall looks likely to bring a new Iraq crisis, followed by November's midterm elections. The U.S. may also be pressed into bombing the Serbs in Kosovo along the way. "I don't think political developments are the first thing on the minds of traders," says Kadlec. "But then again, for the past few years everything has been going well in politics."