Stock Schizophrenia: What's Happening to My Money?

The most frightening irrational force in the universe this August hasnâ??t been Midwestern thunderstorms. It hasnâ??t even been Michele Bachmann reassuring her followers that default would be good for the economy. Itâ??s the stock market. Defying all predictions and logic, the Dow crashed, rather than rejoiced, when Congress finally ended its debt ceiling standoff. On Monday it acted shocked â?? shocked! â?? to the tune of a 635-point loss when Standard and Poorâ??s downgraded U.S. Treasury debt from AAA to AA+, even though the agency had promised it would do just that.