Recent economic indicators resemble that old chestnut about the weather—if you don't like it today, just wait until tomorrow. This volatility, coupled with the lack of discernible trends, has kept stocks on edge for months. Will the stomach-churning swings in the economic data end soon? Probably not. The invasion of Iraq has opened Pandora's box, unleashing a plethora of troubles. The ponderable ones are risks that can be quantified, managed and insured or hedged against, at a cost The imponderables generate uncertainty. Beyond the quantifiable pale, uncertainty forces even the shrewdest exec- utives to take a leap in the dark. Operating under the increasing weight of risk and uncertainly, the economy, not surprisingly, has hit a soft patch.
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