Egypt putting a scare into markets

Whenever economists make forecasts, they always punctuate their comments with words along the lines of "barring unforeseen events." Well, Wall Street has one of those to deal with this morning - the unrest in Egypt is no doubt a factor in the market's big tumble, with the Dow down about 130 points at last check (it had been down more than that). Regime change would be unsettling enough, but the bigger concern is that the turbulence might spread to other Middle East nations - oil-producing nations. Good news is that the currency markets seem to be holding up, and that the crisis might eventually lay the groundwork for economic reforms. Bad news is that the crisis may also lay the groundwork for greater instability. Potentially scary news is that Mubarak could look like a prince compared to the next guy. Business Insider was monitoring a Deutsche Bank conference call that lays out some of the basics. As is always the case in these things, there's still a lot to sort out. WSJ's Dave Kansas says "The level of fear isn't currently at extreme levels. But it certainly bears watching."