There was a brief scare at the White House today, when an airplane penetrated a watched area near Washington. The White House was partially evacuated, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Everyone went back to their business. This lasted about 20 minutes.

In response to this, Treasury prices spiked. Twenty minutes. In our modern day, it is possible to make financial transactions with lightning speed, and this does not make for much stability, since it seems there are tens of thousands of people whose sole job it is to panic buy or sell depending on what a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil is doing. This is, of course, one reason the stock market is all over the map. My stock philosophy is: buy it, and sit on it. Of course, being charged thirty dollars for every trade helps me in my self-discipline. Apparently, this doesn't stop a lot of people from trading their securities in and out pretty much every waking hour.