Stock Market Fall Down, Go Boom

Ow! 345 points or so!

Mired in my trademark financial illiteracy, I tried to figure out why the mutual funds in my 401K seemed to defy gravity and rise, when everything else was falling. Turns out, the holdings were divided into two sectors: commodities and software. Even as Microsoft, Google, and others tumbled, the rapid rise of oil prices saved the day. It was like having half my body locked in ice and the other half in a sauna - on the average, I was doing fine.

But starting in July, oil prices started falling, so I too fell to Earth, waxen wings fluttering uselessly against the hard pavement.