Well, It Was Bound to Happen

After the stock market rallied for a gain of nearly 500 points yesterday, it was inevitable, I suppose, that some retrenching would be going on today.

"Stocks slumped in the morning as investors eyed the AIG hearing in Washington," writes CNN's Alexandra Twin, "cut losses in the afternoon and then slipped again near the close."

To keep things in perspective, though, the Dow Jones lost 1.5%, S&P lost 2% and Nasdaq lost 2.5%. They could lose roughly the same amount each day for the rest of the week and still not entirely wipe out the gains that were recorded yesterday.

If that happens, the stock market will be on the plus side — although perhaps barely — for the third consecutive week.

How long has it been since that happened?