Stocks Drop on Carl Icahn Comments?

So, is Carl Icahn the modern-day version of legendary investor J.P. Morgan, upon whose words - as legend has it - hung the fate of stocks and the economy?

Doubtful. Icahn may have a high opinion of himself, but he's probably not as influential as the TV-commercial version of E.F. Hutton, the company which used the tag line, "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen."

Whatever the case, after Icahn made remarks at an investment conference today, saying he was "very cautious," stocks took an immediate nosedive, sending the Dow into negative territory after gaining as many as 68 points earlier in the session.

More likely, Icahn was the scapegoat du jour, giving cover to a well-planned exit by heavy holders in kay equities.

Markets don't need excuses to move one way or the other, or even to do nothing, but, in the age of instant communications, instant causation is expected, though it is almost never on the mark.

Icahn is no financial genius. Anyone with two eyes can see that stocks are priced nearly to perfection and ripe for a correction, though guessing ahead on that assumption, as has been well-learned over the past five years, can be a costly maneuver.

Stocks, as J.P. Morgan once said when pressed for direction, "will fluctuate."

And that's exactly what they did today.

Dow 15,976.02, +14.32 (0.09%)
Nasdaq 3,949.07, -36.90 (0.93%)
S&P 500 1,791.53, -6.65 (0.37%)
10-Yr Bond 2.68%, -0.03
NYSE Volume 3,152,413,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,793,143,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2127-3522
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 496-45
WTI crude oil: 93.03, -0.81
Gold: 1,272.30, -15.10
Silver: 20.36, -0.41
Corn: 421.00, -9.50 (new low)