Article: Wizards, or windbags? Rumors of war send stock-market prognosticators into battle mode. Some cut the fog, some create more. How they come up with the intelligence you're meant to tap.(FEATURES)(WORK & MONEY)

Byline: Eric Troseth Special to The Christian Science Monitor

The sound of war drums has launched a flotilla of questions for most Americans.

Not least among them: How will the stock market - on which many workers place their hopes for a comfortable retirement - react?

There's never a shortage of credible-sounding forecasts from Wall Street's investment strategists. And the uncertainty of a looming war never fails to ratchet up forecaster chatter.

Because war is laden with variables, the talk is often contradictory.

Experts cite a long history of inconsistent market reactions to conflict. "Sometimes the market went down after ...

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