Why the stock market drop is less scary than it seems

New York

IF measured by news headlines, you might assume these are dire times in the financial markets.

There is a "market meltdown" in the United States and "ugly, ugly scenes" in the European exchanges. Evidence of higher wages was "whacking" global markets last week, while higher bond yields threatened to "topple" a multiyear rally. Last Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell by 666 points, as if scripted by a devilish hack, which was followed by an even steeper decline on Monday, amid erratic trading.