flight to safety

It looks like Apple stock is one of the places skittish investors are moving money ahead of a potential U.S. debt default -- at least based on its share price. Apple's shares have risen 2% in the last week as the S&P has lost nearly 3% of its value.

When crisis erupts, such as the current fighting in Egypt, investors usually flee to safety. Historically, that has meant piling into the U.S. dollar. But a funny thing happened when protesters took to the streets of Cairo. For the reason why, look to Europe.

As the Dow struggles to hold 10,000, the remarkable thing is how resilient U.S. equity markets remain. The jobs data may be grabbing the headlines, but the real news is the euro has caught swine flu. That's why the dollar is up -- and stocks are straining.

It is one of the seeming incongruities of our time: U.S. stock markets oscillate at 10-year lows; the federal budget deficit will exceed $1 trillion for at least the next two years; and Congress will likely have to raise the national debt ceiling about $13 trillion -- all negative developments for...