Sunni extremists are inching closer to Baghdad. A housing bubble in China is deflating. Russia is massing troops near the Ukrainian border again. Military forces in Egypt and Thailand have staged coups.

In a world suddenly more dangerous, you'd think fund managers and traders would be selling and buying and selling again in a frenzy of second-guessing. Instead, they're the picture of calm and contentment.

People are trading 38 percent less each day than they did four years ago. Prices of bonds and stocks are barely moving day by day. For 46 days in a row the Standard and Poor's 500 index has risen or fallen by less than 1 percent, a state of serenity unmatched since 1995.