From mid-March to mid-May of 2000 the NADSAQ suffered a 40 percent drop from it's all-time high of 5132. This tumble was caused by a combination of forces: the failure of Microsoft and the Justice department to resolve their anti-trust dispute, an unexpected jump in the CPI, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's increase in interest rates. The drop eliminated millions of dollars of wealth and left thousands of investors wiped out. The lesson was clear: any trader or investor who ignores the power macroeconomic forces have over the world's financial markets will lose more than they should.