Even a rumor could send an already suspicious populace racing for the exits.
Each new rumor about a big Daimler acquisition has sent its share price down.
A rumor of a killer moving through the next coach has sent commuters jumping out the windows.
A false rumor about a lost order sent I2 Technologies reeling last June.
In New York the rumors sent gold down by $5, to $410.50 an ounce.
A rumor that masked men had pulled up in a car sent a shudder through the crowd, but there were no incidents.
At that time, even rumors of damage to a Middle East oil facility would send prices flying upward.
This rumor had sent shockwaves through the 1920s British establishment.
"Oh, please excuse me, Mistress, but rumors of war have sent prices soaring to the sky," the fat man said truculently.
The price went as low as $8.875 before rumors of a merger sent it to the mid-$20's, where it has stayed.