Talk of tapering the Fed's $85 billion monthly purchase of bonds and saber rattling over the claimed use of chemical weapons on civilians by Syria's government put a damper on stocks in August and risks worsening our struggling economy.

There is a danger in rising (and falling) markets that is so subtle we can easily overlook or ignore it. In fact, it is so integrally woven into our human fabric that separating the logical strands from the emotional ones is nearly impossible.