Indexes Slide Lower On Thin Trading

Light trading made for an energetic day of trading Monday. All of the indexes we covered were above water for the bulk of the day only to dive like investors actually knew something was afoot. The truth is, other than Iran's confiscation of three U.K. ships, nothing happened that could have surprised informed traders. Interest rates are likely to go up to curb inflation caused in part by high gas prices. None of that's new, though.

The Nasdaq fell the furthest. It fell .6%, or 12.35 points, to rest at 1,974.38. Our InformationWeek 100 performed best, only falling .3%, or .96 point, to 309.33. The Dow and the S&P 500 dropped .4%. The Dow fell 44.94 points, to 10,371.47; and the S&P 500 fell 4.72 points, to 1,130.3.

Talk about light trading: Volume of the Nasdaq-100 tracking stock was 65 million shares, half of its peak volume. Its shares fell .8% or 29 cents, to $36.15.

Spring earnings are due out in the coming weeks and that should give investors reason to buy or sell.