Minding Your Business: Place Your Bets on Saddam Hussein
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, you come over here, so we can talk about another thing that people might not be able to believe. You could call it the "Saddam factor." It's how some people are actually betting that the Iraq issue will move the market. And for that and a preview of the day on Wall Street, Andy Serwer is here to mind your business. Good morning. Good to see you.</s>ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Daryn. Saddam futures, I can't even believe this. Anyway, let's talk about the markets first of all. It looks like we're slogging through the month of February. The Dow was down 55 yesterday. A little strength over on the tech side, there over in Nasdaq. Sears was down yesterday big time. Productivity numbers were down big time. I didn't realize this either, the market is now -- the Dow is at its lowest level -- excuse me -- since March. So, we're getting towards a 52-week low, which is bad news. A big number coming out this morning, though, Daryn, payrolls for the month of January. That's the unemployment report. That's the only number that matters, so stay tuned at 8:30 when that one comes out. We'll be covering that. Futures are mixed right now. But let's talk about this Saddam thing.</s>KAGAN: Some people bet on park bellies.</s>SERWER: Right.</s>KAGAN: Some people bet on Saddam.</s>SERWER: Right. Futures, of course, are betting on a financial instrument of which way commodities or stocks will go. There is a Web site in Dublin, Ireland, called tradesports.com, where you can bet on when you think Saddam will be out of Iraq. I mean, this is unbelievable. You can bet that he's going to leave by March 31, by May, by June. And the odds change daily, just like any other futures contract. Right now, the book said that there's a 37 percent chance he will be out in March. You can see it right there, 63 and 75 percent chance that he'll be out. So, you can see the odds go up the more time you get, which makes sense. To me, you know, if you've got $10,000 lying around and you want to play this game, you go. But it seems a little wiggy to me, right?</s>KAGAN: A little wiggy, a little warped.</s>SERWER: A little warped. You know, they bet on a lot of stuff over in England. You've always been able to do it. At this Web site, you can bet on George Bush getting reelected, you can bet on the Arizona Wildcats winning the NCAA, you can bet on anything you want there.</s>SERWER: Yes, now, there's some serious stuff. You've got some money you want to burn? Go for it.</s>KAGAN: Go for it. All right, you'll be going for it a little bit later.</s>SERWER: I will.</s>KAGAN: Come back. All right, Andy Serwer. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com