What's worse is that our predictable response to an unpredictable short-term event is usually to panic. We hardly ever let the dust settle before reacting. Take again the example of the analyst predicting the end of potash. Now, three months later on PotashCorp's earnings conference call, that same analyst could be found asking questions about how much volume PotashCorp and Canpotex -- a partner with Agrium and Mosaic -- sold into India last quarter. Clearly, the world of potash hasn't ended as he thought it would, though it has been temporarily disrupted.