The last few weeks have kept market analysts on the edge of their seats as both the NASDAQ and Dow Jones stock markets have fluctuated wildly, costing investors trillions of dollars one week and making them billions the next.

ISU experts say the recent volatility of the stock markets has various explanations.

Cynthia Campbell, associate professor of finance, said the federal antitrust case against Microsoft has caused many experts to be cautious about technology stocks.

“People are waiting to see if the government will bust up more firms. This reduces incentives and profitability,” Campbell said.

Investors in the stock market are becoming anxious about the Microsoft situation, and this may be a central factor in the condition of the tech-driven NASDAQ, said Arnold Cowan, associate professor of finance.

“There are basically a number of sources of uncertainty to make investors nervous,” Cowan said. “Right now, there is a higher interest rate, which makes stocks less valuable. Stockholders are gaining interest, and for others, this makes the stocks less attractive.”

He also said the shaky growth of technology stocks and reports of large losses by many of the leading dot.com companies worries investors.

“People are nervous and are waiting to see how technical stocks will grow, in regards to smaller corporations. It is uncertain as to how many will survive and how profitable they will be,” he said.

Cowan said the bull market of the past few years has drawn in many inexperienced investors, especially to the NASDAQ market.

“The small investors who trade frequently may have a lot of impact. They don’t know what they’re doing, and they make NASDAQ investors nervous,” he said.

Roger Stover, professor of finance, said many analysts have been saying for years that the NASDAQ is primed for a correction.

“There has been a lot of commentary on this situation, and one explanation is that it is a correction,” he said. “If it is, it’s the most anticipated in history.”

Stover said even if there is a correction, though, the NASDAQ would still be all right and most investors would not be ruined.

“The NASDAQ is where it was last fall,” he said. “We’re used to it rising, but it is still very strong.”