NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The market hummed along until about lunchtime Tuesday, suddenly spooked by the suspicion that war somehow had become more inevitable than it had been over breakfast.

Osama's to blame. His being alive, that is.

The irrationality of it all is enough to make anyone want to stop paying attention to the stock market for a good long while, which isn't such a bad idea, come to think of it, except for the pesky problem of our life savings being at stake.

Here's my take: The war puts everything on hold. On days when its imminence seem greater than others stocks go down, no matter the quality of the financial news to hit the tape. Other days they drift up, as investors supposedly "forget" we're about to go to war.

More on markets and stocks A battle plan for your portfolio Greenspan 1, Bush 0 Insider buying in techland

Now, it may seem old hat to suggest that the market is in a holding pattern for a while. But it's not a trivial point for individual investors. There are two topics the talking heads think they have an answer to but don't. One is whether stocks will begin to rally after the fighting starts, as they did in 1990. The other is whether this war will be a quick one.

Short answer: We really haven't got a clue.

So what to do? Well, there's every reason to believe that folks saving for their retirements that still are several years away won't be affected by a midday turnaround in stocks because a new Osama tape has been broadcast. The economy is growing, albeit slowly, and at some point, assuming things get cleared up without too unfavorable an outcome to the United States, stocks will follow.

Recently by Adam Lashinsky Ode to Reg AC So long, Frank Tech: From bad to worse

Far less certain is what "up" will mean and what happens in the short term. My guess to the first question is that "up" for the next few years means single-digit returns in good years. During the bull market money poured into mutual funds, which, by definition, only invested in "long" positions in stocks.

Now, money is flowing into hedge funds, which go long and short, meaning they bet stocks will fall as much as they'll rise. It means companies whose stocks grow will have earned that growth the hard way.

As for the near term: You won't find anyone who knows. Planning on buying a house in the next few months? It's probably best not to have the house money in the S&P 500 Index. And expect plenty more irrationality with each turn of the war screw. Needless to say, the irrationality won't likely be the exuberant kind.

Adam Lashinsky is a senior writer for Fortune magazine. Send e-mail to Adam at lashinskysbottomline@yahoo.com.

Sign up to receive The Bottom Line by e-mail.