Stocks likely to jump on bin Laden's death

Stock index futures rose sharply late Sunday on the first reports that
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had been killed and his body was in the
hands of U.S. armed forces. In addition, crude oil and gold prices fell, and
silver initially plunged more than 12%, and the U.S. dollar jumped in
electronic trading.

President Obama announced at 11:35 p.m. ET that Bin Laden had been killed in
a firefight at a large compound in Abbottabad, a city about 40 miles north
of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. There were impromptu celebrations of
the news in Washington, D.C., New York City and elsewhere.

Futures for June delivery of the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) were
up 91 points to 12,847 at 12:35 a.m. ET Monday. Futures in Standard & Poor's
500 Index ($INX) were up 10 points to 1,370. And futures trading in the
Nasdaq-100 Index ($NDX.X) jumped 20 points to 2,421. Futures trading offers
an early signal of where stock trading will move.

Meanwhile, crude oil for June delivery was down $1 to $112.93 early Monday
after falling to as low as $112.21. Gold was off $5.60 to $1,550.60 an ounce
after dropping to as low as $1,540.30. Silver for July delivery was down
$4.46, or 9.2%, to $44.14 an ounce. Its low was $42.19.

The markets' initial euphoria may have been tempered by worries that the
success of the U.S. mission may invite al-Qaeda retaliation.

Stocks in Japan were higher, with the Nikkei 225 Index ($JP:N225) up 145
points to 9,995. Stocks were mixed in other Asian and Pacific markets.

There have been reports for some time that U.S. forces had been closing in
on the elusive terrorist leader with multiple drone attacks on suspected
al-Qaeda sites in Pakistan and in Afghanistan. A tip on bin Laden's
whereabouts was first reported to the U.S. military last August, and
planning for the operation began in February, President Obama said.

Abbottabad has been a tourism hub for years but has lately attracted new
development coming out from the capital of Islamabad. The Pakistan Military
Training Grounds is located there. The attack on bin Laden's compound lasted
about 40 minutes and also resulted in the death of one of bin Laden's grown
sons, news reports said.

Bin Laden helped finance and organize the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks
that left 3,000 people dead and dramatically altered U.S. foreign policy and
the nation's sense of security. The al-Qaeda leader's ability to elude
capture deeply frustrated the George W. Bush administration.

The terror attacks involved hijacking four U.S. passenger jets. Two were
flown into the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. A third was flown into
the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field in western Pennsylvania
after passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the
hijackers.

U.S. financial markets didn't open on Sept. 11, 2001, and did not reopen
until the following Monday. The Dow fell 685 points, or 7.3%, to 8,921 and
helped turn a nasty market pullback into a full-fledged rout. The stock
market didn't bottom until Oct. 9, 2002.

The economy also went into a swoon in the aftermath of the terror attacks.
The Federal Reserve cut rates sharply over the next two years to help the
economy.

But critics of those moves said the Fed left rates too low for too long and
helped set off the real-estate bubble of the last decade. That bubble burst
in 2007 and 2008, causing a near meltdown of the U.S. financial and banking
systems and the Great Recession from which the United States is only now
starting to recover.