Chicago Tribune Bill Barnhart column.

By Bill Barnhart, Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 27--CURRENCIES ARE WORTH INVESTOR CONSIDERATION: The worst day in the stock market in nearly seven months had very little to do with stocks.

Tuesday's 174-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average, according to most accounts, was sparked by an overblown report out of South Korea hinting that Korea's appetite for U.S. dollars had declined.

A hairline crack in the dike of the almighty dollar caused Wall Street to shoot first and ask questions later. It was a wake-up call to ordinary investors, like a dead canary in the mine.

Most investors only recently have …