BackDoorMan: I'm not all that knowledgeable, but I'd call 1996 as about the time dot coms and tech were starting to blow up to crazy proportions. The Dow was 5-6K. Then all the Y2K stuff, every Corp in the country putting in new systems. Even if you put the start of the climb at 1998 (8-9K), a drop below that years level isn't surprising, because people aren't just pulling newer $$ from the market, people that have been investing for decades are cashing out so they don't torch 20-30 years of profit. Only thing worse than being the last guy in and making a tiny profit, is being the last guy out and selling you gout medicine to keep the heat on.
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"Guage once told me that there is nothing worse than eaten ass of a black dude thats been huffen drain cleaner the night befor." - delanoojos