With the price recovery now in its 972nd day, the dimensions of its longevity deserve consideration. Since the previous 2003/2007 bull market extended for 1,154 trading days, this simple comparison of just expansion days yields nearly another full year of rising prices.
That the S&P500 and the DJIA still remain below their 2007 highs supports this view. But their current recoveries of 95 percent and 96 percent of those earlier highs do not provide the stoutness as the simple number of days correlation. Further qualm results from NASDAQs strength; it has climbed past the 2007 high, and now stands at 111.5 percent of that mark.
Given NASDAQs explosive history of the dotcom boom and bust, that even today it regained only 63 percent of its previous 2000 high, this index is too volatile to provide a reliable baseline.
Yet todays DJIA stands more than 2000 points above its peak of March 2000. That 123 percent gain surely deserves a second look.
Caution, as always, is the by word of successful financial management, and this history presents some somber facts for consideration.
DJIA .39 percent
NASDAQ -.04 percent
S&P500 .34 percent
