News, analysis and personal reflections on the markets & the financial sector

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Market Memoir: The Great Bull Market

This Monday is going to the 25th anniversary of one of the greatest moments in Wall Street history - the release of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. This movie created a cultural reference point for an entire generation of Wall Street traders. In earlier generations, things like the Bible and Shakespeare performed a similar role.

This Sunday will also be important. It’s the 25th anniversary of the beginning of the Bull Market. On Thursday, August 12, 1982, the Dow bottomed out at 776.92.

To add some perspective, the market’s P/E ratio was less than half of today’s P/E ratio. The dividend yield was about four times that of today’s yield.

The following Tuesday, August 17, the market skyrocketed a phenomenal 38 points. Percentage-wise, that was the second-best day since the Depression.

Since then, Gold has roughly doubled while the S&P 500 has return over 2,200% (dividends and capital gains).

Here’s to the next 25 years! 

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