For people all over the world, the century's end -- and the new millennium's beginning -- is a time to reflect. Everywhere you look, there's another Top 100 List -- from the Top 100 Events of the 20th Century to the Top 100 Books even the Top 100 Fads. It's easy to understand why we're making lists -- how else could we keep track of the amazing achievements of the 20th Century? From the invention of the automobile, the airplane, the transistor radio and the television, to the coming of the computer age and the rise of the Internet revolution, this has been a century of stunning innovation and progress.
Steve Case in "A Community Update" (12/30/99)The stock market was the story in 1999. The Nasdaq composite roared, largely on the strength of technology stocks. Initial public offerings soared, especially those of money-losing Internet companies. Investors rewrote the rules of how to make money in stocks. No revenues? No earnings? No problem!
Putting a Period on a Dot-Com Year (RR) from The New York Times (1/2/2000)It is not unusual today for new Internet issues to begin trading at substantial multiples of their offering prices. And after the initial public offerings, day traders rapidly exchange Internet shares as if they were Pokémon cards for adults . . . Occasionally, groups of stocks associated with new technologies get caught in a speculative bubble, and it appears that the sky is the limit. But in each case, the laws of financial gravity prevail and market prices eventually correct. The same is likely to be true of the dazzling stocks in today's market . . . At the very least, investors might well start the year by examining their portfolios, to see if their asset allocations are appropriate for their stage in life and their tolerance for risk.
Burton G. Malkiel in Humbling Lessons From Parties Past (RR) in The New York Times (1/2/2000)History repeats itself, not in exactly the same way each time but in a similar enough manner to make one pay attention to the cautionary signs. Maybe this will turn out to be a New Era where companies' prospects are so bright as to justify even the most inflated expectations for revenues and earnings. On the other hand, maybe what we're seeing is momentum so strong that it has scared off all the sellers and offered up greater and greater fools that are always willing to pay a higher price.
Caroline Baum in This Time Is Different -- It's Always Different from Bloomberg (12/28/99)Wall Street dumps so much BS on the public, you need a shovel to clear yourself a path.
Doug Fabian in Wall Street B.S. - Get Out Your Shovel from Brill.com (12/99)
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