In The Stars

Last year will be remembered as the year the stock market went into orbit. Barreling past signposts like a spaceship on a mission to a far-off galaxy, stock investors were treated to a moon shot that made the Mars landing look like a trip to the market. Fortunes were made, and investors all but stopped celebrating the passage of yet another round number as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) whizzed past 8,000 into the rarefied air above. But October turned some star-struck investors into star-crossed equity lovers. It seems the principles that govern the universe cause stocks to fall back to earth sometimes. Will that be the case in 1998?

Everyone has opinions, and they seem to be all over the map. Financial publications feature articles with titles ranging from "Sell Stocks Now" to "Ten Stocks for the Year 2000 and Beyond" to the more moderate "Keeping Your Cool When Stocks Are Hot." The real question becomes whether you should buy or sell. And Sir Isaac Newton has been proved right once again--what goes up eventually comes back down. Will it bounce up again?