Dow 36,000!

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By Barry Ritholtz - September 29th, 2006, 2:49PM

James K. Glassman, the author of the book Dow 36,000 was on CNBC just now, credibly discussing his 36,000 forecast.

This one is so obvious, I will not even comment, and instead ask you: What do you suspect this  might possibly mean?

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Dow_36000_1

35 Responses to “Dow 36,000!”

  1. Scott Frew Says:

    What was Rudolph-Younes Riad’s brilliantly formulated description of investing in Barron’s a couple of weeks ago? A combination of dogmatism and pragmatism. I didn’t see the CNBC interview, but when the market crashed, these guys pragmatically lowered their profiles. Now that we’re closing in on the old highs, at least in nominal terms, they’re pragmatically reasserting the old dogma! I think they’re on to something this time. Dow 36000. With all that buying power sitting on the sidelines, with all those hedgies needing to make their years, and justify their existences, we get there by year end. First quarter 2007, latest.

  2. Dan Weber Says:

    STOCK MARKET TOP! STOCK MARKET TOP!

  3. Bob_in_ma Says:

    I’ll guess it means the producers at CNBC are in extreme short positions and getting a little nervous, and so they want to speed up the process…

  4. S Says:

    It must mean the 2nd edition will be in a bookstore near you soon.

  5. Mark Says:

    OMG, did you read the paean from Knight Kiplinger that this work is in the same league with Buffet’s homilies and Graham’s books! Did he use the word “altar”?

  6. lurker Says:

    Never fear–Prechter has a new book out too, calling yet another top. Hurray, one year he may be right! But what a genius he has shown for top picking since 1987…
    I am actually bearish, but if Bob P. agrees with me I better reexamine my position, and positions. LOL.
    Thanks Barry.

  7. Barry Ritholtz Says:

    Battapaglia getting cautious in July helped me do some long side trades . . .

  8. S Says:

    BTW, I just don’t know how putting a short on for a trade here at the end of the day can be wrong.

    The market is overbought. ISM on Monday will be a lose/lose. If it’s too hot, inflation fears are raised and bonds sell off pulling equities down with them. If ISM is weak, they view it as supportive of the Philly Fed and people worry about slower growth. If it hits the mark, then they just take profits from this pimp rally the past few weeks.

    But then, someone once said that if something looks obvious in the market it probably isn’t. Even so, my bets are made.

  9. KB Says:

    Barry,

    The greatest thing was watching you tell Joey B. that he was your contrarian indicator.

  10. Trent Says:

    You laugh, but this guy is one smart cookie. By picking a very high hurdle he has given his book decades of shelf life. And then, when he is brought out as a centenarian to give interviews when the mark is finally made he will say, “I predicted this years before anyone else did.”

    My forecast: Dow 1,242,355,392.

  11. TRJ Says:

    CNBC is such a joke anymore.

    Josh

  12. Craig Says:

    And they say they don’t ring a bell at the top!

    There’s your sign……

  13. Michael A Says:

    Anybody see the Kiplinger’s story today? They’re saying 12,070 on the Dow by year end and 13,000 by year end 2007. Kiplinger’s reason for this prediction is that the U.S. is in for a soft landing because rates WILL remain low and housing is just cooling off. Must be nice to see the future through rose colored glasses.

  14. Dimitre Chtilianov Says:

    No comment needed indeed. For the uninitiated, click on the link to go to amazon and read few reviews… ;-)

  15. GerryL Says:

    How do I get an autographed copy?

  16. Dr. Dreyfuss Says:

    I remember attending an investing conf in Chicago back when that Glassman book was popular and he was considered a guru.
    Some of us in the audience questioned his assumptions, and were booed by the the other 99% who were drinking this charlatans kool-aid.

  17. Robert Coté Says:

    On the shelf right next to my Jun 2005 Time cover about the wonders of home appreciation.

  18. Greg Feirman Says:

    Has Ben Stein written a “How Not To Ruin Your Life” column about Glassman yet? Poor guy.

  19. Alex Khenkin Says:

    Notice that “Customers who bought this item also bought”:
    http://www.amazon.com/Roaring-2000s-Building-Lifestyle-Greatest/dp/0684853108/ref=pd_sim_b_2/002-1894574-8008800?ie=UTF8
    http://www.amazon.com/2008-Why-Different-This-Time/dp/1893958701/ref=pd_sim_b_1/002-1894574-8008800?ie=UTF8
    Funny how that works…
    -Alex
    Small Investor Chronicles

  20. bob Says:

    But I feel jalous – why in heck those guys are invited to CNBC? This is very unfair to hundreds of other smart people who write good books or maintain interesting websites.

    How come TV just doesn’t dump those Glassmans into oblivion, never mention them and never answer their calls?

  21. Alex Khenkin Says:

    Opps, sorry about that – I didn’t expect the links to look so ugly across the page…

  22. tjofpa Says:

    Maria, get the party hats and ballons ready…

    and line up that guy who wrote DOW 36,000 for an interview.

    Posted by: tjofpa | Sep 20, 2006 3:35:42 PM

    They’re definetly reading your’re blog Barry…
    and maybe … gulp… spying on u?

    YOu gotem worried!

  23. mh497 Says:

    You know what really has me worried?

    No “The Super Duperity Depression of 2007″ by Ravi Batra.

    Now I know we’re *&^%$#!!

  24. V L Says:

    Dow 3600…. Amazing how history is repeating itself all over again.
    I have to admit it. It was so tempting and I could not resist. I took some short positions today after watching James K. Glassman on CNBC.

    “Barry, The greatest thing was watching you tell Joey B. that he was your contrarian indicator.”
    This was one of the best memorable moments of Kudlow Show. Joe’s facial expression was definitely a bonus. His face was like the poor thing was about to cry.

  25. tjofpa Says:

    and on the free Briefing.com site today…

    Tech Sector Gets a Raise: Check out our Industry Insight page to find out why we’re upgrading our opinion on the Technology sector from Market Weight to Overweight.

    …while downgrades this week to X (monday) and NEM
    (wednesday) may have marked a bottom.

    You just gotta love this stuff.

  26. KirkH Says:

    Glassman may be right. But minium wage will be $120/hour if he is :) The problem for housing is that prices went up faster than inflation but wages didn’t keep up with inflation, and home prices are based on wages (with the exception of bubbles).

    If the so called experts are saying home prices will be flat for 5 years the only explanation would be wage inflation.

  27. John F. Says:

    Did the Dow really hit 36,000 today? Rats! I knew I shouldn’t have gone to the gym this afternoon!

  28. Michael C. Says:

    >>>Battapaglia getting cautious in July helped me do some long side trades . . .<<<

    Freaking Joe B. I missed that indicator.

    We need to make some kind of Bullwinkle Composite Indicator of Battapaglia, Cramer…who else?

  29. patski Says:

    Look out below….. no, wait, it’s opposite contrarian day…. full steam ahead……

  30. Blissex Says:

    «The problem for housing is that prices went up faster than inflation but wages didn’t keep up with inflation, and home prices are based on wages (with the exception of bubbles).»

    Yes and no, it could well be that there has been a permanent transfer of purchasing power from wage earners to asset owners. After all the number of potential wage earners has increased a lot (immigration, globalization) but not as much the number of real estate assets.

    But I doubt that the whole increase in price will be a straight transfer of purchasing power.

    «If the so called experts are saying home prices will be flat for 5 years the only explanation would be wage inflation.»

    That’s Bernanke’s Choice: shall he apply a harsh Volcker Squeeze to kill the economy and save the dollar, or a nice Greenspan Put to inflate away debt and real interest rates?

    For now the political situation says the latter.

  31. Blissex Says:

    Fixing the wrong closing. Oops.

    Also, look at these fantastic graphs of house values and debt expansion in the USA in the past few decades, and imagine the S&P compared with the expansion of debt:

    http://HousingPanic.blogSpot.com/2006/09/we-all-know-how-this-ride-ends-dont-we.html

    Fascinating coincidences :-) .

  32. Mark Says:

    Mr. Perma-Bull says: “Okay, we realize you guys aren’t buying off on the Goldilocks scenario and our soft landing theme isn’t gaining any traction so we’ve got a new one for you! The “hard soft landing”! Now can we take the Dow to record highs? Please, pretty please?

    http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/28/news/economy/bumpy_landing/index.htm

  33. me Says:

    Glasman’s problem is he shot his credibility with that tome. Who listens to him anymore except CNBC?

  34. Kimmunications Says:

    10-11-2006: Items of interest for the Family CFO

    Investing And Retirement In an effort to shore up U.S. workers’ retirement savings, the Labor Department has proposed new rules making it easier for companies to automatically enroll employees in 401(k) and other retirement plans. Retirement policy thi…

  35. New York Real Estate Says:

    Might be interesting to read the book… I’ve read all the books by the Motley Fools, and they are really good, highly recommended. I’ll have to check this one out.
    Eric
    http://blog.nationalwiderealestate.com” rel=”nofollow”>New York Real Estate