"Hey we aren’t back to pre 2000 levels yet, the George Bush years have just been “priced in”....also pricing in the coming socialist regime..."The saying is that over time the market has made 7%/year over any 10 year period (1973-1983 doesn't agree with that philosophy though) so if you look at it as the market was at 10500 when Bush took the reins and today we are at 8600... it's very ugly.
Another way to look at it is that right after 911 we spiraled down to 7700 by Mar 2003 and on Oct 9, 2007 the DOW closed at 14,200... an 85% increase which works out to be a 16%/year increase.
I've been in the market since 1980 when the DOW was 800, so 8600 doesn't particularly scare me. It's a 975% increase or about 8.7% per year increase. And this doesn't even include all the churning and capital gains that were folded back into my accounts.
I wrote in FR right after the debate Tuesday night that the market will tank because the country will see Obama taking the reins of government in January. Capital gains tax is going up, short term players and people close to retirement will be moving out of stocks, cashing in their gains, paying their taxes at the current low rate and will wait for the bottom. They'll all get back in when they find the companies with good P/E ratios, making it worth paying 28% on their gains.
The bottom is close. People can panic and lose their shirts by continuing to bail out, but the smart guys and there are lots of them will see the value buys and scoop them up, ending this slide.