According to this article in the
London Times, the conditions in the market right now (new Fed chairman, waning housing prices, fear of inflation, weak dollar, etc.) are eirily similar to what they were when the market crashed in 1987. I concur, not because I knew what the conditions looked like then, but in looking at what the market is doing now, I see it headed down sharply and not recovering any time soon.
Now here's a wierd thing, there is
some speculation that the crash of '87 occured because investors saw the same conditions that were present in '29 and they got spooked. There are many similarities between the two crashes in how thier seven-year-long bull market charts looked. The 2003-2006 bull market doesn't look exactly like those other two crashes but there are similarities, enough for me to not be surprised if we see a day in the not too distant future when the market tanks heavily in a one or two day period.
As I go around spreading my message of doom I invariably get asked what people should do with their money. If I had any I would place my money in short-term Treasury Bills (notes not bonds). Interest there is healthy and you don't pay state taxes on the gains. I wouldn't put it into any commodities like gold or oil. They'll probably keep running up but I don't know those markets at all and the risk seems greater than the reward.
Let's recap what happened in 1987:
