It's Almost Official: The Dow is now in a Bear Market

As reported Friday in the Globe and Mail here, the Dow has now fallen 20% past its peak. But it closed on Friday just above that mark, so while technically it is not the official start of a bear market, it is highly likely to happen this week. I remember being in Spain in March 1999 when the Dow first cracked the 10,000 mark. It is now going on close to ten years, and it only up about 10% from there. I do wonder how long this bear market is going to last, since the price of oil and the Iraq war are fueling inflation. Add in the subprime crisis, and it isn't looking good, at least for our largest trading partner. But there is speculation that our housing market is headed for a large correction as well. One has to wonder if there's enough foreign demand for our commodities to keep the TSX out of bear territory. I guess basically what I'm trying to say in today's posting is be very prudent with respect to your finances right now. Things aren't looking very rosy.