Precter says Dow 4000 imminent

Of course that was October 17 2002

The stock market's sharp swings this summer and autumn have discouraged investors. "High volatility is completely normal in a bear market," Prechter told me Thursday. (See the Elliott Wave charts below. )

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average will lose half its value in the next six months to about 4,000 on the blue-chip index, says Prechter. When it's all over several years from now, the Dow will trade below 1,000, Prechter says.

Prechter, in an earlier interview, said the decline that began in January 2000 will play out for several years. "What's going to happen when the stock market finally bottoms? You'll be able to go in there and buy stocks that used to trade at $85 a share for maybe half a dollar or a quarter of a dollar