Two Years After Bubble Burst, Some Claim Bear Market Is Over
By Danielle Sessa
quote.bloomberg.com
New York, March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Barry Savitz decided the bear market was over when, after returning from San Diego last month on an overbooked flight, the veteran stock trader found more buy than sell orders from clients.
``I came back and said, `I am convinced the economy has bottomed,''' said Savitz, 54, a partner at Greenwich Prime Trading LLC, which manages transactions for 40 hedge funds in Greenwich, Connecticut. ``People want to buy stocks. We haven't heard that in a year or two.''
Stock-market indexes reached their peaks two years ago this month, driven by a mania for dot-coms and the longest economic expansion in U.S. history. Then the bubble burst. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 63 percent from its 5048.62 peak. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, with back-to-back years of declines for the first time since 1974, fell 24 percent from its high.
Now some like Savitz are ready to declare the bear market's demise. The economy is rebounding from recession and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, they say, suggesting profit growth will recover faster than expected. |
