Betting on the Market

As we've all learned from the moral lessons embedded in the lyrics of Blood, Sweat & Tears' songs, "what goes up, must come down; spinning wheel got to go 'round." Today, with the Dow having broken the 8,000 barrier (only to slide back) on its way to a third consecutive year of 20%-plus gains (a feat never before seen), the 'spinning wheel' of the Dow is beginning to look a bit like a roulette session that's come up "black" several times but is overdue for a red. Rachel Dretzin's Frontline episode traces the incredible rise of the stock market over recent years as average Americans have poured billions into stocks and, in particular, mutual funds. Interviewing individual investors, Money magazine's Jordan Goodman, market guru Peter Lynch, and current superstar fund manager Garrett Van Wagoner, Betting on the Market reminds viewers of a couple really spooky October's (1929 and 1987), while speculating about the consequences of a serious correction on, say, the huge number of Americans in the lower middle class economic range who have the majority of their savings tied up in stocks. With average price-to-earning ratios running very high, the Fed's Alan Greenspan issuing not-so-veiled warnings, and the market acting in what could only be called a skittish manner (witness the frequency of triple-digit advances and declines lately), the program effectively argues that there's reason for concern. A good historical overview coupled with reasonable-though never hysterical-warnings for the future. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)