I never have buyer’s regret because when I think I want something I get it. Yes, that’s me - I am the consumer driving the economy back to life. I’m also a frustrated office worker who rips past shops on his way to meetings. So when I do have time retail therapy is great.

So imagine my upset having passed up an opportunity to buy a Dow Jones 10,000 baseball cap on eBay. (Not bought because my head looks deformed in a cap.) This was sold in the heady days of 1999 when the Dow Jones passed the 10,000 mark for the first time in March of that year.

(Do you remember those euphoric times? Our homes had equity…Circuit City was our weekend destination…our jobs were secure…we could eat and pay the bills simultaneously.)

Since then the Dow Jones has passed the 10,000 mark on decent, on ascent, on descent, on ascent. It’s been like a theme-park adventure ride. (The 10,000 barrier was broken upwards in March 1999, December 2003 and October 2009.)

The Dow Jones Index is a portfolio of shares in America’s leading companies. Their composite value is the Dow Jones Index. This was designed to showcase the relative health of a representative sample of America’s top companies. Over the years some major companies have been struck from the Index, while newcomers have taken their place. It’s a PR nightmare to deal with a CEO whose firm is being de-listed from the Dow Jones Index. They’re rarely as upbeat as the newcomers.

So break out the home equity line of credit applications - the Dow Jones is back up, glod is strong and economists predict The Great Recession is over.

Me? I’m going to keep scouring eBay and try to find my historical souvenir - that baseball cap from March 1999 is mine!

Trivia Challenge (scroll past cartoon for answers)

1. Name the company in today’s Dow Jones Industrial Average with the longest tenure?
2. Which company is the newest kid on the block?
3. When was it founded?
4. Name the founder.
5. When did the Dow Jones close above the 1,000 barrier for the first time?
6. How many years did it take to go from 1,000 to 10,000?
7. During the dot.com boom, a book predicted the Dow Jones would ascend higher - what was the forecast projected high?
8. What was the highest close for the Dow Jones Index?

  Courtesy of The Huffington Post

Trivia Answers - Thanks to Wikipedia

1. General Electric was one of the original 12 companies listed in the average
2. Travelers - the insurance giant - added on 8 June 2009
3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was founded May 26, 1896
4. Founded by Charles Dow
5. On November 14, 1972 the average closed above the 1,000 mark (1,003.16) for the first time
6. On March 29, 1999, the average closed above the 10,000 mark - 26 years, 4 months and 2 weeks later.
7. Authors James K. Glassman and Kevin A. Hassett went so far as to publish a book entitled Dow 36,000.
8. On October 9, 2007, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at the record level of 14,164.53.

Your Score

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  •  0-3 - Don’t worry you’re job at Treasury is safe
  • 4-6 - An average American with a Schwab account - go day trading!
  • 7-8 - Thanks for reading WallyDownUndy Mr. Buffet!
  • Still debating accuracy of answers - The 24 year prison sentence for Enron does give you time, right Mr. Skilling?