Originally posted by dotslashfuture
There is one thing that nobody has touched on yet. The indexes are what we are talking about here and not the individual stocks.
How many of the Dow 30 even existed in 1929? I think 1, which is GE. That is nearly a 100% replacement. And the Dow is the stodgy slow to change index. The same thing will happen in the S&P 500 and nasdaq 100 except a lot faster.
In as few as 5 years there will be a near 100% turnover in the Nasdaq 100. In two years time there could be a 50% turnover just due to bankruptcies and mergers.
Right, that was the point I was aiming at although I didn't get it across too well.
Let's say that some events occured that made oil double in price. Stocks in all of the alternative fuel cell co's would rocket and then the hype would start. Some of them would get worked into the NDX and before you can say irrational exuberance the Index is getting lifted up again.
Or a biotech that finds a real cure for AIDS, or a genome co that finds a cure for cancer etc etc.
So those that voted for Nas 5k in 5 years are really saying that they believe in technology and not necessarily in telecoms or whatever.