Think about that theory for a moment and look at the chart. Price of the S&P is somewhat higher then the DOW 20s and the Nasdaq 00s, but lower then the Nikkei of the early 90s.
All of the charts look similiar. All of the charts appear to have a similiar pace.
Here are the stages I see:
Stage 1- Price falls quickly in a "waterfall selloff" on high volume.
Stage 2- Price keeps falling, but at a somewhat slower pace then the initial selloff.
Stage 3- A bottom is reached
Stage 4- Price meanders in an unpredictable range and there is no telling when or if there will ever be a breakout.
My observation is that we are halfway through the selloff and a bottom is probably a year or so away. However, even when the market bottoms that doesnt mean that unemployment and other such economic indicators will bottom as well. The market also will take 2 to 3 times longer to recover then it took to sell-off. We are talking at least 6 years, but probably more like 10 years for a recovery.
The Nikkei never recovered and continued to hit lower lows over a 20 year period despite much government intervention and a zero percent rate.
Quote from sirgiyan:
There is one thing I would consider for timing. Things are changing MUCH faster these days... so in terms of time the same process which took 2-3 years in 20-30ies can easily take 1 year now, considering internet and other stuff which allows public to react much faster.
Just my 5c