Thumbs Up: Wait Until Next Year

After a blockbuster opening duringthe first few weeks of theyear, the stock market has flounderedand seems to be going nowhere. Butthe doldrums that the market hasbeen going through this year maybode well for next, some market historianssay. After years in which theS&P 500 ended the year essentiallyflat or up just a tad, the market hasrebounded with solid gains. In addition,after years in which the marketindex was up by less than 5%, themarket has averaged a 9.1% annualgain. Forecasters predict that withthe end of the 2004 elections, investorswill start to be more optimisticabout the market's long-termprospects and push stock prices up.