AGFrank

There is a difference between now and the Carter years.  The world then was flooded with petro-dollars which were kept out of the US, bought up by Europe and Japan.  American goods were exported because the US devaluated the dollar to encourage sales and raised interest rates to attract capital.  Stocks were purchased as an investment in a company and its future.

Now, since the big bang, stocks have become a commodity like oil, wheat, etc.  To keep the commodity at a premium, buyers must be found, inflating prices and expanding the market like a balloon.  The price of stocks are related to nothing but rules of supply and demand.  People are parking money in US investments because they perceive that there money is safe from political and economic risk.

Additionally, the push for mergers and the lack of shell corporations for liquidity of small cap companies have caused a shrinking in the number of stocks for sale.  There is no investor loyalty and trading volume increases as holding time decreases.  Soon, the baloon wil burst.

DLBlewitt