Spirit of '72
The Ghost of Markets Past
Record prices? Check. Concentration? Check. Global tension? Check. Uh-oh.
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The stock market is at a record high. Investors are chasing a handful of hot stocks. Geopolitical tensions threaten to upend the rally.
I’m referring, of course, to 1972. The S&P 500 Index closed at a record high of 119.12 on Dec. 11. It was the height of the Nifty Fifty (not to be confused with the Nifty 50 Index of India stocks), the idea that investors needed only to buy 50 of the most popular growth stocks and hold them forever.