DOW 10,000

While the Dow Jones just hit 10,000, reaction was much more muted than the first time 10 years ago. Here, the journal writes about the caution many traders have about the economy going forward, especially about the national debt, soon to reach $12,000,000,000,000.

"Reaction this time was more muted than the first time the Dow closed above the 10000 mark, on March 29, 1999, when traders popped Champagne and passed around "Dow 10000" baseball caps. "People don't believe it, they don't trust it, they are nervous, they are anxious," said Andy Brooks, head of stock trading at money-management group T. Rowe Price. "Most of us can't believe the year we have just been through, where you made and lost so much money."

"But in the longer run, many of the problems that worry investors will need to be resolved, such as the high levels of bad loans and securities on bank balance sheets, the weakness of the real-estate market and the nation's heavy consumer and government debt. "We don't see a catalyst that would immediately drive the economy lower, but there certainly is some risk that the market could retrace its gains" since they have come so rapidly, says Bruce McCain, who helps oversee $20 billion as chief investment strategist at Cleveland's Key Private Bank."