This story and infamous story ran in 1979, after the stock market had languished for some 15 years, virtually doing nothing. Think about that: A sideways drifting market for 16 years. It wasn't until 1982 that the Dow broke 1,200. An 18 year old do nothing market. http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2006/05/30/spotting-the-end-of-a-trend.aspx?ref=foolwatch The death of equities The king of all magazine covers has to be BusinessWeek's Aug. 13, 1979, feature on "The Death of Equities." Every time you mention the Magazine Cover Indicator to someone, he or she shoots back with this example. The title says it all. It was actually one of the greatest times in history to be buying stocks -- it just didn't look like it at the time. You could have bought bargains that are unheard of by today's measures. Of course, you would have had to be patient, because the rally really didn't get under way for another three years.