As Dow hits another milestone, experts debate what that means

The all-time high leaves investors giddy with happiness, uncertainty

The Dow Jones Industrial Average blasted past the 25,000 mark for the first time Thursday, a psychological milestone that could inspire some investors to pop a champagne bottle in celebration while others brace for what they fear could be a dizzying slide.

“When clients talk to us, they are scared to death we will have another 2008 because this has gone up so high, and it’s been pretty consistently up,” said Paul Brahim, CEO of BPU Investment Management, Downtown. “My answer to that is simple: We will have a correction, but not a bear market.”

The historic milestone — at Thursday’s close, the index hit 25,075.13, up 0.61 percent — signals an optimistic start to 2018, following an impressive rally in 2017 that saw U.S. stock markets hit one all-time record after another with no major pullback.

The Dow is a price-weighted average index of 30 major stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The list includes giant household name companies such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Disney, Microsoft and Visa.

It rose more than 25 percent last year, while the broader S&P 500 — which professional investors believe is the true benchmark for U.S. markets — rose 19 percent.

In the course of one year, the Dow has broken through so many milestones that many have begun to ask how high can this market go.

It took less than 12 months to jump from 20,000 to 25,000, and now even the latest prediction from famed investor Warren Buffett that the Dow will hit 1 million in the next 100 years does not seem so far fetched.

“The real takeaway for me is that 10 years ago the market was around 6,000 and everyone thought the world was ending. Now we have quadrupled and everyone thinks the good times will never end,” said Aaron Leaman, chief investment officer at Signature Financial Planning on Mount Washington.