I guess Prince said it best when he sang, "2000, zero, zero, party over -- ooops -- out of time."
Yes, the headlines are buzzing and corks are popping now that the Nasdaq Composite closed above the 2,000 mark yesterday. Reclaiming the milestone it relinquished back in January 2002, maybe it's worth reflecting how the index gains of 2003 have now covered the losses of 2002. Maybe.
Not me, though. Just as Selena Maranjian went ho-hum as the Dow crossed the 10,000 mark earlier this month, you won't find me gawking at big, round numbers. That's all it is, really. I mean, if you're long the market, you can boil it down to basics. Up? Good. Down? Bad. Why is one number better than another?
So, if you aren't even caught up with the constituency, what's the point of toasting the fact that the individual stocks closed to form a particular numerical foundation?
Nearly six years ago, I wrote a Fribble as the S&P 500 crossed the 1,000 mark. My closing comments remain the same:
Did you ever have a car whose odometer hit 100,000? Odds are you were driving by Aunt Edna's Crab Shack or just pulling up to pick up some dry cleaning. It was just another day in automotive living. Maybe you took the time to smile and reflect but you were certainly not at your intended destination.
Pete Rose didn't hang up his cleats when he got his 1,000th hit. Nope. He went on to swing past 2,000, then 3,000 -- and tacked on a few more after that for good measure. Milestones matter. That first dollar your company made is probably framed in glass, but only as a springboard to greater milestones and to bigger and better dollars.
So, how was that Nasdaq 2,000 party last night? Did it really matter? Want to learn more about how to invest in the different market indexes? All this and more -- in the Index Funds discussion board. Only on Fool.com.
