After falling four days out of the last five, the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up one point yesterday, to close at 3,187.10. Interest rates also reversed recent direction and declined slightly.
WHICH WAY NOW? "All signs point to stocks moving higher through November, carrying the Dow to 3,550 by year-end." (Bob Carver's Market Clues) . . . "When you feel the fear, the low is near!" (Jeff Bower's Guru Revue) . . . "Nothing indicates this market has the spark necessary to reverse the current downward move." (Fair Market Profile) . . . "One of these days the yo-yo string will break. The market will go down and it won't come back up." (David P. Jones Investments) . . . "Be advised: There has been a rapid deterioration by volume analysis, leadership and breadth studies." (Just The Facts Market Analysis) . . . "It's not a correction; it's a bear market." (LaLoggia's Special Situation Report) . . . "Market environment is favorable; why on earth would you want to be out of stocks?" (Cabot Market Letter)
TRACK OF THE BEAR: Richard Russell, Dow Theory publisher, says in Barron's, on newsstands this week, "On Oct. 5, the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke below its April 8 low of 3,181.35. This confirmed previous bearish indications of the Transportation Average (transports had violated their own April 8 low of 1,301.57). These twin penetrations signaled a primary bear market. We don't know its extent or duration, but the greater the bull market, the greater the subsequent bear market, and we've had one of history's greatest bull markets, beginning in December 1974, at DJ 577, and rising 2,836 points to its 1992 high. This bear market could drop the Dow to the 2,000 area in three to six years."
NOW, SOME CHEER: Our Eastern Shore neighbor, Delmarva Power & Light, is listed under "Rising Stars" in S&P; Outlook, Oct. 21. ("With its costs well contained, this utility should post higher operating earnings as the Delaware chemical industry recovers.") . . . BG&E; stock is listed under "Strong Dividend Growth" in the same Outlook. The table shows that the stock now yields 6.3 percent and has a cumulative dividend yield of 120 percent of its average 1983 price. . . . WBAL Radio's early-morning newscaster Alan Walden has coined a new word, "Perotstroika," standing for Ross Perot's vision of restructuring our economy.
BALTIMORE BEAT: Tomorrow night, Maryland Public Television's "Wall Street Week With Louis Rukeyser" is titled "Speaking for Clinton," with guest Rob Shapiro, vice president, Progressive Policy Institute, and panelists John Dessauer, James Grant and Robert Stovall. . . . Steven Stauffer, Dean Witter (592-3164) will mail his firm's latest Stratagem Letter. ("Does the stock market do better under Democratic or Republican administrations? Under which party do recessions occur more often? Will the Dow reach 4,000 in 1993?") . . . Did you know that Lever Bros.' Holabird Ave. manufacturing plant produces Dove, Caress, Final Touch, Wish, All and Surf? . . . Were you aware that Procter & Gamble's Nicholson St. plant makes Ivory, Joy and Dawn dish washing liquids, and that P.& G.'s Noxell Division produces Cover Girl, Clarion and Max Factor cosmetics, in addition to Noxzema products?
FALLING LEAVES: Since Eastern Standard Time returns this Sunday, Oct. 25, be sure to get new Amtrak train and BWI flight schedules. Train schedules are available at Penn Station and you can receive the handy BWI Flight Guide regularly by phoning 410-859-7034 or writing Joseph Herbert, Promotion Manager, P. O. Box 8766, BWI Airport, Md., 21240-0766. . . . The latest Kiplinger Washington Letter, Oct. 16, says business appears a bit better from month to month in most areas, and activity will continue to edge up through 1993. . . . In response to several requests, here is a definition of zero-coupon bonds: "Treasury or tax-free zeros are sold at a discount from their face value and pay no income until maturity, when investors receive the full face value in one payment. Until the 'zero' matures, interest payments are credited to its value but not paid out to investors." (Paine Webber Special Report) . . . Note to tense stock brokers: "Raisins can help lower cholesterol." (New York State College of Agriculture)