Call David Elias an optimist. He expects the Dow Jones Industrial Average to hit 40,000 by the year 2016, and he stands by
his prediction, even in the wake of the stock market downturn. His target doesn’t sound so outlandish if you consider that, in order to hit 40,000, the Dow must rise by only 9% annually in the next 16 years. (Investors already have accustomed themselves to much grander annual returns.) However, Elias, an investment adviser, might strike some readers as a bit too cheery. He says interest rates and inflation will remain low for a decade, and he predicts that the developing world will goose profits by buying ever-increasing
quantities of products from U.S. companies. Elias also argues that the much-feared backlash from Baby Boomers pulling out of the market after they retire will prove a myth. While Elias’ outlook is relentlessly buoyant, getabstract recommends his information to investors and his book’s ripe conversational fodder to futurists and analysts.