Thank you for your comments. I by accident picked up Donald Christensen's book in a book store in the summer of 1996 ("Surviving the Coming Mutual Fund Crisis"). It made so much sense to me that I immediately read 11 financial books because I never swallow anyone's ideas whole (not one of these approached Mr. Christensen's book for quality). I then transferred my IRA out of stocks and into a U.S. Treasury money market account, realizing how ignorant I was of financial matters. It remains there still.
Since then, I have been reading your comments and those of others with a similarly sensible (bearish) viewpoint, given the financial history outlined in Christensen's book. I appreciate the knowledge I have gained over the years from your column, as I am a person of middle-class means and cannot afford a huge hit to my IRA. The writings of you, Mr. Christensen, and a few others have helped me a great deal and have saved my retirement fund, perhaps to grow at a more opportune time. Thank you very much.