November is almost here, a month much celebrated in 1954. On the 23rd of that month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the first time closed above the level it had reached at its peak on Sept. 3, 1929.

Are we in for another 25-year wait before share prices match their October 9, 2007 peaks? Only a brave man or a fool would attempt to predict the course of share prices, which have been gyrating at a rate that would be the pride of any belly dancer.