Barry Rabinowitz likens many investors to children who get burned by a hot stove.
"After they get burned, they are afraid to go near it, even when the stove is cold," said Rabinowitz, a certified financial planner. "A year after the stock market implodes, people are still sitting on their cash."
But now investors are coming off the sidelines.
The most closely watched financial index in the world, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed above 10,000 Wednesday. It is the first time in more than a year it’s reached that threshold.
The Dow slipped below 10,000 on Oct. 6, 2008, hitting a 12-year low of 6,547.05 in March.
It is still far below the 14,164.53 peak in October 2007.
Still, some investors cheered the benchmark as a sign that the economy is improving.
"The market is a forecast tool, and it’s forecasting better times ahead," Rabinowitz said.
The 10,000 mark is an important psychological level, said Shashi Mehrotra, chief investment officer at Legend Advisory Corp. in Palm Beach Gardens.
"People see it as a landmark, and start worrying that they should start buying in again before it goes up more," he said. "It’s a good push to get them to jump into the market."
Mike Larson, an analyst with Jupiter-based Weiss Research, said that reaching 10,000 shows what a ride the market has had in the last year.
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