booms and busts

if we look at 10-year returns for the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past 100 years, a pattern emerges:

10-Year Dow Jones Industrial
Period Average Return
1998-2008 (9%)
1988-1998 331%
1978-1988 165%
1968-1978 (19%)
1958-1968 77%
1948-1958 226%
1938-1948 14%
1928-1938 (49%)
1918-1928 254%
1908-1918 60%

After booms come busts, after busts come booms. That's how markets work.