Business: Wall Street: Bad News Is No News

Listless and almost lifeless at times, the stock market in 1977 suffered through one of its worst years. Last New Year's Eve, the Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks closed at 1004, its year-end record. By the final bell last week, the widely watched indicator had dropped 19%, to 815. The mood on Wall Street, among the brokers and traders whose heartbeat is the daily ticker, has turned from despair to anger. Says Peter L. Bernstein, an economist-consultant to large institutional investors: "We hate stocks, we hate ourselves and our customers hate...

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