HOW I LEARNED TO HATE THE DOW

I wish I could just enjoy it. This newly reignited bull market in stocks is minting millionaires from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Normal folks, who have found it tough to get a decent raise in the stingy 1990s, are benefiting too by using mutual funds to build nest eggs that they hope will fund their kids' college educations and their own retirement. It's all very exciting and, like a pot of Mom's ham bone and string beans, a nourishing meal for anyone with enough courage to sit at the table.

Mom, of course, would never have dreamed of pulling the...