FLIRTING WITH 5000

After edging toward 5000 for most of last week, the Dow Jones industrial average topped the milestone by three points briefly on Monday before slipping back to close at 4,983.09. "The 5000 point mark is a psychological barrier that has no inherent significance, but is an important indicator of investor confidence in the economy," says TIME's Bernard Baumohl. "It is a sign that investors are pleased that the budget is on the way to getting balanced, and also that they believe that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by the end of this year. I expect that sometime next year the Dow will break the 6000 mark. There just aren't any worrying signs of trouble now in the economy." The average has risen more than 30 percent this year in one of the most spectacular runups in Wall Street history. It had broken the 4,000 barrier only last February.