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In fact, for investors to make up for the loss in buying power caused by inflation, stock prices would have to climb far higher than they have. Since 1965, when the Dow first approached the four-digit threshold, inflation has chopped the buying power of a dollar to little more than 400. For investors in the 30 stocks of the Dow industrials to be as well off today as 15 years ago, the averages would have to hover not at 1,000 but at 2,500—and not even Wall Street's most starry-eyed optimists see that kind of rise ahead any time soon.