Last week we saw the Dow Jones Industrial average move out to a new 4 year high. That puts us back to March of 2002 as the last time the Dow was trading at this level. Of course in May of 2001, the Dow closed slightly higher at 11,337 and if we look back a bit further we find an even higher close at 11.722 in January of 2000. So what are we to make of this? Is this the beginning of a run at an all time new high? Read on.

It used to be enough for financial planners to help clients minimize losses by making them aware of the risks inherent in various financial assets—even securities backed by the U.S. Treasury—and by steering them away from imprudent asset allocation and unsuitable investments.

If these seemed like challenges, they were relatively easy to defend against when compared with the potential for losses of money and credit standing which virtually anyone may face today when Social Security numbers or other personal data fall into the hands of criminals and are used for illegal gains at their owners’ expense.