Word: short
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...portrait of fantasy fiction's latest "wiz" kid, Harry Potter [BOOKS, Sept. 20]. As an author, I have despaired of the future of both writing and reading, given the plummeting literary standards and increasing indifference to learning in our era. In so dark an hour, it is nothing short of magical that what J.R.R. Tolkien called the "Tree of Tales" could put forth a green and growing shoot like the Harry books--a branch that can serve as a broomstick to bear us "lands away" and, better still, worlds within. Congratulations, J.K. Rowling, on constructing a real, working transPotter! ANDRE...
...saying is that the U.S. will remain a sovereign nation. I'd call that a real sturdy limb they've climbed onto. By now, just about everyone knows that stocks go up 10% annually, on average, give or take, over long periods, even though they often fall sharply over short periods...
Glassman and Hassett are a different breed. They predict that the Dow will go to 36,000 in short order, gaining something like 35% a year for the next four years. Now there's a thin bough. They believe investors are revaluing stocks to a permanently higher plateau. It's a fun argument but boils down to familiar ground: diversified portfolios are superior and safe if held for long periods. A growing awareness of that idea is bringing more investors into the market at ever higher prices, inflating the average stock's price-to-earnings multiple from...
...stocks remain risky in the short term, as the authors concede, then stocks remain risky, period. Few people can be certain that no life event will force them to tap long-term savings early. The inescapable risk of stocks is that when you need the money, they may be down. That risk shouldn't keep you from buying stock for the long run, stuffing your 401(k) each pay period and sitting tight when the market turns choppy or goes flat for years. But here's my prediction, and you don't even have to buy my book: short-term...
...sometimes Suma, 16, and Usha, 13, find their grandparents' sense of tradition onerous. The girls like to wear jeans and shorts, which Rajaram abhors. Then Meera steps in as interpreter. "I tell them, 'Your grandparents' definition of pretty is someone in a sari and not someone in short shorts. You've got to remember where your grandparents come from.'" So far, the disputes have been trivial. But trouble could erupt if the girls decide, say, to marry outside their ethnic group. Rajaram is already steeling himself for the battle--and his likely defeat. "I'll try to talk them...