What history tells us about the risk of a market crisis today
Stock market rallies don’t last forever — here’s what history suggests could come next.
Despite the recent rally, there are questions about whether the market’s current strength can be sustained. Scott Bok former CEO of Greenhill and author of Surviving Wall Street, joined TheStreet to discuss what historical trends tell us about the fate of the stock market.
Related: Why today’s Wall Street crisis is unlike 2008
Full Video Transcript Below:
SCOTT BOK: I've read all the histories of really the Wall Street and the city of London even before that. And now I've written something that I think falls into that category is, you know, kind of a fun, adventure style bit, but a bit of history as well. And, you know, history tells you that Wall Street doesn't go that long without some sort of crisis. I mean, again, there were five during the course of my firm's 25 plus years as an independent firm. And there were many before that. Earlier in my career, when I was a young banker at Morgan Stanley, we had the October 1987 stock market crash. So these things come frequently.
Probably what worries me the most is just the great uncertainty about what is the desired policy going forward or, you know, are the tariffs sort of a, you know, a negotiating point? Are they a bit of a bluff? We try to get other nations to treat the United States more favorably, or are we really talking about remaking the American economy? Are we talking about closing factories overseas and bringing them home to America. If so, who's going to staff those factories? Who's going to pay to build those factories? How long is it going to take to build those factories? You know, there's just a tremendous uncertainty in markets right now. And I think that's weighing on investors' minds.
