A short story from a looooong way ........

By JONATHAN CHENG

In the 1990's, Cape Cod barbershop owner William Flynn invested his $150,000 nest egg in the stock market. At one point he had about a million dollars. Thirteen years and two stock crashes later, he is right back to where he started.

DENNIS, Mass.—As the stock market roared higher in the spring of 2000, Bill's Barber Shop was the place in town for a $10 haircut and a hot stock tip.

More than a decade later, Bill's shop is still standing. But it is $15 for a trim. And stock-market talk now is taboo.

So it was a special exception Tuesday afternoon, when William Flynn turned the TV briefly to the financial news and watched the Dow Jones Industrial Average notch a record closing high. After watching in a stoic silence, he switched the channel back to "Dr. Phil" and swept up hair clippings.

Mr. Flynn has been through two booms and busts in the 13 years since his investing travails were first chronicled in The Wall Street Journal. In those days, Bill's Barber Shop was a hub of stock-market fever. Mr. Flynn, a hefty former high-school hockey star with a handlebar mustache, was hot on technology stocks, with a special passion for data-storage company EMC Corp. EMC +1.46%

The next few years weren't so kind to him and millions of other investors. Most of those

Stocks are on the sky again

Stocks Rally Ahead of Fed

By STEVEN RUSSOLILLO

NEW YORK—U.S. stocks rose Tuesday morning in what is expected to be another volatile session as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's policy statement and any hint that the central bank will be able to calm markets and boost the economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 228 points, or 2.1%, at 11037. The index briefly turned negative shortly after the opening bell, but has rallied since.

Bank of America led the measure higher, rising 4.8% after tumbling 20% in Monday's rout. J.P. Morgan Chase gained 4%. The Dow fell 635 points on Monday, the sixth-biggest point drop in its history, to close at a 10-month low.

The blue-chip index fell beneath 11000 for the first time since November in the wake of Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. government's credit rating. Jittery investors have fretted over government debt and the possibility that the economy could slide into another recession.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index climbed 26 points, or 2.3%, to 1145, led higher by financial and material stocks. Financial stocks were hit the hardest in Monday's drubbing. The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite gained 61 points, or 2.6%, to 2418.