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

New height on the US Stock market

By CHRIS DIETERICH

NEW YORK—Blue chips continued to climb to new heights, pushing beyond the record levels reached in Tuesday's rally after a better-than-expected reading on the labor market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 42.47 points, or 0.3%, to 14296.24 on Wednesday. On Tuesday ( March 5 ), the blue chips soared 126 points to punch through a closing level not seen since before the turmoil that ensnared the markets for 5½ years. Dow industrials have climbed for three sessions in a row and five out of the past six.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index tacked on 1.67 points, or 0.1%, to 1541.46. But the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.77 points, or 0.1%, to 3222.36, pulled down by Apple AAPL -1.27% and Google GOOG -0.86% .

Stocks have recovered with the aid of the Federal Reserve's aggressive efforts to boost the economy, strengthening corporate profits and a reinvigorated housing market.

"If you look at the equity market when we were at the same point back in 2007, two key sectors—housing and financials—were clearly rolling over," said Michael Shaoul, chairman of Marketfield Asset Management.

"This time, the homebuilding sector is taking off and the financial sector seems to be putting its big issues behind it, so we have key pieces of the economy with some acceleration behind them. I would say that, given we're in the middle innings of economic improvement, we should leave the 2007 levels well behind us," he said.

Stocks have gained ground this year at such fast clip that many investors have voiced concern that a pause is long overdue.

It' s Yoyo' s time

Stocks Dive Again on Europe, Economy Fears

Dow Sheds Nearly 520 Points; Investors Flock to Bonds Despite Record Low Yields; Rumors Swirl of Weakness in France.

By TOM LAURICELLA, MATT PHILLIPS and DAVID ENRICH

Stock prices tumbled Wednesday, led downward by some of the world's biggest banks. But bond investors offered a potentially more ominous assessment of prospects for the global economy, pouring money into the safety of U.S. Treasury bonds despite yields that are near their lowest levels in history.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 519.83 points, or 4.62% to 10719.94, more than wiping out the gains posted in Tuesday's sizable late-day rally. It was the Dow's fourth triple-digit move in five days and brings its declines since its April peak to more than 16%. The index is less than 500 points away from officially being in a bear market, defined as a decline of 20%.

Asian shares Thursday morning moved lower. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.6%; Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.4%; South Korea's Kospi Composite dropped 1.8% after slumping over 4% at the opening; and New Zealand's NZX-50 was 0.1% lower.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to an 11-month low as investors were squeezed between fears of further contagion among European banks and the Federal Reserve's gloomy economic outlook. Paul Vigna has details.

.In Europe, rumors swirled about the health of French banks and the possibility that France could lose its AAA credit rating as the country's borrowing costs rise. The main indexes for stock markets in France, Germany, Spain and Italy each shed more than 5% of their value.

The market gyrations and clear worries about the health of the U.S. and European economies sparked a volley of phone calls between senior administration officials, including President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, and European leaders. Mr. Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also met with President Obama Wednesday, but no new steps were announced to address the market volatility.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has been calling banks with increased frequency amid