The Merrill Dubrow Blog

Last week I was flying back from Chicago.  I started looking out the window and day dreaming a little bit. My colleague next to me had her eyes closed and was probably pretending to sleep so she didn’t have to have a conversation with me.  (Amy clearly a smart move!) 

As I was looking out the window I thought about what it might be like to be up 10,000 – 12,000 feet and actually jump out of a plane. To me it does sound a little crazy to go a few miles up, have the door open and probably see land and jump…

I started to ask myself what kind of person does this? Who would jump from a safe plane to the ground? Are the people who do this crazy? Are they just thrill seekers? After a few minutes I asked myself a very important question – would I do this? Am I crazy to even think about it with a family, good health and a great job?

I start to imagine myself with a parachute on, goggles, the door open and wondering if my heart would stop. Could I actually do it without a small push and frankly attached to an experienced skydiver. One thing is for sure, if I was ever brave or crazy enough, I have two friends, Andrew and Kenny who I know would do it.  So in some ways I would be in good company.

• Have you ever jumped out of a plane?
   
• Do you know anyone who has?
   
• Would you ever do it?

I look forward to your thoughts and comments.

While I was in California last week, the Dow Jones hit a milestone for the first time ever.  The Dow Jones closed over 13,000 points. Mark it down: Tuesday April 25th, 2007, the Dow industrials went as high as 13,107.45 before closing at 13,089.89.

Prior to the middle of last week, the Dow rose in 18 of the past 20 sessions and gained more than 780 points in that time.  Last Wednesday marked the Dow’s 35th record close since the start of October 2006. Truly unbelievable!

It took the Dow just 129 trading days, since Oct. 18, 2006 to make the trek from 12,000 to 13,000, far less than the seven and a half years the blue chips took to go from 11,000 to 12,000. The swiftness of this latest trip does bring to mind the days of the dot-com boom, when the major indexes were soaring and it took the Dow a mere 24 days to barrel from 10,000 to 11,000.

• Does it slow down?
   
• Does it spiral down out of control?
   
• And when the clock strikes 4:00 EST on 12/31/2007 where does the Dow Jones stand?

Sounds to me like those questions beg for…

ANOTHER CONTEST!

You have until 5:00 PM CDT on Friday May 11, 2007 to send in your guess for what you believe will be the final resting place for the Dow Jones on 12/31/2007.

The rules are simple:

• You are only allowed one entry.
   
• You will be notified if your choice is already taken and will be given an opportunity to make another choice.
   
• You will need to include a reason to support the choice you have made
   
• If there is a tie (e.g. one person guesses 20 points too high and another quesses 20 points too low) the person who has the lowest guess will win – there will only be one winner!
   
• The deadline is 5:00 CDT on May 11, 2007

In order to help you a little bit, here is a little history on the Dow Jones:

12/29/2006 - 12,463
12/30/2005 – 10,717
12/31/2004 – 10,783
12/31/2003 – 10,453
12/31/2002 – 8,341
12/31/2001 – 10,021
12/29/2000 – 10,786 

Yes there is a prize involved. The closest person to the actual right answer will win a prize. The total amount of the prize will depend on how close the winning guess is: 

If you get it EXACT, you will win an extra $250.00!

Let the contest begin.

I look forward to hearing from all of you.