For Stocks, Dow 20,000--Then a Crash?

And then, horrifyingly, it all starts to go sour, yet again. As the economy recovers, costs begin to rise. As unemployment tumbles, wages follow suit. The Fed begins hiking interest rates to stop inflation. Meanwhile companies have to slash prices to gain or keep market share against brutal competition. Earnings plunge. Stocks begin to slide. and then tumble into a terrifying smash, the third in a generation.