This is my last Palm Beach Money blog

By Dian Vujovich

When I first began writing this blog in the fall of 2008, Wall Street was a very different place. The DJIA closed that year down over 34 percent. Investors at home and abroad were worried as the U.S. was deep into what’s been dubbed The Great Recession.

In case you’ve forgotten about the shenanigans of 2006 and 2007, thanks to things like deregulation and the promotion of home ownership, we were living in a frothy real estate market in which pretty much anyone who had a job and could sign a mortgage application was able to buy a home. One often with an appraised value way above what many would consider realistic.

In 2007 the bankruptcy of financial corporations began happening; in Sept. short-term interest rates stood at 5.25 percent ;and on Oct. 9 the stock market hit its then all-time high of 14,164, according to The Christian Science Monitor.

In March 2008, Bear Stearns collapsed and JPMorgan Chase bought them. When Sept. rolled around Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy; the government bailed out AIG; and during one week, from Oct.6-10, the DJIA experienced its worst weekly loss in history falling 18 percent.

Around the time I began writing the Palm Beach Money blog, it’s fair to say things weren’t too rosy for the moneyed and worse yet for most everyone else.

Over the past seven years, however, all that has changed. The rich are richer than ever, home prices in Palm Beach continue to escalate and dazzle, the town looks great albeit there’s not much foot traffic on Worth Avenue just yet.

For the record, today Oct.8, 2015, the DJIA closed over 17,000 at 17,050.75. This was the first close over 17,000 for that index since August. The S&P 500 ended the day over 2000 at 2013,43 and NASDAQ at 4810.79, according to CNBC.

If you’re wondering how far we’ve come in seven years here are the numbers: On Oct. 8, 2008, the DJIA closed at 9,258.10; the S&P500 at 984.94 and NASDAQ at 1740.33, according to data at DaveManuel.com.

As you can clearly see, I’ve been fortunate enough to write about money for the Palm Beach audience during one of the greatest wealth accumulation periods in recent U.S. history.

My bottom line: I’ve written nearly 800 Palm Beach Money blogs during my freelance tenure at The Palm Beach Daily News, have enjoyed writing every one of them and even won the paper a few awards along the way.

But more importantly, it has been my pleasure serving you. Thank you for that opportunity. Going forward look for me at http://www.allaboutfunds.com .

All the Best.
Dian