Do you remember the stockbroker commercial, "We make money the old-fashioned way: we earn it?" Or, as was humorously paraphrased, "we churn it."

Following are a few more negative thoughts to contemplate and e-e-e-liminate before we conclude by accentuating the positive with our "what to do" suggestions.

If, however, you heed the "new era" boys’ philosophy of nothing but growth ahead for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), then the DJIA (i.e., the average of its 30 component companies) can "realistically" grow to 1,000,000 by the year 2030.

Here’s how :

Assume the previous 10 year average rate of DJIA growth of 18.1 percent will hold for the indefinite future. A recent survey found that the average mutual fund investor expects an 18 percent return on his capital over the next 10 years. At a compound rate of 18 percent, it will take 31 years for the DJIA to attain the magical figure of 1,000,000. This fantasy was originated in a March 1999 tongue-in-cheek article in Forbes Magazine by money manager David Dreman.

More than 50 percent of day traders believe they are better than average in picking stocks and timing trends. This, despite the fact that few of these newcomers have any training or experience in fundamental and technical analysis. And few are old enough to even remember the shortest bear market in memory (October-November 1987).

Notwithstanding our belief that the Internet (www) will survive and grow to be the business success story of the new millennium, most of the highly aerated companies on the www will not survive. History shows railroads (i.e., the Internet industry equivalent in the late 1800s) were re-financed mainly with bonds. Most companies, financed by bond issues, went down the drain. Bond certificates literally were used for wallpaper.

In his recently released book, Thought Contagion, author Aaron Lynch explains how an epidemic of delusion can grow exponentially due to the proliferation of Internet and other media overexposure. Other behaviorists claim most stockholders fear the pain of a small loss more than experiencing the thrill of a big gain. Some analysts predict losses as high as 80 percent of "new era-valued stocks" and the revelation of a multitude of previously undisclosed insolvent debtors.

Here are some what-to-do’s for the prudent investor to take advantage of these potential pitfalls:

• Capitalize on the tendency of others overreacting to bad news by buying stocks sold off by the herd and take gains of overvalued stocks "off the table."

• Look to the quality, under-valued companies in presently out-of-favor industries such as healthcare, food, consumer products, et al, for bargain purchases for the long-term portfolio.

Just as an impressive swing of a pendulum in one direction always results in a swing of equal intensity in the opposite direction, the final chapter for any economic excess is reversal and contraction.

Finally, let us thank God for the Hebrew calendar and the New Year, Y6K- minus-240 (year 5760). It gives us old-fashioned folks time to contemplate and handle computer glitches and economic excesses.