John breaks his deep concentration to ask the 64,000 dollar question.

“When do you think they will pull the financial plug?”

“We think it will start to happen during the fourth quarter of 1999, but I need more concrete information.”

Switching to the topic of ISIS 2000, John inquired about the expectations for his company’s stock.

“What about our holdings in ISIS 2000?”

“I’m only planning to sell a small percentage of our holdings, about 750,000 shares each during the first quarter of 1999. We’ll use some of the proceeds to finance our venture in Japan, some to purchase additional holdings in bonds and precious metals, and some to be held as strictly liquid funds to pick up bargains after the crash or downturn that may begin in late 1999 or early 2000. I’ve been cutting this one close; my limit for boom and bust cycles is generally five years. And I’m firm on the conviction that this one began in 1995, so the year 2000 is it! And believe me John, this is a R-E-A-L bubble, nothing like I’ve ever seen before. When this thing starts to unravel you definitely want to be on safe grounds and out of harm’s way. The blood is going to flow all over Wall Street. We got to start unloading some things in 1999.”

The thought of another crash was unsettling to John, but he knew that it would be very difficult for the markets to sustain its current momentum during the treacherous months ahead. And given this new information about Japan, the odds for such a crash had increased 85 to 90%.

“It certainly does appear that a crash is inevitable, doesn’t Pop?”