Thanks to a last-minute run-up, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day at 13275.20, about four points from its highest level since December 2007.

WSJ: Blue Chips Near a Five-Year High

Richard Peterson, a psychiatrist and founder of MarketPsych, which advises banks and big money managers, says news coverage of the Dow's run is likely luring people who had remained wary of stocks since the financial crisis in 2008.

NPR: Exodus From Bonds? Not Yet

On Aug. 31, 1998--smack in the middle of the greatest bull run in history--the Dow tumbled 6%.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In October 2002, the Dow started another bull run.

NPR: So The Dow Hit A Record; Now Where Do We Go?

After a late '40s bear, the Dow went on a bull market run that lasted from 1949 to 1961, its longest ever.

NPR: So The Dow Hit A Record; Now Where Do We Go?

An early milestone of this bull run happened on April 17, 1991: The Dow reached 3, 004.46, passing its July 1990 high and posting its first close above 3, 000.

NPR: So The Dow Hit A Record; Now Where Do We Go?

The pattern is similar to other extended sideways periods in the Dow that worked off excesses until the next bull run came to fruition.

FORBES: The Latest In A Long String Of Monumental Individual Investor Mistakes

In an early-October article, I discussed the most oversold Dow stocks, which focused on the results of one of the scans that I run each weekend.

FORBES: Nasdaq 100's Most Overbought Stocks

The Dow hasn't suffered a three-day losing streak in 87 days, the longest such run since 1958.

WSJ: Dow Closes Above 15000

Instead, Dow Jones is controlled by the Bancroft family, whose supervoting shares are supposed to ensure the firm is run like a public trust that forever puts journalism ahead of pecuniary interests.

FORBES: Entrenched No More