A hard stock market drop is being predicted just as indexes sit at record highs — bad news for investors who are fully invested, better for anyone holding cash.

• The market's rise since 2011, turbocharged by COVID stimulus money, is seen as near its end.
• Fewer and fewer stocks are still going up; giants like Nvidia are holding the S&P 500 and Nasdaq up while many others hit 52-week lows.
• In both the dot-com and 2008 crashes the Dow lost half its value, with some stocks down 80–90% and big-city home prices falling even more.
• Crashes happen because buyers disappear and banks stop lending, as they hoard deposits to avoid going under.
• The prophecy angle: people too broke to attend games, forcing major sports teams into bankruptcy — something that did happen during the Great Depression.

Outlook: The call is for a sharp stock market correction ahead, with cash holders best placed to buy cheap assets afterward.