You were obviously very scarred by '87 where as I was barely out...

You were obviously very scarred by '87 where as I was barely out of nappies :), but have you ever actually researched it or just looked at the charts??

markets are more efficient now, you cant compare the two.

markets then were rediculously overpriced
all institutions were using portfolio insurance which meant if the market went down they had to sell thus causing a massive positive feedback cycle instead of the complex derivatives we have now
the US went after iran
and to cap it all off the dot matrix printers couldnt keep up and packed it in so no buy orders could get through and the futures were 10% below the cash at one point

can't see it happening again