Many people now alive can remember a very different time, when the stock market was little more than a primitive insiders' game, viewed by most Americans with skepticism and suspicion. In Toward Rational Exuberance, B. Mark Smith, a professional stock trader with two decades of practical experience, tells the story of how this stunning transformation occurred. It is a fascinating story, involving colorful personalities, dramatic events, and revolutionary new ideas. In the course of the narrative, Smith traces the evolution of popular theories of stock market behavior, showing how they have greatly influenced the way the investing public views the market. But he also shows how some of these theories are based on faulty interpretations of market history that may lead investors astray. Freshly updated, this is a timely -- and definitive -- account of the market's true history and dangerous myths.