But for a lot of market gurus, the strongest feeling was of relief.

Mr. Allmon became a full-time market guru, collecting and calculating with a slide rule much of the data that today can be found in computer data banks.

When Mr. Wien's thoughts drift in this direction, he remembers the market gurus of the late 1950's who closely tracked the dividend yield on stocks.

And the prospect of a bear market is particularly enticing to them, because it offers a once-in-a-market-cycle opportunity to seal their fortune as market gurus.

Perhaps no one knows the rewards of being anointed as a market guru better than Ms. Garzarelli does.

And for some longtime market gurus, amid the pain of the market's plunge came relief that Wall Street finally had a "correction."

But, according to some market gurus, some parallels exist: *Skyrocketing stock prices, coming atop several strong years.

He had always been a fan of the market guru Ben Graham, who told readers to research companies and invest for the long haul.

Last week the market guru James J. Cramer, once famed for his boundless optimism about tech stocks, declared himself, yes, disillusioned with the sector.

There's only one market guru and that's the market.