1. An adaptive method for minimizing the effect of long cache misses in a processing system, comprising: a) profiling an application program by using a performance monitor to collect cache miss data; b) building effective address tables from the cache miss data to associate effective addresses of offending instructions that create long cache misses with the cache misses of lone duration; and c) optimizing the application program by inserting preload instructions in an instruction sequence of the application program object code prior to effective address positions of offending instructions that create long cache misses.