Lightwave price depends on where you live and what route you take to order it.
If you're in the USA, then drop by
www.newtek.com and see about their pricing on LW from there. The current price is $1595 which includes a boxed copy of DFX+ (a fantastic compositor worth around $1500 in itself) and a free download update to Lightwave 8 when its released later this year.
They also have an international dealer locator from their main sales page that will let you check out what you can also buy locally.
http://www.newtek.com/buynow/swproducts.html
Hope this gets you started on the right track.