WP_Query loop problem

i have my settings to show only 10 posts per page.

for a particular template tag, i wanted to show all the posts. i assumed and went ahead and made another tag page with a new loop.

<ol><?php $recent = new WP_Query("tag=2009&amp;showposts=40&amp;orderby=title&amp;order=ASC"); while($recent->have_posts()) : $recent->the_post();?>
<li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endwhile; ?>
</ol>

the loop works great, BUT i don’t know how to show ALL the posts; right now i’m only showing 40. is there a variable I can put that will show all?

my other question is i can’t figure out how to show an error message if no posts exist for that tag. (sorry, no posts matched your criteria)

i tried using

<?php endwhile; else: ?>

			<p><?php _e('Sorry, no posts matched your criteria.'); ?></p><?php endif; ?>
			<p><?php posts_nav_link(' — ', __('&laquo; Previous Page'), __('Next Page &raquo;')); ?></p>

but i keep getting syntax errors.

any help is appreciated.