What's up with the DOW? Down 500+

[gassy]

Had my eye on a Chinese stock for a while...dropped over the last couple of days, gonna snatch it up now--no guarantee, of course.

[jyl]

Yesterday, China sold off, Greenspan said he expects recession in 2007, ISI (widely read economics newsletter) said 2% GDP forecast for 2007 vs consensus 3%. Today durable goods -8%, oil went through $62.

Market has been going up as if on rails, lots of people who didn't believe the rally have been forced to go along. Unwilling buyers make natural sellers. VIX was near record low. Market was at risk of correction, has been for a while, but betting on a correction hadn't paid off for weeks.

Question being asked is if today is May 2006?

I'm thinking not, since earnings estimates for 2007 have already come down and are not so bullish, investors already expecting economic slowdown, valuations lower than a year ago. But market is at technical support and if it breaks, will probably trigger some more selling.

[Scooter]

Lemmings, they are all lemmings. I was watching the news last night when they reported the Asian market closed down 8% or so. Everyone knew this would be the result in the US market today. One panics and they all panic.

This definitely does not constitute a recession. I predict an upswing tomorrow of at least 100 pts on the dow.

[turbo6bar]

I've been waiting for a correction since fall 05. Needless to say, I couldn't hold my breath long enough and I died on the roadside laying in piles of cash. Oh, well.

I think this is just a speedbump until central banks throughout the world stop printing endless amounts of currency. Until then, assets will continue to skyrocket.

[HardDrive]

Hell, I hope it knocks off more tonight. I'm gonna wire Ameritrade another $10k tonight. Opportunity is knocking.

[MRM]

I have been feeling the market was reaching a peak for a while. We sold a lot of my wife's company's stock in her 401(k) a couple of weeks ago and saved a bundle.

The irony is that we were just looking at our accounts this weekend, thinking they were unduly high and we might be better off taking some profits and realocating our accounts to even out the winners and losers.

We were thinking of buying a nice modest lakeshore cabin nearby and using one of the funds to do it. That fund has been a laggerd but has lately made up for all of its losses and then some. That's my sign that particular fund is about to bust.

Should have sold first thing Monday morning, I guess, and I would feel like a genius today.

[David]

Damn! I called my broker mid-morning and told him it was good time to buy, I hope he waited until after lunch

[Hugh R]

Wow, talk about bad timing. I just had a bunch of bonds come due and put them into mutual funds over the weekend and on Monday. Took it up the a$$ with sandpaper on it and no lube.

[74-911]

Originally posted by legion
Eh...it's all in my 401k. I'm not retiring for another 30 years, so I can tolerate a few bumps in the road...

and there will be more bumps. I took a serious hit (on paper) in Oct. 87 and a major six figure hit (on paper) in the .dot com bust. and just kept my 401K and IRAs in mutual funds and have made out like a bandit. Those who got out and stayed out are the ones that got killed. This to shall pass.... patience is the key (I retired 3 years ago and still have about 70% in the market)

[legion]

The way I see it, I'm buying cheap shares tomorrow.

[EdT82SC]

I will wait for the dust to settle, and make sure the market has bottomed out before I start buying. I don't know if any of you noticed, but some Chinese stocks that also trade on international exchanges dropped almost 10% more in addition to the nearly 9% they lost in China.

[Chocaholic]

I've been waiting for this also. Everything went on sale yesterday. If you're watching the market on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you're invested in the wrong place. Look at it in 10 year increments. A steady line heading north. It's all good.

BTW...despite the posts indicating how much was lost today, that's only true if you sold. Otherwise, you didn't lose a nickle.

[competentone]

Originally posted by Chocaholic
BTW...despite the posts indicating how much was lost today, that's only true if you sold. Otherwise, you didn't lose a nickle.

Hmmm.... So you're saying that if I had never sold my Enron shares, I never would have lost anything?

I hope you can see the illogic in your comment.

"The marketplace" sets the value of things (whether it be stocks or used Porsches). You simply cannot ignore the market price and operate with the thought that "it will come back so I really haven't lost anything."

[Scooter]

Originally posted by Scooter
I predict an upswing tomorrow of at least 100 pts on the dow.

Dang, I was only half right.

[SlowToady]

Part of it was computer-related. The backend systems couldn't handle the volume of traffic and failed over to another system, and that fail over caused some of the drop.

Slashdot

[turbo6bar]

I'd hate to see the stock exchange computers handle a true financial crisis. There is no excuse for that crap.

[turbo6bar]

What's up with the market now? Freaky stuff. I think the market is irrational more times than not.

[artplumber]

+1 to the lemmings and fund managers statements. Too much of the market can be influenced by a few people (managers), and then the lemmings just help the 'trend" along.

Wait a day or two, then maybe it will be time to buy.

[hytem]

Originally posted by MRM
I have been feeling the market was reaching a peak for a while. We sold a lot of my wife's company's stock in her 401(k) a couple of weeks ago and saved a bundle.

You won't gain anything unless you put that money right back in at the lower prices.
It's very difficult to make money timing the market. The correction is only 3-4%, and you would think the sky was falling on cable TV. The hype factor has been magnified more than anything else, with so many competing news outlets.

Msn.com really has the tabloid bug. Shanghai recovered 50% of their correction yesterday--in one day, and the talk was about Wall St recovering weakly. Negative bias. Everybody knows the market takes about 3 times as long to recover a correction.

The market this morning is down 1%. Msn.com thinks that is doomsday. I've never understood why the media takes a negative spin on everything.

You have to ignore the media. And stay the course. Stocks are for long term.