No WAY am I selling my stocks!!

[Normy]

NO WAY am I selling my stocks!

I don't have many, but I'm pretty sure that is going to change next week. I'm not a financial advisor, I don't give anyone here any advice, and I really don't know much about things financial in any case. But one thing I DO recognize is panic.

Panic without merit-

From my work in cockpits I have developed a talent for measuring people's moods and attitudes. I've also become adept at recognizing how those changing moods and feelings can affect the performance of the person sitting next to me. For example, I flew with one guy for a few months straight, and he was the sort of captain who "rode" me. That is, he was constantly correcting me for every little thing he could think of. I can take constructive criticism, but this guy was over the top. I liked it for one reason, as it made me fly "tighter", but overall he pissed me off and seriously got on my nerves. Yet...outside the airplane he was just a great guy to hang out with! Diagnosis: he was very nervous about the fact that he was a captain. I never acted that way myself- I just have this attitude that we need to start the engines, commit aviation, and then just see what happens. There's nothing to be afraid of, just pay careful attention to EVERYTHING and you can always head-off problems before they occur.

The sad part about guys like that? They don't realize that by working themselves up "into a lather" that their own vigilance and performance suffers. Thus making a serious mistake or accident MORE likely.

-I suspect that this effect translates over to other fields, especially endeavors financial. I've met people who are just insane about money! I suspect that these are people who are normally laid-back in their office much the way I am in the cockpit, but if their financial advisor calls them up and starts talking about their finances or their savings/investments....their palms sweat, their heart palpitates, their mouth gets dry...they basically fall apart. They can't or haven't learned how to effectively deal with the subject of money, and/or they fear the loss of wealth way too much.

Those are the people who are doing some of the selling on Wall street. Many of the sales are being performed by private bankers who are managing funds, of course, since the holders that they are responsible to are probably on their backs for constant short-term profits. Profits which, of course, they know aren't going to exist. But even they are probably succumbing to this panic and group mentality right now.

I'm not financially independent or anything- In fact I can barely afford the $182 worth of various small parts for my 928 that I bought yesterday....but I'm in my investments for long-term and I am completely certain that pulling out of the market would be stupid at this point. I may even take some of my savings and put them IN the market, since it is completely OVERSOLD!

Cry about the bailout of the banks all you wish- I'm of the opinion that the bailout is much like chemo-therapy. It just about kills you, but it kills the cancer in the end. The market is over-reacting due to the fact that this bailout is going to take a month instead of a day [hello?], but I think there are a whole bunch of investors with cash at the ready, just leaning on the wall waiting for precisely the right moment to pounce. Salivating the whole time-

[don't step in the huge puddles of drool they are creating]

My $.02-

N!

[masraum]

Well, if you bought them in the last year, then selling now would be crazy.

[Nathans_Dad]

Wait for it Normy. The market will tank again if Obama is elected. Then would be the time to buy.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Capitulation. There's one. Now if we can just get a few thousand Wall Street phat cats to follow suit, we'll be golden.

[teenerted1]

i'm not selling my socks either...its starting to get cold out here and my toes dont like to turn black.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Basing financial decisions on panic? Not so good. That's where our market is now. That's why the few remaining level-heads are buying. The pendalum will swing back, right now patience is a virtue.

[RWebb]

i did some fund trades today - mostly in to low priced stocks

short covering yes

also there is a huge amt. of cash that fund mgrs are sitting on right now

today looks like time to start buying -only thing lacking is a oic of a bear on a big magazine cover

[tabascobobcat]

From my adviser (whom has returned +12% for me this year)

"Not a good idea yet. Like catching a falling knife. The severe move we have seen to the downside is the 3rd wave (of 5) down of a 3rd wave (of larger degree) dow. The classic 3rd of a 3rd, which is the most powerful of the 5 waves. The smaller degree 4th wave upward needs to occur, then the 5th wave downward in a gradual diagonal will be the "tell" that we are near the end of the larger degree 3rd wave down and will then get a noticeable jump upward in the market for a few months. I don't have any predictions on numbers for the DOW when the minor degree 5 wave pattern will be complete (thus ending the larger degree 3rd wave down). However, I suspect that we will be near 7500 as you suggested. We then might expect a bounce back up to around 10,000 again, before resuming the painful downtrend again until Dow hits its ultimate bottom around 4,000.

I would be plowing my $$$ auto investments into money market in preparation for the bottom feeding next year or the year after. Time to be loading up on dry gun powder as the traders call it."

[billwagnon]

4000????? that's crazy talk. isn't it? ISN'T IT??????

[tabascobobcat]

4000 crazy talk???
I certainly hope so.
But wasn't 7800 crazy talk last month???