The "WTF happened today in the Stock Market" question.

Go out and shop!

Buy stock now! It will stop and then go back up and you will be rich.

It will end when people calm down. Now when will that happen? Probably not for awhile (months). I think this whole cycle will probably last a couple of years.

I have said elsewhere that as long as you are in a well balanced portofolio for your age and risk tolerance, you should do nothing…..except perhaps buy.

The other day the DOW dropped -700 some points and then settled at -300 something. NPR related that the 400 point late day rise was due in no small part to an anonymous single buyer. Hmmmm….Warren Buffet, maybe?

Yeah… usually stocks take a couple years to settle after a major crash.
A magical fact you may not have known (though it’s not actually “magical”) is that the stock market has ever been lower at any point then it was 10 years prior to that point. Not even during the great depression. Stocks that have dropped insanely like Apple’s are still higher than what they were in 1998.

@McHobbes. Great point. (welcome ot Fluther)

Here is a great chart

oddly I couldn’t find anything that included up to at least 2007?

I would buy.
Reason for that: I believe we reached the bottom, and that happened the day Paulson plan was avalled. Now we are stagnating at the bottom, true, with small adjustments up and down.

If you do have a long term investment plan, I think this is an unrepeatable opportunity to buy. Prices will go up again (even though it may take years, and not just one or two): the deal is, if they go up again, you could make profits of x00% and become reach with a relatively small initial investments.

It’s up to your savings. I would enter the arena only if I have an alternative income that I can rely on to guarantee my primary and basic needs. And I still think is less risky than keeping your money in your bank account.