HEY!!!!! I made over $20K today!!!

[Doc Savage]

In 5 years we will be talking about another bubble of some sort, and the "smart people" on wall street will be throwing money at it just like tech stocks and financials. How come, after screwing up twice they are still considered smart people.

[AlmostThere]

Always remember your retirement money is not speculative money. Keep in mind your retirement needs and how long it is before you need your money. For retirement, keep you money in good companies - not necessarily blue chippers, but well run and profitable companies.

When I was building up my accounts, I set aside my retirement money - but also set aside a bit to speculate with.

Excellent advice. I wasn't playing with retirement money but seeing a nice chunk of change vanish hurts nonetheless. But the advice you offer should be followed by anyone, everyone, considering investing in the market.

If I may add one thought. An investor, new or seasoned, may think they can time the market. YOU CAN'T! The never before seen fluctuations that occurred recently should be ample proof that the market is a wild beast. The beast cannot be tamed. The best you can hope for is to catch a ride without getting gored.

[AlmostThere]

In 5 years we will be talking about another bubble of some sort, and the "smart people" on wall street will be throwing money at it just like tech stocks and financials. How come, after screwing up twice they are still considered smart people.

During the bail-out negotiations, I was watching a business program on Fox featuring David Asman. Asman was talking to academics about what had happened and why. An academic from M.I.T. I believe, said the fact that mortgages were given to people who had no business getting a mortgage was a bad decision, but not the cause of the catastrophic failure of the system. It was the securitization of the mortgages that was at the root of the massive failure. Asman then asked if there were any warning signs that should have been seen. Our scholar responded, "Yes, considering that there have been 6 similar failures since the Civil War directly attributable to the securitization of assets, it should have been no surprise."

So actually, it's worse than you thought.