Sorry about the infrequent posting.  I have been rather busy at work and took a little weekend trip to see the Steelers lose…damn.

Anyway, it’s good to see the market is exactly where I left it, which is completely out of control.  Because of that, let’s go over what we should be doing in a market like this:

• Do not buy on up days, like yesterday. The market is not all of a sudden going to take off for a 2,000 point run. Plus, it’s highly likely these up days will be matched by down days in the future. Wait for a good down day that comes close to recent lows or re-tests recent lows.
• Note that many mutual funds give you the price the market finishes at on that day, not the price of the market when you place the order. This means when you buy at noon on a 500 point drop you won’t get that price unless the market is still down 500 at the end of the day.
• If you are buying individual stocks you still need to pay attention to the market, as the current madness will influence most stocks one way or the other.
• Identify a small list of individual high quality stocks and review their performance daily, so you can find a good entry point. Two I am currently looking at, as I have mentioned before, but have not bought yet, are Boeing and Apple.
• Identify a high risk/high return stock and consider investing a small amount. Nothing wrong with swinging for the fences every now and then.

Personal finance rules during this market:

• Do not buy a house in most markets. Inventory levels are only starting to come down. Give the market another 6 months to fire more people, adjust to a new U.S. President and shake off some of this recession.
• Do not withdraw your money from your bank and hide it in the closet. There is plenty of money to fund FDIC.
• Do not pull money from your 401k. You just lost money and now you are going to pull it out before the market can give you back what you lost? Not a good idea.
• If you have a solid source of income/job and you need a car, this might be the time. Even Toyota is offering zero percent financing.