September 29, 2008, Marketplace Opinion.
Dear fellow investors:
In this fearful market, with the largest point drop in Wall street's history-minus 777. This is no time to panic; unless of course you own stock in a company that is definitely going down the tubes. My dear investors, with your disposable income, I implore you to keep your money in the market-hell buy those shares while they're cheap.
If you can stomach through this storm (while everyone else is pulling out) and you keep your chips in; the market will normalize and rebound one day. Probably years from now, but you will get a return on your investment when the companies you vested in pull through.
Why investing in banks now are a buy, simply put they're cheap. Personally though I am only invested in a nationally known bank with diversified assets and services. Some braver souls with money to burn might buy up the AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stocks since the government will jump through hoops to insure their survival. And after the government slaps some regulation back on greedy lending practices, and this housing crisis levels out, I'm guessing that these stocks will return to their high value. But I don't know for sure.
Best case scenario: after this next presidential election, faith in the economy will resume, people will get back to work, they will have money and want to buy houses and there are a lot of empty houses waiting for them.
But if the banking sector makes you ill I'd say spread your money around, don't just put it all on an investment bank that's teetering near the edge. You've got a few safe bets, food and medicine companies as an example. A lot of investors are paying hundreds of dollars on the share for the big technology stocks, personally I wouldn't pay more than forty dollars per share of anything, but that's just me. . .a casual long term investor.
Have some faith in this time of woe, that's what investing is, that's the risk you take. I don't know if it's the government's job to bail out the private sector in anything. But if they don't do it, we most likely are looking a long dark cold winter.
Fellow investors please realize that corporations, not just in the banking sector, but all businesses rely on your capital to make the ends meet. Companies do owe to their investors to run a tight ship, make money and help boost your stock and feed your dividends.
But now in this worried time, if everyone pulls out of the market, not only are you losing money that you initially invested in by selling stock for less than what you paid for it. You my dear investors are hurting the market and economy as a whole, thereby forcing companies to cut jobs; which hurts product quality, and sends consumers to buy more overseas goods. Help your fellow citizen. Buy, buy, buy those shares. . . to keep this big machine called America running, it is your civic duty.