We all try to imagine what it was like in 1929 or 1930 but we at best, we may get stories that may be half truths from those that are still around to tell them.  I'm not saying 1929 was easy and the Great Depression was nothing, for crying out loud, it gets capital letters when referenced so it must be serious.  But my point this evening is to use the power of technology to capture the moment.  The Dow was swinging around hundreds of points in a matter of minutes.  People that are casual observers of the market are extremely scared and those who are more than that are getting a nervous twitch.  The market is acting strangely and the world is on edge.  To me, this is not really different than the last bear market that I've personally experienced, although some may beg to differ.  Bear markets are hard. During a bull market you may read a book or two about how capitalizing on a crash is the way to outperform the market.  When the crash hits, buy until you can buy no more and you'll surely outdo the market.  Afterall, the old adage is buy low, sell high and the first part of that equation is buying low.  So if the market crashes, what a great way to buy low, right?  Well, what they fail to mention in these books is that buying low is hard.  This is why the low buyers are rewarded.

As the market plummets hundreds of points, you start to doubt yourself.  I mean if it can fall a few hundred points an hour, surely it can fall a few hundred more, I'll just wait, right?  Well, I did that in the last bear market and lost.  Face it, you're not going to pick a bottom, so if the market it off 20%, 30%, 50%, keep buying your indexes and whatever else according to your plan.  If you don't have a plan, stay the hell out! 

When is it considered a crash?  It always seems obvious after the fact.  While this one wasn't a big and spectacular presentation like 1929 or 1987, we've lost almost 20% on the Dow in just a week.  This is certainly low.  What happens if we go lower?  Buy some more.  Just because you want to buy that doesn't mean to go all in.  And if you're going to buy, diversify ... grab indexes, not individual companies.  Like my hero Roger says, "how many companies go to 0? ... how many indexes go to 0?"

Of course, my standard disclaimer applies.  This is not a recommendation.  Do not put money in the market that is money you'll need in the next 10 years.  It's one of those things that if the market goes down 1000 points tomorrow, you'll say "ah well, let me put in some more and average out".  If you can't say that, then put that money in the bank.  Period.  As most are realizing (too late), this is not for the weak or faint of heart.  You're being introduced to risk first hand, which has been awfully quiet for the last few years.  If this is your first bear market, get used to it.