The Stock Market is the Worst in 80 Years

Source: Cleveland Blog

The stock market is going crazy. What am I doing about it? Standing strong and adding to my positions.

From CrossingWallStreet.com - The Worst Decade since the 1930s.

Bespoke points out that this decade has been one of the worst in history for stock returns:

Unless we get a major rally to close out the year (15%+), this will only be the third time since 1900 that the Dow Jones posted negative returns in the first nine years of a decade (excluding dividends).

I am adding to some of my positions and have put about 20% more money in the market, than I had previously, in the last few weeks. The US is in trouble, banks are failing, there is not very much credit available. People are scared and pulling their money out.

A bear market doesn't come around very often and this has been a big one so far. Big enough to be compared to the crash in the 1930s. I keep buying, my emotions are turned off and I am buying great companies on the cheap. The stocks I own are pretty risky but have solid balance sheets. They can hold on for a while and if and when we come out of this I hope to make a bundle. I am still young and can afford to lose some if it doesn't work out. I am not financing my investments by debt or by betting payments that I owe and have a cash reserve to cover me for a while in case things get really bad.

"Be greedy when others are fearful and be fearful when others are greedy". - W. Buffett

Alan Greenspan, American Economist

Alan Greenspan (born March 6, 1926 in New York City) is an American economist and from 1987 to 2006 chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States. He currently works as a private advisor, making speeches and providing consulting for firms through his company, Greenspan Associates LLC.

First appointed Fed chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987, he was reappointed at successive four-year intervals until retiring after a record-setting tenure on January 31, 2006, at which time he relinquished the chairmanship to Ben Bernanke. Greenspan was lauded for his handling of the Black Monday stock market crash that occurred very shortly after he first became chairman, as well as for his stewardship of the Internet-driven, "dot-com" economic boom of the 1990s. This expansion culminated in a stock market bubble burst in March 2000 followed by a recession beginning in late 2000 and continuing through 2002.

From 2001 until his retirement from the Fed, he was increasingly criticized for some statements seen as overstepping the Fed's traditional purview of monetary policy, and viewed by others as overly supportive of the policies of President George W. Bush, as well as for policies seen by Business Week Magazine and others as leading to a housing bubble. During his tenure Greenspan was considered to be the leading authority on American domestic economic and monetary policy, and his active influence continues to this day.

Quotes:
Success Quotes

I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.

• Use honesty and help others to get better and in the end you all will be happier. I wonder how some people sleep at night when they consciously take advantage of others through dishonesty and other practices.

To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education--literacy, both verbal and numerical, and communication skills.

• Build from the ground up. You have to start somewhere and you mind as well start now. Study hard and better your communication skills.

The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.

• Be proud of what you have accomplished. Look back at what you have done but don't forget to also look into the future. Reflect on all of the challenges you have overcome and remember that you made it without hurting others.