Monday, October 6, 2008

Where's the Bottom?

I've been absolutely pummelled in the past month. My currently holdings have all but collapsed. I'm frustrated, and confused, but I'm not prepared to sell, I guess, since I still think that the companies I own are solid, have a good base of cash to get through the credit crunch, and as a result, are massively undervalued. FR is being discussed by a few analysts as a prime takeover tarket, which would be a relief to me, as it means I should at least get my money back out of it. Overall, as far as I can tell, they're basically victims of a market wide selloff, and that's got me jittery.

I've been expecting a bottom for probably about 3 months, but things just keep getting worse. So there goes my instincts. It's possible that this could be the greatest crash since '29. I have scoffed at this idea for months, as overall things seem to be humming along in the real world - people still have jobs, still pay their bills - not like the 30s, when a quarter of the population was out of work, and those who were employed saw their incomes decline by 42%. But marketwise, things are getting to the point where I'm just a little panicky. I was reading recently that the Japanese exchange had PE ratios in the range of 2 during their crisis in the 90s...that's scary.

But maybe my panick is a good sign. I keep envisioning the emotional charts - where people get the most frustrated at their investments just as things start to turn around. But I'm not over hopeful anymore, I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were.

Anyone out there more optimistic?