Stocks are down nearly 2% this morning on continued fears of how the financial crisis in Europe is going to play out..the same stupid negative news affecting the markets this morning are coming out of Spain as it appears the country is going to need a full bailout, similar to what Greece received; there are also a lot of news out this morning that Greece is going to eventually leave the European Union, which could open the door for other countries to do the same and weaken the union of countries.
All stock sectors (technology, energy, consumer durables, financials) are down today as there is no where to hide from the down draft other than to just be sitting in cash uninvested.
A month ago, a guy who manages money that I look up to was speaking to the legendary Ira Harris (one of the most influential Wall Streeters back in the day when he ran Salomon Brothers' Chicago office), who mentioned that he could not remember a time during his investment career when there was so much uncertainty as there is now....NOT REMEMBER A TIME DURING HIS INVESTMENT CAREER WHEN THERE WAS SO MUCH UNCERTAINTY AS THERE IS NOW! That's how confusing and difficult it is to be invested right now.
As I've remarked several times, now is not the time to be aggressive in making investment decisions, rather it is prudent to remain cautious and be conservative. Unless a company's business growth is deteriorating or changes, I would not suggest however selling any stocks you own for a loss just because things are so ugly because if you sell when an investment you own is down you will never see that money again. I think that when stock investments you own go down in value, they are more attractive (buy low sell high), but the problem then of course is not knowing how long the stock is going to continue to decline.
