Monday Bloody Monday

Dow, -777.68 (-6.98%)
Nasdaq, -199.61 (-9.14%)
S&P 500, -106.59 (-8.79%)

The $700 Billion bailout plan was voted down, and carnage ensued. Records were set and the major indices printed point and percentage losses that most of us thought we would never see.

It is days like today that I am happy to be a DAYtrader - starting each day flat and closing all my positions at the end of the session. I would hate to be long (or short) carrying positions overnight in the present-day environment. Actually, I decided many years ago that I didn't like the volatility and risk of carrying positions overnight.

There is something to be said about not having that burden on your mind and getting a good night's sleep!

PS - deep thought...I saw this on the Internet - According to Bloomberg News, "stocks lost $1.1 trillion in value, meaning the market loss was larger than the size of the $700 billion bailout."

PPS - Rev Shark has some good advice:

A Bailout Bill Wouldn't Have Saved Us
By Rev Shark
RealMoney.com Contributor
9/29/2008 4:04 PM EDT

I know today was extremely painful for many market players, but passage of the bailout bill probably would have just prolonged the selloff over a longer period of time. We weren't going to get a market bottom from this bill. At best, we would have had some brief bounce that would have been sold hard.

It was obvious from the very weak open this morning that the market was already discounting any benefit from the bailout plan. We have a whole host of other issues out there, such as the bank failures in Europe and collapse of industrial demand as evidenced by oil, coal and steel today, which are keeping the pressure on this market.

Senator McCain took a lot of heat last week for commenting that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. While that certainly isn't the case, when it comes to all the numerical measures, I believe it is true when it comes to the people of the U.S. They are smart, hardworking and determined, and they going to come up with solutions to our problems. Our economy will be thriving once again very soon, so I take issue with anyone who says we aren't fundamentally strong.

As investors, all we can do right now is to simply wait for things to settle down. Please, don't listen to these people who come on CNBC and tell us its time to buy. Anyone who does that should have their returns flashed on the screen in big, bold numbers.

Don't let this market get you down. The opportunities are developing, and if you keep patient and stay focused, you will do very well down the road.

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