Re: is this a bear market?
A bear will say yes. A bull will say no. I like Stephens answer as to a good indicator in the past. Personally I would never ever be 100% in cash with interest rates this low.
A bear market does not mean all stocks are going down in value just as a bull market does not mean they will all go up. This is a good time to either go sector shopping or sector avoiding, whichever you prefer.
Right now the financials, retail and most of tech is beaten up pretty bad. I am investing more in select stocks of all three of these sectors next week but with specific stocks in mind. Actually online retail is booming even though B$M retail is hurting. This makes MA a good buy since they have no debt, zero exposure to the subprime crisis and only process credit cards making a profit on every transaction. I also like the video game stocks and maybe even GME for a month or two. Microsoft was beaten down today with zero change in their recent fundamentals.
One last point, in tough times Pharms are good as are stocks like P&G.
Jimbo
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