We've been looking for market bottom for a few weeks.  It could be today. It could be another short plateau. In either event, stocks are going to get slammed again today. Companies with good balance sheets and numbers that, in any other market, would only pass with modest notice are going to see phenomenal gouging of their stocks.

Think of it like a riot. When panic breaks out, looters take advantage and grab whatever they can.

Personally, I want my near-free television set.

I know that it will be fashionable today to join in the hysteria, and that a few of you like dinging me for not joining you in the marathon for the cliffs, but if you look at the numbers, the hysteria is panic behavior, and not much more.

Stocks orbit. When they orbit high, they swing back to their fair market value. No different on the lows, other than it doesn't feel as good.

If you don't expect Bank of America to be in business next week, or any of the other thousands of companies that are going to get hammered today, you might sell. Of course, you should also be looking for a good rock to climb under because if they all go under, the entire system would go with them world-wide. 

The good news is, if you read the underlying financial reports, that things are bad, but they're not that dire, in spite of what the media may be screaming at the moment.

Hold, or buy. If you sell in the down market, you're not protecting anything. You're just making someone else a bit richer off of your panic.