Markets are scary. There is a humongous tug-of-war taking place between exceptionally strong economic numbers and the possible contagion arising from Greece's problems along with the oil spill and the Goldman Sachs issue. The VIX has shot up. This is implied volatility as calculated from premiums on put options.
A popular way of viewing the market is in terms of Greed and Fear. Today Fear had the upper hand. This is the message from the VIX.
If you are a DIYer and markets are making you nervous guess what? You can easily raise an additional 5% in cash. You don't have to toss and turn tonight wondering why your advisor didn't return your call, or hope that he or she knows what they are doing or why their explanation today sounded like babble. You can take action.
One of the problems in 2008, in my opinion, is that advisors became frozen and didn't take action.
Never forget...it's your money and you have to feel comfortable. Raising a little cash early on can allow you to more easily ride out a major downturn. This is much easier to do if you have a firm understanding of your investment philosophy, a plan, and can take actions yourself.
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