Most investors do not know how to play the game. The people that got out of the stock market ahead of you may have made money, broke even or curbed their losses to a small amount. The people that hang on for the sake of hanging on are not in touch with reality, if you are a buyer of stocks that does not pay a dividend or a mutual fund buyer then stocks are only worth something when they are going up. Other than that, they are pointless for most investors. If you are a person that bets on the decline of a stock price or an index then falling prices are good and serve a purpose. What the financial media didnt tell you: the game is based on suckers because how can you make money unless there is someone willing to pay more for your holdings than you paid. And there you are, holding onto your crummy stocks or funds and for what, the chance that your holdings will go back up? Who will pay more than you paid? I cant wait to see the looks on the faces of investors if the Dow Jones Industrial Average goes to around 2,600, where it was in 1987 or to around 1,800 where it was after the October 1987 set back. Of course, it may not decline that much but if it does the people that made money by betting on further declines are going to have one interesting story to tell. Hanging on to stocks for the sake of hanging on doesnt make for an interesting life. But then again I dont have to be an expert in the stock market, just skilled in understanding human nature.