Markets Sends Investors on Roller-Coaster Ride

While the free fall that's the Dow Jones Industrial Average continues, investors should not get off the ride, no matter how queasy they might get when they check their stock investment portfolios, area financial experts said Thursday.

"We might have the Dow go down to 8,000 from 11,000 or lower before it ever gets to 12,000," said , a certified public accountant on Stonecroft Drive, Palmer Township. "It depends when you need your investment money, but if you have long-term goals, you're better off not to hit the panic button," he said.

That's hard to do when investors see how far the Dow has declined, the experts said.

On Monday, the Dow plunged 634.76 points, the first trading day since Standard & Poor’s downgraded American debt. It was the sixth-worst point decline for the Dow in the last 112 years and the worst drop since December 2008. Every stock in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined Monday. The rest of the week hasn't fared any better.

While the Dow regained some momentum by rising 420 points in a rebound Tuesday, the roller coaster dipped again with a 520-point plunge Wednesday to 10,720, its ninth-worst point loss ever.

By mid-afternoon Thursday, the Dow had jumped 369 points to sit above 11,000, with investors soothed by a labor market report showing jobless claims fell to a four-month low.

"Most people think the government is spending too much money," said CPA William Goodman of on Nazareth Road in Palmer.

Goodman said that many investors he talked with are upset. Some are wondering whether this plunge will be as bad as others in the 1970s when Jimmy Carter was president.

"I can't predict what people should do, but they should probably hang on. The market will probably stabilize," he said. "But this plunge isn't the same as in the past. It's much more brutal."

Both financial experts said they were pointing the finger at one person: President Barack Obama.

"The people who wanted change got their change," Goodman said. "Obama has been terrible. He's the worst thing this country has ever had. Things won't get any better until the government cuts back spending dramatically. There is so much waste in government, but they ignore it."

"I think that Donald Trump said Obama doesn't have a clue what to do," Franczak said. "The fact that France has a higher credit rating than the United States is really comical."

Franczak said that some investors concerned about their retirement options might want to consider bonds, which while offering less than a 1 percent yield could balloon to more than 5 percent depending on inflation.

Goodman doesn't believe that the reduced credit rating for the United States will have much impact on everyday people.

"It's just an advertisement for the terrible procedures the government is following," he said. "Interest rates for business owners is determined by their own credit. The U.S. Treasury also said it wouldn't raise interest rates."

Franczak said, though, that serious investors should follow a basic strategy: "You sell when the market is up and you buy when the market is down.

"Believe me, in the last couple of days, some people could have made a ton of money."