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That last dip on that chart scared a lot of people off. I know some swore they would never own stocks again. It was sad really. One friend watched it go all the way to the bottom and then panicked and pulled it out after his 401k was destroyed. If he had left it alone he would have been OK but instead he moved to cash and watched it go back up. I wonder if the years of basically nothing returns have changed his mind and he went back in. I know now doesn’t seem like a good time to bail back in.

At three hours before opening stock & metal futures are flat, but things keep happening:

Nasdaq Ekes Out Another Gain As Market Catches Its Breath
08/05/2013 06:53 PM ET - The major indexes closed mixed in narrow-ranged trading Monday as volume cooled. But growth stocks continued to move in the right direction for the bulls. Sellers held the upper hand at the open, as all of the key averages started the day with losses. But, as often seen during a healthy uptrend, the tide turned after a half hour's worth of trading. The ..
Obama to urge Congress in speech to shutter Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

Fox News - 9 hours ago President Obama will urge Congress to shutter Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-giants bailed out by the government in 2008, as part of a strategy to buffer taxpayers from future housing market downturns.
Economists favor Yellen for Fed chair

CNNMoney - 25 minutes ago Female economists aren't the only ones who want Janet Yellen to be the new Federal Reserve chair. A CNNMoney survey of 21 economists -- mostly male -- showed lots of support for Yellen and virtually none for the other frontrunner, former Treasury ...

watched it go all the way to the bottom and then panicked and pulled it out after his 401k was destroyed.

Supposedly the manager of the Harvard endowment did that and the college lost billions. For me one of the lessons here is never act on emotion, and the other is to always watch the long run. That big dip in '09 was big but not as low and long as the malaise daze. That was followed by a tripling of money buying stocks:

That last dip on that chart scared a lot of people off.

I was fortunate enough to almost completely miss the 2000 crash... and, was given excellent timing information from a newsletter guy, Bob Brinker, to get back in the market in March 2003. Perfect!

In 2008, I was actually OUT of the market in May through August... misseed the 20% sell-off. Then, I convinced myself that the worst was over, and moved back in... :-(

The worst was NOT over... it had just started. By October, I was mostly OUT... and, stayed out for longer than I should. In fact, I've NEVER been fully in the market since. But, I have been able to catch a good deal of the upside in the past year and a half.

I'm about 50% in cash now... every instinct I have wants me to put MORE in the market... but, this is August. And, feel a LOT like I did in 2008. I keep thinking I'll wait for a pullback... but, the pullbacks have been few, and weak.

So... I'm stuck.. sitting here paralyzed.. trying to just not worry about anything.