Guidant Financial Group Blog

Ugh.

We think we could probably sum up our feelings on the official bear market in that one word; however, some commentary might be appropriate during this time of grief .

As we are sure many of you have heard, today the S. & P. 500 entered its first official bear market since 2002 (see S. & P. 500 Enters Bear Market as Stocks Plunge).

Ugh . . . a thousand times over.

Not to be outdone, the Dow Jones made its mark by falling 236.77 points, landing at 11,147.44. For those of you who are counting, a closing at 11,147.44 makes it the lowest close of the year.

Remember when the Dow topped 14,000? Believe it or not, that was almost exactly a year ago.

Hurt too much to remember? It does for us too.

This is one of those times when we feel really good about what we do. Thanks to Guidant’s self-directed IRA services, there are people out there who are not hurting because of the 3,000 point drop in the market. There are clients of ours who have been able to invest their retirement funds in other assets – like real estate, tax liens, and loan notes – to cushion the blow when something like this pops up (or down).

Ready to get off the rollercoaster? One year is a long time to ride just one attraction. Mix it up a little – call us.