Most investors have been expecting a stock market correction. Yet, very few have given up on the stock market. Mutual-fund companies have been adding telephone staff to prepare for a flood of calls from customers who are nervous about their portfolios. Those operators have handled very few calls. Most of the selling going on these days is coming from the institutions and not the average Joe and Jane investor.
Institutions are short-term traders by nature.
Your neighbor, on the other hand, is long-term oriented. To me, the trigger event this week wasn't the Microsoft, consumer price index or comments by Alan Greenspan. Poor planning, lack of financing and unrealistic expectations will wash out many of these firms. Unfortunately, some investors threw out the baby with the bath water. What this report promises is the great opportunities of the legitimate companies that built the foundation for technology.