NOWHEREMAN

S&P Returns Since 1927 Are Important

SPY: This is an index, the periods of time expressed show that this index is a good buy regardless of when you buy because it will eventually go up beyond the previous highs.

Unfortunately most people invest in individual stocks within the index, I don't know, maybe they would like to get the dividends that the individual stocks provide. They hear the mantra that "dividend paying stocks outperform".
And therein lies the crux, over time many of the individual stocks within the various Indexes no longer exist. The Cream of the Crop such as Enron, Bear S., Lehman, AIG which were Triple AAA investments at some point during their histories are all gone taking the individual investor with them. You know, the buy and hold for the future investor.

The individual investor's perception and risk tolerance have both been severely damaged. Holding a Mutual Fund is as bad as being invested with a Hedge Fund.

Within the last 10 years, individual investors have lived with the following: Internet Bubble, Housing Bubble, Ethanol Bubble,Commodity Bubble, Financial and now Solar Bubbles.

Don't expect confidence to resume any time soon. Obama's election will probably foster a major rally. Who knows, DOW 10,000 could be just around the corner.

There are an estimated 8,000 banks in this country, many will fail. The next shoe to drop will be in the Insurance Sector. In addition to the publically traded ones, there are thousands of others throughout the country who probably followed the investment style of the industry leader, AIG.

State Insurance Auditors have a time table, roughly 1/3rd of the insurance companies are audited every year. These audits are Calendar Year based and have standards which have to be met that allow insurers to write XYZ number of policys within each State. The Collateral held must be Marked to Market. This will be the next Shoe.