January 24, 2008 3:58PM

Take Your Finger Off the Panic Button

By Cheryl Casone

I’m about to walk over to Neil’s FNC show for a quick hit (as in my daily Neil Cavuto fix). The piece I am doing for him might be of interest to you web surfers during this crack cocaine week of stock trading:

“ACCORDING TO TRIM TABS, NERVOUS INDIVIDUALS HAVE PULLED ABOUT FORTY ONE BILLION DOLLARS OUT OF THEIR MUTUAL FUNDS IN THE LAST THREE WEEKS. YOU THINK YOU DODGED A BULLET, BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE MARKET REBOUNDS AND YOU MISS IT…..WHICH YOU MOST LIKELY WILL.

STOCKS LONG TERM IS THE BEST THING GOING. FROM JANUARY OF 1998 TO NOW, THE DOW HAS RISEN 60 PERCENT. THAT INCLUDES THIS YEARS SELLOFF, THE HOUSING SCARE, 9/11, THE WAR ON TERROR, CORPORATE SCANDALS AND THE POPPING OF THE DOT-COM BUBBLE. RIGHT NOW STANDARD AND POOR’S MODEL PORTFOLIO IS FIFTY FIVE PERCENT STOCK. THAT’S FIVE PERCENT LESS THAN BEFORE THE RECENT DOWNTURN. THEY SUGGEST SPLITTING THE REST BETWEEN BONDS AND MONEY MARKETS. BY THE WAY, S AND P SAYS THE STOCK PORTION SHOULD BE FIFTEEN PERCENT INTERNATIONAL

FOR THE YOUNGER INVESTOR, HEAVY STOCK POSITIONS ARE RECOMMENDED BY MOST FINANCIAL PLANNERS… AND THEN AS YOU GET OLDER YOU SLOWLY LIGHTEN UP ON STOCKS AND LOAD UP ON BONDS AND OTHER LESS VOLATILE INVESTMENTS.