5 Investment Strategies Not to Follow in a Bear Market

The week of October 5, 2008 was one of the worst weeks in stock market history. What the markets did in one week, it took months and years to do in the past. The speed of events is absolutely incredible. Thanks to the Internet we are always in "live time" with the rest of the investment world.

No need to wait for the newspapers to be printed to tell us the overseas markets are down 5%. We can see watch the Tokyo market drive 10% while are eating breakfast. We can watch the futures of the Dow Jones Industrial Average recover from a 700 point loss and crossover into positive territory in a single morning, as it did on October 10, 2008. In one aspect, this ability is vital, however it can also encourage us to make rash decisions.

Here is list of 10 investment strategies not to follow in a bear market:

1: Sell everything: By selling everything your portfolio will not be able to recover when the market rebounds. If you are in cash, you have no chance of being in the market when it rebounds.

2: Watch your computer screen: Watching every tick on the computer screen can drive you crazy. Don't watch the stock market every minute of the day.

3: Watch the nightly news: Remember the news anchors only job is to get good ratings. Their job is tell you only the headlines. The more sensational the headlines are, the better it is.

4: Read the newspaper: Again, the job of the newspaper is to sell newspapers. Again they sell the headlines and not the entire reasons what caused the headlines.

5: Listen to the radio: Radio and radio talk shows are there to get ratings, too.

Also, keep in mind newspapers, news anchors, radio talk show hosts can't give you individual advice. They don't know your individual situation. They can answer your question in a 30 second segment or in a single email.

I am not saying you should stay uninformed, but what I am saying to for you to keep everything in perspective. If you get caught up the hype and the doom and gloom of every down tick of this bear market you will find yourself suffering from a condition stock market urasphobia. Ursaphobia is a term stock market psychologists refer to as "fear of a bear market" The term "ursa" is Latin for bear. The definition of a phobia is "to fear something". Put them together and you get Ursaphobia - The Fear of the Bear. So don't follow the five steps about to ensure you don't suffer from ursaphobia.