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To: pater tenebrarum who wrote (67628)2/14/2001 1:34:57 PM
From: Horgad  Read Replies (4) | Respond to of 436258
 
Here is some anecdotal evidence to support your theory that people have not yet learned anything despite a 50% fall in the Nasdung. I have friend who called me to ask my advice on his latest venture into Cisco and Nokia. During the decline he was margined on the two and lost big. His broker sold his holdings without asking as the market tanked to comply with minimum asset requirements. He actually said this helped him because he got out at higher prices. If it was up to him, he would have held on through the decline.

Now he has added money to his account and thrown everything back into Cisco and Nokia fully margined. His theory being that they will bounce one more time and he will be able to sell and recover all his previous losses. He said the stock market has to go up since Greenspan is cutting rates.

As of yet I have declined to give him any advice for fear that the market will bounce one more time and he will blame me for not getting to recoup his losses. He came to me for advice because of my bearish stance for the last three years. Of course, he thought I was full of shit then but now he thinks I may have been on to something...

In conclusion I think that the psychology has changed. The buy the dippers are not hoping to make a million anymore. Instead they are hoping to break even. This is an important step on the road to the panic selling that we will see in the future. I am not sure what it will take before people move from hoping to break even into trying to salvage whatever they can from their stock holdings, but it is coming.