LATEST STOCK MARKET DATA

Hot & Cold Sectors
Tracking the major movements across the best & worst performing industry sector indexes.
Dow 30 Stocks
Top Gainers & Losers
Major Indexes & Stocks to Watch

INVESTOR AGENDA

» More

- Nasdaq CEO Explains Facebook IPO's Bungle

TOP HEADLINES

» Markets | Economy | Companies

- 'Flash Sale' Sites: Gimmick, or the Future of Online Shopping?

FEATURED SLIDESHOWS

» More

Strategies For Business Financing
See the various forms of funding, and what entrepreneurs have used to build successful companies.
7 Electric ‘Super Cars’
Take a peek at some of the most luxurious electric cars available on the market.
The World's Best Places to Live
Cities in some of the world's biggest economies, including the U.S., missed the cut. So, which cities made the list?

MOST POPULAR

News

Blog Posts

Videos

SPECIAL REPORTS

» More

- The Facebook IPO
  Get up-to-the-second breaking news on the Facebook IPO, including in-depth coverage, expert analysis, and Facebook’s stock price.

HOT ON FACEBOOK

Fickle Stock Market Keeps Many Investors Guessing

Published: Friday, 7 Mar 2008 | 2:45 PM ET

Text Size

By: Jeff Cox
Special to CNBC.com

Job losses suddenly jump. So do worries about a recession. Investors brace for a huge selloff in the stock market

So what actually happens? Stocks rally, then head lower.

Wall Street followed an increasingly familiar pattern on Friday: Bad economic news sends stock futures plunging. But shortly after the market opens, bargain hunters and those looking to cover short positions swarm in to send indexes higher.
QUINONES
David Karp / AP

Then, after they make their profits and pull out, the markets fall again and spend the rest of the day struggling for direction.

"A lot of this bad (economic) news is kind of old news--I think it's already priced into the market," explains Matthew Tuttle, president of Tuttle Wealth Management. "As soon as I saw the bad (February jobs numbers) coming out I said, 'You know what? I'm going to buy.'"

In such a topsy-turvey market--where short-term traders seem to dominate--average investors might well want to remain on the sidelines.

"Until those numbers change, you don't want to get into the pricing game," says Tom Busby, CEO of Day Trading Institute, who is advising prospective investors to wait out the market turmoil even though he has been making money on short trades. "You just want to really protect yourself. It's better to be safe now than try to buy things at value."

Still, there are plenty of pros who think investors should wade into stocks now and not wait for the market to hit bottom.

"I think it's a healthy situation, moving these prices down to where they should be with all the uncertainty in this marketplace," says Warren Myers, of Walter J. Dowd. "Eventually it will be a buying opportunity...But again, you've got to be a little nimble on your feet and be selective in what you're looking at."

"This is a normal deleveraging process," agrees Vince Farrell, of Scotsman Capital Management. "We got drunk, we're sobering up, it's a process we have to go through."

With the current market climate in mind, Farrell is advising plays on large-cap multinationals like CNBC.com-parent General Electric [GE Loading... () ], Honeywell [HON Loading... () ] and International Business Machines [IBM Loading... () ].