Clobberin' Time!

This cold has knocked me out for several days, so I've been getting up late enough to miss virtually entire market sessions. Getting up at 11:15 a.m. (HST) today gave the chance to turn on the laptop and be shocked by the 98-point drop in the Nasdaq. Here's a stock ticker I would empathize with: "OUCH."

When I look at my "real" shares of Apple and Research in Motion, I can't help but think that a sell at the start of the year would've been wise. We all know there are investors who waited until Jan. 1 to unload shares and hold off paying the tax until 2009. But today's jobs report put a sour taste into the market, and across the board, stocks were clobbered. Only a few survived in the green, such as XM Satellite Radio.

All the traditional mettle about holding shares long pertained to the market of two or three years ago. Since then, trading in and out has been the superior methodology. Apple at 180? Why would the globe's top growth company plunge more than 10 bucks in the face of a seemingly soft recession? I see consumers choosing a Hybrid car over a gas guzzler. I see consumers spending less on expensive clothes and opting for Ross Dress for Less more. But I do not see them passing up a new iPod Touch or Macbook. People will still treat themselves when it comes to technology, especially cool tech. This is not a Depression we're seeing ahead.

My shares of RIMM are hurting, particularly my swing-trade shares. Could've sold at 122, as Pete Najarian did with his RIMM options. Who knew that RIMM would nosedive back to 103 — lower than it was pre-earnings — even on a robust earnings report and raised guidance? Ridiculous. But that's the market for you.

It's clobberin' time and only the brave will wade into the water. Reminds me of one of ABC's shows of 2006, Invasion. Anyone who got into the water was eventually attacked by a mutated, alien manta ray-like creature, and then you became a human-alien hybrid. Then the hybrid men impregnated human females (sneaky invading bastards). Doomed, doomed, doomed. Well, before we got to know exactly where civilization was headed, the show was cancelled and I was left hanging. I tend to think our economy — and the market — are in slightly better health.