The market seems to be selling-off on the back of limited bad news imo, apart from the dollar that is.

If you can hold your nerve and apart from any short term requirements to offload poor performing stocks, I have a couple!!, my advice would be sit tight. This does not have the feel of the tech(mining!) bubble at all. Difference being there are a lot of good fundamentals, unlike in 2000 when there were a lot of over rated nothing companies.

Its "Blackdays" Brother :-)

If this does turn out to be a bear market rather than a severe correction I cant see it lasting a long time. Historically Bear markets last for between 9 and 10 months, but I cant see that amount of time in the doldrums this time.

One could say that the Top 100 and 250 were fully valued and being pushed by takeover and merger activity , but within the small caps other than the commodity and oils sectors (I see the bubble bursting here and have been well away from the sector for the last 12 months) P/Es have remained fairly low.

Some tech shares and retail shares trade on very cheap P/E multiples. Might have another 14 days of volatility but Im hoping we are going to recover going into late summer.

What a crap week this is ! my portfolio of sm. caps & Aim stocks down this week by 15% and still falling,, this is with shares that were already undervalued and destined for great things.

Think is a classic sell in May and go away situation with the US interest rates and higher inflation a trigger for the sell off...
I think the market will drift down until later in the summer (late Sept.) when the bulls will return to pick up bargains..
In the meantime, until things settle down, I can see a further 10% fall in my portfolio and maybe in the FTS as well !

I'm thinking we might be in for a soggy summer too. Am toying with the idea of experimenting with a covered warrant to bet on the market sinking a bit further, before going bargain hunting after the kerfuffle dies down.

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/comment/2006/c060515g.htm?NavLoc=fp_welcomeback&NavFrom=home&NavTo=comment

Not sure which way it'll go. But any negative surprises won't be taken well, and positive RNS's seem to be ignored at the moment. I've been reducing most of my portfolio over the last 2 weeks. Fortunately I disposed of all my miners first (last week). I've reduced my portfolio further today, and I'm now 70/30, cash/equities. If I miss a big rally, so be it. Until I'm convinced there's some strength behind a move up, I'd rather take the safe option. I also think we'll drift over the summer, and less volatility should provide support for a move up again in the Autumn.

Strawbs.

Funny you should post that GF , in this months Quantum Leap ,(and i quote)

Respected fund manager Anthony Bolton of Fidelity has been quoted recently as saying UK shares are too high and headed for a fall.This will have alarmed many investors .My advice is to pay no attention .He may be right ,more likely he is wrong. (unquote) .

Well he's half right ,lets see where we go from here ..

For what it's worth, when looking at FTSE 100, 350, Small Caps and AIM all shares Charts, all are still above the 200 Day Moving Average, though FTSE 100 is fairly close. Sep 05's market correction did not cross this line, but did so in 04. It remains to be seen whether this will be the support, we're not that far away from that testing moment.

Jimmy, I think Bolton is and as been a very good fund manager one of the very best, but hes retiring and as hand picked his successor (2 of them) himself.

What better way to hand over the job but at the beginning of a new bull run say 12 months down the line and obviously he does nt want his reputation damaging at the very end of a distinguished career.

cheers Gf.

I reckon this is a pause for breath - an ugly heaving great big pause, but just a pause.

ST - BLVN showing good strength in light of the panic

Strangely enough, yes.

EPY holding up well after it's RNS yesterday

What about an Investors STRIKE??????????, show the MMs we mean business.

Yup, no one buy anything for three months ,they'll be begging us to come back ,mind you is it their fault this time.??. I'm actually out of almost everything right now and playing Backgammon for Dollars on the net ,there is going to be some bargains about soon,but when ??..i'm waiting .

I think buyers are back for bargain hunting today

Not convinced this market has turned hlyeo .

I'm not convinced either. I think pushing the price up on some of these shares will encourage people to get back in because they've had such a good run. If it's a false rally though then that could be an expensive mistake. Think I'll sit on my hands for a while yet.

Strawbs.

Are you guys investors or short term traders?

If you are short term opportunists, to some extent we all are I know, but if you are holding for the long term what is all the fuss about, it is not as black as you paint it.

If I'm honest maybe there will be some further losses, but over 3-5 years woder where we'll be? my guess is 7000

Is oil & gas and commodities really going to drop back that much, how much at the pump?

Is India, China Asia really pulling back??

Is the US slowing down?

Are the Uk companies not making decent profits?

The market frets from tim to time and gets ahead of itself.

IMO this is a short term breath for air and maybe we'll see 5400 and maybe lower again, but we'll move forward, the end is not nigh my friends.

If you do trade my proposal is you open up some shorts/longs

Short-long the ftse/dow/nas at 10-20 per point. That way you lock in profits and if the market falls you use those profits to reinvest?

Likewise if the market rises, hopefully you sell some of your gains to pay your losses! either way you can stand still for a while if thats what you want to do until the market gets direction?

I'm generally a long term investor, but do go overweight when I see the potential for extra returns. I try to buy when the market is on the floor and sell before the market is done, rather than chase the money. I sold my entire portfolio 6 weeks before the tech bubble crash and didn't invest again for nearly 2 years. I've done very well out of a bull market that's now been running for 3 years, and I'm expecting a downturn before too long, so for me it's time to lock in my profits and sit things out until the dust settles. I sold my mining portfollio 2 weeks ago, and now hold only a handful of oil and gas stocks. If I feel the time is right, I'll sell them too and walk away. If history is a guide to the future, there will be another major correction. Maybe not today or even this year, but it will come. With options expiry in the US today, don't be surprised if things get choppy again this afternoon. As ever though. Just my opinion. Good luck with your investments.

Strawbs.