Remember the trading frenzy of the late 90s when exchanges were considering 24 Hour trading?

   The dot-com crash of 2000 changed those plans and average investors got burned by a stock market that dropped relentlessly for nearly 2 years and lost nearly 40% of its value from the top to the ultimate lows of 2002. Bubble internet stocks of the day such as Amazon went from $1356 post-split to $5.51 pre-split ($66 post-split) before it was all over.

Then there was the recent crash of 2008-2009 where the DOW dropped from 14,279.96 in October 2007 to the ultimate lows of 6,440.08 reached in March 2009 - a stunning loss of 7839.88 points in only 17 months.
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Twice burned in a decade tends to scare investors into the safety of bonds but is such a strategy the right move for average investors? Read more »