For example, on the Sub-sector level, we have recently seen the Diversified Financials reverse on their RS chart vs. the market, as has Household Goods. If you drill down a little deeper, to the Mini-sector level, you can see for example that Food Products has shown a similar positive upside reversal on its RS chart vs. the market. This is good information to have as you develop your Shopping Lists of ideas for when we move back to an offensive posture." (My apologies to All, Dorsey Wright Analytics included, for the lengthy quotation; it includes much fodder for deep and lengthy thought.)

An illuminating moment, for me, occurred during Thursday's debate. Biden and Palin bloviated about this and that, and ignored blithely the chaos in the financial markets. And then it struck me: each candidate assumes this moment in (financial) history shall pass; heck, they have heretofore. (I recognize the candidates prefer to ignore the chaos for political reasons, as well.)

Markets come and go, prices rise and fall (and sometimes trend), but through thick and thin, value always is there; often elusive and sometimes illusive, but prices are each always. Value always wins out. Imagine, if you can, an ideal world, one in which business and continuing enterprise value predicate stock prices rather than the less meaningful (meaningless) price per share, and you will have a sense of what Oscar Wilde bemoaned so many years ago.

I invest long term, in companies that have continuing enterprise value, and excellent executives; moreover, I prefer and attempt to purchase these companies during intermediate term declines within a continuing long term uptrend, at or near price support, and retain some cash for times such as today. Finally, I do not worry overly much about long term investments whose share price declines only in sympathy with the market rather than from the pillaging of their business from lazy or crooked executives, disciplined competitors, or a diminishing opportunity in its chosen field of endeavour.

I acknowledge that perspective, experience, and the ability to discern what could occur next -- and a large helping of confidence! -- helps long term investors weather the frequent storms. But from such storms, such declines, as occurs today are borne the phenomenal buying opportunities of tomorrow. A tomorrow that will come, as certainly as the sun rises in the east and that night follows day.