We all know that the US debt was downgraded at Standard and Poor's this past weekend. If you didn't, then apparently you live under a rock. The truth is that it really didn't come as a surprise. Standard and Poor's (along with Moody's and Fitch) put the US on negative watch back in April, but the timing sure didn't help the already weak markets.
How to still come out alive? Well, first take a deep breath and realize that it was already coming and most of the news is already priced into stocks where they are now. Get back to basics with your trading plan. If you did have any loss protection measures in place last week I bet you learned a good lesson to keep with you from here on out.