Wednesday, August 11, 2010

"Flash Crash" Meeting Helps Prove a Point

Today, executives from large money management firms like BlackRock and Invesco are set to meet with finance academics at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to discuss the implications that the "flash crash" of May 6th, 2010 has for investors.

The "Flash Crash" was an event on May 6th, 2010 in which the major stock averages plunged dramatically in a span of a few minutes (the Dow was down 700+) and took a severe toll on investor confidence when it was revealed that the causes of the huge decline were unknown.While it may be a few days before we hear the results of the symposium, the meeting helps to prove an important point every Gen Y investor needs to hear: stop watching daily market movements!

This may sound somewhat silly when the media is constantly bombarding us with news of what the Dow and NASDAQ did that day but many investors who were watching the tape on May 6th were  scared into selling off key long-term investments for fear a collapse was coming. After all, many investors still think that if the so-called "Smart Money" on Wall Street is making a move, then they should be too.

On the other hand, the long-term investor who paid little attention to the market's gyrations and maybe only heard about the "flash crash" as an afterthought months later (if at all) was no doubt more disciplined in sticking to their investment plan. Ultimately, you save a lot of time, money and worry by simply turning off your TV sets and doing something else - regardless of what today's symposium determines.

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