Amid Near-Meltdown In Monday Stock Markets, Advisers Urge Investors To Stay The Course

As investors hammered stock markets Monday in the first day of trading since Standard & Poor's downgraded the nation's coveted AAA credit rating, veteran financial advisers urged clients not to panic and to stay the course. Why? Because this is not a repeat of 2008. The economy is no longer saddled with a huge housing bubble. Giant companies are not hovering near bankruptcy. And banks are not nearly as overleveraged. All that makes the economy less risky. ... At ProVise [a Florida-based investment firm], 40-year veteran Ferrara rattles off a series of positive economic signs, from strong corporate earnings and still low mortgage rates to falling commodity prices. If that's not enough, if a new recession arrives, maybe there's another solution, he says. "In 15 months, we get to elect new people in Washington." – St. Petersburg Times