From Richard Russell, author of the daily Dow Theory Letters:
So far, this has been one of the most severely destructive bear markets in history. Almost no asset class has been spared. Stocks, commodities, housing, bonds have been battered. All the famous investors have been slaughtered -- Buffett, Pickens, Icahn, Adelson. Of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500, only 13 are up for the year. The Legg Mason Value Fund, which boasts the longest streak of beating the S&P 500, is down over 65% this year, the third year that the fund has under performed the S&P. According to Investor's Business Daily'sMutual Fund Index, the average growth fund is now down for the year around 44%. My own guesstimate is that the average US investor has lost over 50% of his or her assets so far this year. And the bear market is not over. The pros are struggling, global diversification has proved to be costly, the "buy-and-hold" method has been a disaster, bonds have not been a safe haven. One year ago gold was selling at 817. Over the last year gold is now up. Compared with almost every other asset class, gold has served us well as a safe haven.
Days like these, a haircut is infinitely preferable to a decapitation. But none of us is out of the barber chair yet...
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