WITH PANIC AND UNCERTAINTY IN THE STOCK MARKET COMES GREAT OPPORTUNITY!

There seems to be a building panic and uncertainty in the stock market media of late and why not, there are a lot of things going on in the world to bring the market down.  However, when have we not had a lot of problems in the world?  Jeff Goldblum's character in one of the Jurassic Park movies says, "Nature always finds a way."  In economics, business always finds a way to make money.  As investors, it's up to us to find the right investments at the right price that are going to make money.  In the current investment climate there is no room for panic, it's time for cool collective analysis.  It's time to take advantage of the great opportunity that's about to present itself in the next few months.

For those who keep there cool and are courageous enough to weather the downward trend in the market, it is time to pick up some quality dividend stocks at bargain prices.  I've been writing a lot lately about how much I've saved on everyday purchases with coupons and sales, now the stock market is about to go on sale and I'll be buying.  What I'll be buying is yet to be determined, but I fully intend to purchase as many shares of stock as my budget will allow while prices are down.  In keeping with this train of thought, I've reset both my investment accounts to reinvest all dividends for the foreseeable future.  Not only will I benefit from lower prices, but I'll save on commissions since reinvested dividends are commission free. 

ADJUSTING MY INVESTMENT STRATEGY

While revising my investment plan at the first of this year, I wanted to cut investment costs while increasing stakes in some of my long term holdings. At the same time, I set a goal to increase cash holdings as well. To attain both goals, I instructed my investment company to re-invest dividends on 6 of my top long term investments and had them pay the dividends from the other 22 stocks in my regular portfolio to my money market account.

By doing this, I'll be increasing my stakes in the my top 6 long term holdings, while keeping investment costs low. (My investment company charges no commissions for re-invested dividends). This still leaves me with an income stream of dividend payments from 8 to 12 stocks each month. The dividends from those stocks will build cash holdings in my money market account, with or without any additional money invested on my part.

I do plan to invest additional funds in some of the energy partnerships. I've been doing quite well with those as far as price appreciation and dividend income. Considering energy prices are still relatively low, I would expect these investments to do quite well as the overall economy begins to recover and energy prices go up.