Bank of America and Goldman Sach - Right day to buy them?

It's a better day than Friday, for sure. I think buying any financial sector stock is quite risky, so don't invest anything you can't afford to lose. That said, I'm buying both and MS. I'll probably buy some more JPM and possibly some WFC too. I sold RBS and lost quite a bit there, but I plan to buy again when the dropping is done.

It's always harder to call the bottom on the way down. I'm often wrong especially in this market. I'm waiting until tomorrow or possibly Wed. to buy.

This is called "catching a falling knife" and I'm sure I'm not the first one to tell you this. I suggest you wait for these financial stocks to at least "stop falling" before you enter positions. Everybody keeps thinking that the pain is over, and then there is more. That's been the pattern. The CEOs come out and say everything is OK, and then the next week they are being liquidated. There is no good reason to buy here. If you think it's such a great value, look how all of the energy/commodity value plays have performed since mid-July. This is one of those rare period in time where value is failing. I believe it will eventually bounce back, but you need to wait for the carnage to settle down. Following this ideology means you will not buy at the exact bottom..... but hopefully it will mean that you don't keep sliding down either. Be careful.

The market was down 500+ points today and my portfolio here is UP over 6% because of my ultrashort ETFs like SKF, SCC, SRS, TWM, etc. I am not closing any of those positions until the market tells me it is done dropping, which it has not. I think we will, at the very least, see the DOW revisit the 10,800 level.

I've lost my pants this week thinking I know where market goes..
dirtyharry - I wish I had your portfolio today :-(

Well, I've lost my pants since Jul 15, AND, I actually DID predict where the market would go. On July 15 I predicted that was the market bottom, and was right. I subsequently opened a lot of value positions - in oil. PBR, MUR, XOM, etc. I was punished for chosing value.

I fortunately got out of oil at the end of August before the next leg down. I figured if war in Russia, a hurricane that knocks out 15% of the U.S. refinaning capacity and causes almost $2B in damage, and Iran's continued saber rattling couldn't drive up oil, nothing would. Now we have USO dumping......

I bought very little since it is risk taking behavior to the extreme, but I know I enjoy taking those risks on occasion AND I usually lose when I do. In reality, I added to my ultrashorts just like DH mentioned above.

DH- I think the dow is already at 10,800. I wonder what tomorrow will be like - any predictions?

I think we will at least visit 10,800 during normal trading hours. I don't know if that will happen tomorrow, but there's a good chance it could.

dirtyharry - i dont quite agree with you that we have reached the market bottom on july 15, I think we are slowly getting there but there are still quite some significant institutions in financial trouble which will impact the markets badly if they are not provided with the needed funding.

I would not go long any financial stock at this stage - i def have a more bearish view for the next month or two.

I would recommend holding ETF's shorting the market, SKF, SRD, SDS,...

I'm referring to interim bottoms, not "The Bottom". As a swing trader I'm seeking market reversals every 2 weeks to 2 months (roughly) so I can trade in the other direction and take advantage of major market moves. I did some research on the lows of July 15, 2008, and investigated the last date a particular index had been at that low, or lower:

DOW: July 15 08 10731.96 Last time: 7/17/06
S&P: July 15 08 1200.44 Last time: 7/19/06
NASDAQ: July 15 08 2167.29 Last time: 3/17/08 (another "bottom")

Perhaps we don't have the same understanding of what a "bottom" is, because to me it's clear July 15 was an interim bottom across the board. Maybe I was unclear that I was referring to what I like to think of as tradable, interim bottoms.

We are now heading towards a new, interim bottom, in my opinion. We may stop at the 10,800 level, or keep going. Hard to say at this point. We're definitely in agreement though that UltraShort ETFs might be the best way to go during this difficult time in the market.

I've decided to close my shorts after all. The futures market is now suggesting a Fed cut, possibly as high as 0.50. I don't want to be short if/when that happens. Once the market manipulation is over, I'll consider hopping back in.

It wasn't a good day for shorts necessarily but then tomorrow might be. It is a crazy market. Normally, I cut bait at 8% but am considering making it longer - what percentage do you use or do you exact prices on each stock?

Oh yes, ghantal. It was the right time to buy them but now should you dump and collect or hold and hope it goes higher? I'm thinking hold for now.

I am holding. Someone said it right "History always repeats itself" I am holding BAC, GS, MER in my real portfolio. I am adding very small amount of SKF and the day i see myself cashing out from BAC, GS and MER i will add more SKF.

Personally I see market in positive territory till mid of next week .