If you have been tracking the stock market lately and are invested in some form one way or another, you probably feel like you are on an amusement park ride. An extreme roller coaster. One you see on the travel channel as the most extreme roller coaster in North America. Relax, if you follow the stock market and are indeed invested in it, you know this has happened before and will happen again. How long do roller coaster rides last? Not very long. In fact there are very short term in nature. Success in the stock market for the common man is long term in nature. The roller coaster has been alive and well for decades in the stock market and has always done one thing at the end of the day: it has come to a stop. More importantly, when it comes to a stop, investors have also been alive and well. Long term that is.

Boy does the media love drama! With all the economic gloom and doom, there is plenty of drama to take advantage of. The Stock Market is front and center on the current stage. Gains and losses of 400-500 points every other day will do that. If an investor was to succumb to all the economic fears that are prevalent, he or she could not be blamed for taking all their money out of the market. The problem is when. Depending on the day, thousands, even millions of dollars could be lost or gained. So when do you jump out of the roller coaster? Never. You would plummet to your death! So when do you hyprothetically jump out? Again, never! Remember, the roller coaster always comes to a stop.

In this tense economic climate, the true measure of someone who has money in the stock market will be registered. A true investor is in it for the long term. A speculator is in it for the short term. If you are a speculator, stock up on your medication. The short term for your gold and oil don't look so good. If you are an investor, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Your 401k's, IRA,s and securities are fine.

Oh, and of course, watch the spectacle that is the liberal media.You just never know when the world is going to end. Right now, they say, the financial world is ending. Wasn't that supposed to happen last year? And the year before, and the year before that? I am getting that roller coaster ride feeling.