Market volatility worries experts

Some investment experts grew cautious Thursday as stock markets plunged in the face of high oil prices and warning signs in the automotive, financial and high-tech industries.

"It is worrisome in terms of where do we go from here,'' said Philip Mead, chief investment officer at Feltz WealthPlan in Omaha.

Ron Carson, president of Carson Wealth Management Group in Omaha, said the slumping housing market and rising prices for fuel and food were hurting the economy.

"You can't have economic growth unless you have a stable housing market,'' Carson said. "Right now, we're nowhere close to stable; we're continuing to deteriorate.''

Mead and Carson said further stock market drops were possible.

Roland Manarin of Manarin Investment Counsel Ltd. in Omaha said the markets appeared to be driven primarily by the latest headlines and that fundamentals of the economy remained positive.

"The quantity of money is huge, the price is low,'' Manarin said. "I think (investors) should break the cookie jar and buy more.''

Russ Kaplan of Kaplan Investments in Omaha said the stock markets were bearish and nervous and a recovery might take longer than he had thought earlier this year. But he wasn't panicking.

"I'm certainly not selling and I'm buying selected positions,'' Kaplan said.

Mead suggested that people with long-term investment horizons and balanced portfolios should sit tight, while people wanting to retain current earnings could consider moving money out of the markets and into more stable investment vehicles such as municipal bonds or inflation indexed Treasury notes.

Carson said the volatile stock markets make more active investment decisions a higher priority than in years past and most people would do well to seek advice from investment managers.

"The days are gone when people can just buy, hold and forget about their portfolios,'' Carson said. "You've got to work with someone who will reallocate at least once a quarter.''