Market Paranoia

The NYSE is plunging as I write this, mostly in response to the losses in the Chinese stock market.  The herd mentality which drives this selling spree is fascinating.  Despite the analysis of the US economy which says the Chinese economy is not a large enough factor to affect us, the institutional investors who make up the largest share of the stock exchange activity are selling madly.  I have always been told and Warren Buffet is the biggest exemplar of the strategy of buying and holding stocks whether the market is up or down.  It would be interesting to see how many erstwhile Buffet acolytes are participating in today's market sell off.