I've always told you that there is absolutely no excuse for losing big money in the stock market. Every big move yells at you from the charts at least six weeks before the fall. I don't know if this link will work, it's to IBD where they display Goldman, Merrill, and Lehman, which are big big losers of the past month together with the chart tips and article explaining why. Note that all gave the final final sell signal in early September when all crossed the red line together with huge volume.