They may not do well in the next several months, but looking ahead two or three years, investors may see some of the best opportunities of their lives

The title is a quote from an interesting article in Barron's.  Number one rule of investing: If you're losing sleep over your investments, something's not right.  This is quite literally an excellent rule.  The idea is to take just enough risk to make you a teeny bit uneasy from time to time.  But you shouldn't be losing sleep, even at times like this.

If you are that fearful or obsessed about your paper losses over the last month, you need to do something.  Maybe it's simply to cal your financial advisor.  Maybe it's to change your allocation.  It's okay to do whatever you need to sleep better.

Remember that, just like at any time, any decision you make now will carry consequences and risks, so be sure to have as clear a picture as you can of what those are.  Also be clear with yourself that your account balance is what you see in front of you--it isn't what it was a month or a year ago.

Stocks may go much lower, or they may bounce around for months.  Or, they may go higher.  No one knows.  Try to be rational, and take the severe doom-and-gloomers with a grain of salt.  Virtually all of them are long-time gloom-and-doomers and, like the proverbial broken clock that is right twice a day, they have now, finally, been right.  This doesn't mean they are correct in what they predict now.

The Barron's piece provides some perspective.  For the supremely rational, there are some interesting opportunities.