A Bloodbath or a Buying Opportunity?

People just love it when their investments get hammered and someone else calls it a buying opportunity. Enough mail has been directed this way during weeks like this to confirm this sentiment (none this week, but the week's not over).

But really, think about it a bit. How boring would it be if everything you owned always went up?

Oh yeah, it's called fixed income - five percent. A couple years ago it was a lot less.

From the looks of the first week in 2007, maybe that fixed income allocation should be reviewed and bumped up a little bit.

Things started out OK on Tuesday, but once trading resumed in New York on Wednesday, commodities got walloped. Oil was a big loser for the week, falling to levels many thought would never be seen again. Others think $55 a barrel is still $20 too high.
The big oil companies didn't do so well either.
Gold did well on Tuesday, then after a little buying on Wednesday, the Fed meeting minutes were released and everone got scared again - a quick $15 off the top. When the labor report was released earlier today, everyone became horrified.
And of course silver followed gold, just a little more dramatically when the price movement is measured as a percent change.
The chart for the unhedged gold miners looks a lot like the one for the oil producers - they held up well today even though the metals were being pummeled.
And the dollar rebounded - let's see how long this dollar strength lasts.
If the first week of the year is any indication, we are in for a wild ride in 2007.