I haven't spoken about the stock market or the continuing decline in the Dow.  I haven't spoken about the current value of Real Estate, my home, my investment property or your home.  I haven't spoken about these things because like any good ostrich I put my head in the sand and hoped it would all go away.  Well it hasn't, I must admit it's probably not going to and worse yet it's time to face the music.  I received my monthly statements from my 2 stock brokers yesterday.  Very different accounts, with very different brokers, but still all that money invested in the stock market.  Well it's not ALL THAT MONEY any more.  Any hopes of taking advantage of good buys in Real Estate are temporarily gone and any thoughts of just kicking back and letting the world go by are gone too.  I called my husband and said my account is down 50% and he corrected me, no dear it's only down 47% percent.  Big whoop wrong by 3 points.  But one thing I do know.  Some stocks in my portfolio are now worth 0.  As in the past, my Enron stock is worth nothing, and several others I still hold are worth pennies on the dollar.  My real estate investments - not worth 0, not worth pennies on the dollar.  Down - sure - but nothing compared to the stock market.  Hmmm....maybe that means that my idea of taking advantage of the current market to buy additional investment property is a good one.  I do know for sure that my Real Estate investments will never go to zero.  My stocks, not so sure.