mightandpower, you are correct with my approach. I am not saying...

mightandpower, you are correct with my approach. I am not saying its the one that should be followed but has worked extremely well for me.

I would not have a clue on how much more decline in terms of % there is to go. I just cant forecast it, let alone attempt to. The thing to keep in mind and I agree with Sam Wylie's views in the AFR today that broadly many quality businesses are oversold. Many have warranted a sell off no question. Just to give a quote from the article which excellently puts it in perspective of how emotion drives change: "the greed is individual (referring to stock movements) but fear is collective".

A yardstick used to determine the days moves (generally) is the DOW. The dow is made up of 30 organisations merely representing American capitalism rather than market cap. For the ASX 200 to be %9 lower ytd (Jan 08) and the dow sum %8.3 makes no sense in my opinion. But, being in a public market place one should be ready to pounce during times like these. Seems like the 70s all over, a year I remember when the mood was horrible but yet Warren Buffett was snapping up companies like no tomorrow as price was depleted well below value for the long term. A process of not look in the rear view mirror.

I believe TOL is one organisation that fits the bill of being caught up in mess that may still have a few legs yet to go.