Stock Exchange The Australian 2005

Uncertain date

John Stapleton

THE flickering screens which line the public foyer of the Australian Stock Exchange's headquarters in Sydney were almost all red - indicating falling prices. Only the occasional green line indicated any movement upwards.

But the atmosphere amongst those who gathered to watch the screen was more curious than stunned; and while many admitted they may have made paper losses, almost without exception the punters were out looking for bargains.

Self-funded retiree Ron Allen, 66, cheerfully admitted he was down a quarter of a million over the past 48 hours, and was heading straight off to his broker to ``buy, buy, buy''.

``You don't panic when these things happen,'' he said. ``Today is a bit of a shock, but we believe it is short term. There were a lot of people in the market who shouldn't have been. I have the stamina to stay in there.''

His friend Nate Nissen, 73, another self-funded retiree living off his investments, said he would still be drinking champagne. ``This happens every ten years, a lot of young people haven't seen it and don't know what to expect. If people are smart enough they will come back into the market, there are a lot of buying opportunities.''

Many others agreed that one person's loss is another's gain. Sue Safi, 43, who has been investing for more than 20 years since her father gave her shares while she was in high school, survives comfortably by trading. ``I am still very happy with the stock market,'' she said. ``I bought CSL a year ago at $26 and they're trading at $85 today. I have made 18 to 35 per cent on my money over the past four years. This year I might only make 10 per cent.''

Ms Safi said a little research and common sense could avoid disaster. ``It is only those who went into mining, the greedy stocks, who have lost a lot.

``I think of investing in the stock market as like being on a diet. Today is a bad chocolate day and I have done badly; tomorrow I will be back on the lettuce and will do well again. There are a lot of buying opportunities now. As long as you have deep pockets and have made contingency plans then you will be fine.''

Other investors, watching the rapidly changing numbers, agreed. Pete and Jude Greenup, both in their late 50s and visiting from Armidale, followed the falling stocks with great interest, finally jumping in to buy Sigma shares to add to those they already own. ``A lot of companies have dropped dramatically, but in contrast to two years ago they are still up,'' Mr Greenup said. ``Personally we see this as a chance to pick up something cheaper, it is as much an opportunity as a difficulty. We have lost money from yesterday, but we're not looking to sell so it really doesn't matter. It only matters in the long term if it stays down, which we don't think it will. We have been doing this for 30 years, we have seen bad dips before, the worst was '87. That is why we don't think this is something to panic about.''