Today the stock market is down, the economy is in a profound crysis. The question on the mind of many is whether buying stocks from companies such as AIG, Lehman is a good idea. Well, its very difficult to give a definite answer.

One thing is obvious, there is just way too much uncertainty in the financials, so probably the best idea is to buy ETF (Exchange-traded fund) and Index Funds instead of massively investing in a bank or insurance company. ETFs are not doing so badly, the prices are low, but expect no gains in short term. Besides the obivious problems that led to the economic crysis, everything is aggravated by panic, after all "When people are scared, get greedy. When people are greedy, get scared." People are panicking, for good reasons basically, but they and they do stupid things like cashing out their retirement plans and such, without serious justification.

Despite all this you might make huge gains if you invest in the right companies ... the problem is ... which are the right companies. It is obvious that better days are ahead for the economy, but I would still be very cautious with my investments, especially with companies that hit rock bottom. Volatility is insanely high right now and the stock market is the ultimate financial roulette.

Usually it is an excellent time to invest when the economy is bad, the prices are down and sellers are more willing to bargain with buyers. The time to sell is when the economy is doing well, cashing in with a huge ROI. But of course there are risks, as it will be a while until the economy gets better. In the short term it's more likely it will get worse. Cash is tight, there is still a serious housing problem, credits is very hard to get, the bad mortgages are yet to end their damaging effect on the financials ... there are still many problems. All in all, it is a very complex problem with no definite answer.