First, despite the upheaval in the market, I suggest you take a deep breath and remember that at some point, this will end, as have all other down times in the market. Second, the events of recent days only reinforce how important it is to have a plan and to stick to it. And third, I’m only a email (carl@www.behaviorgap.com) away if you have any questions.

I know that it isn’t easy to watch what’s happening on Wall Street and not wonder how it will impact your life. It’s hard to see companies like Lehman and Merrill Lynch effectively cease to exist. These companies were well known in the investing world and absorbing the change is a challenge. However, it helps to keep in mind they aren’t the first and they won’t be the last.

Brent Arends in The Wall Street Journal points out that we’ve seen big companies go kaput and the world kept turning:

The collapse of Barings in 1994, Long Term Capital Management in 1998, 9/11, and the WorldCom panic of 2002: These things happen quite often. And when you are slap bang in the middle of them, they always feel terrifying.

Someone in finance said to me quite casually the other day that this was “much more terrifying than 9/11.” Really? Are people kidding? Right now, there is no reason to speculate on banking stocks. There never was.

As I wrote in A Manual for Scary Markets, it is OK to feel nervous during scary markets, but it is NOT OK to act on the fear. I’d encourage you to take a look at a new section of the Behavior Gap website called Cover to Cover. There you’ll find magazine covers from some of the most popular publications that highlight how easily the media can turn an event into a crisis of global proportions. The covers usually get it wrong, focusing on one aspect of investing and ignoring what else is happening in the market, but it can be hard to ignore what you see on the newsstand.

So, I’d encourage you to think about the following:

• Oil hit $92 a barrel in Asia overnight
• Due in part to lower energy prices, consumer confidence is actually up
• CPI figures show the first drop in consumer prices in two years
• Despite Lehman, Merrill, and the rest, financial stocks as a whole are actually up 9% since July.

The people who get hurt in markets like this one are speculators, people without a plan who are looking to get rich quick. This isn’t you. Remember that you have a plan and that by sticking to the plan you’ll still be able to achieve your goals. Again, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.