I have a difficult time finding the right tone reporting the wild gyrations that we’ve been seeing in the stock market lately. On the one hand, bear markets are part of a normal cycle. Thankfully, bull markets are much longer lasting.

However, these are extraordinary times. Keeping it in perspective is challenging when things are unfolding as fast and furious as we’ve seen.

There is an old bear market expression: “Don’t just do something. Stand there.”

The worst thing to do is succumb to the kind of fear that drove the Dow down nearly 800 points on Monday. What exactly unhinged investors? The House of Representatives voted down a rescue package that lawmakers from both sides promised would be approved. It was a shock, given all the assurances.

But as one veteran trader said that day, “I learned early in my career not to bet on the end of the world. It comes only once.”

And guess what? Congress is voting again. Avoid the knee-jerk reaction in investing your money.

Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.

None other than Warren Buffett subscribes to that theory. And he put his money where his mouth is today, when he bought $3 billion worth of preferred shares in GE and the right to buy $3 billion more. GE, considered a bellwether for the U.S. economy, has seen its shares lose a third of their value this year.  And last week he bought $5 billion worth of Goldman Sachs stock. Goldman, of course, is a financial stock, a sector absolutely decimated. But unlike many of its rivals, Goldman has been making money all during this crisis.

Last week I saw a line of people on the street in midtown Manhattan waiting to get inside a private sale by Hermes, the French luxury company renowned for its silk scarves and leather goods. People were waiting to get something of value at a good price. Investors should think more like consumers.

Don’t go by day-to-day numbers, go for a longer time line.

We should all sit down periodically and review our investments. Is it diversified enough? Are you capitalizing on trends? Are you age appropriate in terms of risk?

Finally, the big moves on the Big Board are an easy way for the media to illustrate the great unwinding of the excess from the housing and credit bubbles.

My dad grew up during the Great Depression. People of his generation never forgot that and it is well documented that they spend within their means. They also are great savers. Maybe that’s a lesson we can learn from this crisis.

– Susan Lisovicz, Business Correspondent