What about jumping in and buying some companies right now?

I am holding off on doing anything right now, as there is still craziness out there.  I am not sure if what I am watching is even rational.  This evening, it's starting to look like global credit is going to seize up again.  I have no idea why it's happening; it doesn't make sense.  Russia has closed its market, which means the one thing that people need to have to make a rational decision--a price--isn't available.  It looks like there is a lack of confidence in the pricing mechanism of assets--stocks included.  It would help to explain what's happening out there, why banks appear to prefer to sit on cash and why credit looks like it's grinding to a halt again.  It all hints at more volatility in equity markets and companies that are not part of the current crisis are getting caught up--at least their valuations are getting caught up--in this crisis.
 
I am sitting on the sidelines for now.  I do expect excellent bargains--for banks, they'll be once in a lifetime--but I am not looking to hit the bottom of the market; I want to wait until the insanity abates.

Aside from commentators on CNBC and the Journal, I don't get a sense that what happened yesterday, September 14, 2008, has hit home.  In my opinion, yesterday we witnessed the single most significant event on Wall Street since the Great Crash of 1929.  It's amazing that two companies of the caliber of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers should, for want of a better term, disappear.  I am reeling at the announcement of the Federal Reserve that they have relaxed their standards for collateral.  However, what is just stunning is not only would someone actually ask the Federal Reserve for a bridge loan--and to add insult to injury, an entity that is outside of the regulatory purview of the Board--but that the request was not only consider, but is now being acted upon.

Aside from commentators on CNBC and the Journal, I don't get a sense that what happened yesterday, September 14, 2008, has hit home.  In my opinion, yesterday we witnessed the single most significant event on Wall Street since the Great Crash of 1929.  It's stunning that two companies of the caliber of Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers should, for want of a better term, disappear.  I am reeling at the announcement of the Federal Reserve that they have relaxed their standards for collateral.  However, what is just stunning is not only would someone actually ask the Federal Reserve for a bridge loan--and to add insult to injury, an entity that is outside of the regulatory purview of the Board--but that the request was not only consider, but is now being acted upon.