Voices

“It is important to remember that the fundamentals of the United States economy are strong and have been for the past several years. And the prospects for continued growth with low inflation and low unemployment are strong.”

--U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin

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“I believe in the tuna fish theory of investing: If I told you that tuna fish was 25% off, you’d say, ‘Back up the truck and unload.’ Now that the market’s down 25%, the same theorem should apply. Things are on sale right now, and some marvelous companies are selling very cheaply.”

--Dean Witter broker John Oppenheim

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“What happened? My stocks are all down! But I’m not selling--what comes down must go up.”

--Norma Lizaso, a Los Angeles Unified School District employee upon checking stocks at the Charles Schwab brokerage office in downtown Los Angeles

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“I don’t intend to get out of the market, because it’s still the best game in town. Can you name a better place to put your money right now? Not in bonds and certainly not in savings and loans. It’s the only game in town.”

--Don Gimpel, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Assn. of Individual Investors, which counts 7,000 members

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“We were just sitting like a duck waiting to be shot, and that’s what happened.”

--Legendary trader Leo Melamed, chairman emeritus of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange

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“Nobody was crying on the phone. They kept saying: ‘This is an intermediate correction, right? This is like having a little earthquake so we don’t have the big one, right?’ ”

--Julie Sulser Stav, a Calabasas financial planner who has set up more than 30 women’s investment clubs across the country

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“I was able to get out early and cut some of the losses. But I’ll probably turn right around and buy more on Wednesday.”

--Scott Carhart, a Los Angeles salesman

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“I think most of the panic at this point is happening with the institutions, as opposed to the individual investors. Tomorrow’s going to be more of an indicator of how people are going to act.”

--Doug Hale, an account representative at Kennedy Cabot’s Newport Beach office

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“I smell a whiff of panic in the air. Investors finally realize the market is overpriced.”

--David Dreman, chairman of Dreman Value Advisors, which oversees $3.8 billion

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“I guess the $64,000 question is whether we would have been down 550 points if we didn’t remind everyone what was happening with the first circuit breaker.”

--A New York trader who declined to be identified

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“Our telephone volume was not out of the ordinary, and cash flows were decidedly positive. . . . We don’t expect that there will be heavy selling, but I don’t think anybody really knows.”

--Gus Sauter, a principal of the Vanguard Group mutual funds company

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“Markets do go up and down. . . . Investors should take a long-term perspective.”

--Alfred Berkeley, president of the Nasdaq Stock Market