"The opposite side of irrational exuberance is irrational pessimism, and neither one is a good path to your financial goals," Ritter said.

John Dorfman, portfolio manager of the Dorfman Value Fund, is preparing for a rally after the United States picks its next president in the Nov. 4 election. "I see a lot of bargains out there," Dorfman said.

Even the generally pessimistic Stathis hasn't given up all hope. As more investors fled the market late Thursday, he bought 900 shares of Pfizer Inc.

In related news:

• President Bush will take the unusual step of meeting at the White House on Saturday with G-7 finance ministers and the heads of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Bush's meeting will coincide with the first meeting of the Group of Seven industrial nations since the financial meltdown accelerated last month.

• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is considering having the U.S. government invest in banks in an effort to resolve the deepening credit crisis, Perino told reporters at a briefing. "Not taking them over" but taking "an equity stake," she said.

• Banks borrowed in record amounts from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, while investment banks drew loans at a brisk — though slightly lower — pace, fresh proof of the credit problems gripping the country. The Fed's report released Thursday said commercial banks averaged a record $75 billion in daily borrowing over the past week. That surpassed the old record — a daily average of $44.5 billion — logged in the previous week. On Wednesday alone, $98 billion was drawn, an all-time high.

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Contributing: Jeannine Aversa, Dave Carpenter, Candice Choi, Mark Jewell and David Pitt, Associated Press; Demian McLean, Bloomberg News