It is ridiculous to say that you should hold on to your stocks
when you see an impending financial crisis like the one that
unfolded recently. This is even more so when the market was at the
highs.
You cannot in the name of 'long term investment' behave if not a
stupid manner then a careless and irresponsible manner.
Now that the prices has come down it is time to consider buying
stocks again. What you need to do is to study which blue chip has
come down to decent valuations. You do not need to time the bootom,
like you said, but there are seasons when you do not even consider
buying stocks and there are times when you consider buying
stocks.
When the market was at the highs and valuations was not
attractive, you would not consider buying even though you might
want to hold on to your positions, those you had bought
earlier.
When the situation is dire like recently (from mid of last
year), you do not even want to hold on to your positions. You clear
everything and wait.
Wait for what? Wait for the market to down and start looking at
the stocks that you want to buy, those that are blue chips and with
decent valuations.
The US has probably entered into recession and the markets will
be very volatile. This would be a good time to pick up some good
buys at prices you would not be able to get except in a
recessionary period.
When your time-frame is in terms of years, as a long term
investor's would be, there is no hurry. Take your time, consider
the stocks you would like in your portfolio, and buy when the
market crashes.
In summary, do not buy (but hold) when the
market is bullish, sell when the economy is turning
down (but markets have not reacted), wait after
selling, evavluate what to buy (now),
then buy when the market crashes and wait a couple of years or more
until the next cycle.
