Although governments and central banks around the world are trying to stop the financial tsunami from further causing damages to their institutions, the story of a huge Wall Street drop in stock market index brings shivers to my conscious. My day to day operations have not changed, but the effect of the financial meltdown will surely impact me in a noticeable way in the coming weeks.

On a bright note, if you have a lot of cash to spend, this is the best time to invest in stocks. Stock prices overall has been soft, so there are a lot of bargains to shop around. Once the market picks up its steam, you will have a huge return.

Unfortunately, many Americans, including myself, are not in such hopeful category. Some Americans are facing home foreclosures while others realize that much of their long saved assets are gone. The credit market is even tougher now to access, and thus the economy will slow down drastically. This Christmas will be a cold one for the millions.

Many are fearful that drastic change will be coming. Some try to be optimistic by clinging to the 2008 Presidential election as the key for solving the problem, but from my judgment none of the candidates have the plan or the resources to turn the financial crisis around, at least in the short term.

Many who work in giant financial institutions are fearful that their employer might go bankruptcy or a not-so-comfortable merger with another institution. Also, as winter comes along gas prices will increase steadily, and other essential commodities will be more expensive to purchase. There might be a candle light of hope, but the engulfing cloud of darkness is situating in everyone’s mind.

My take is to learn and use this fear for our own purpose and move ahead. We should be fearful in every decision and make the most rational choices that are available. We should prepare for the fearful unknown and provide a comfortable cushion to block the wave of painful torrents of change in the coming months. We can ride this storm and come out of it stronger.