The classic capitulation—when just about everyone has given up on stocks, making way for a rebound—doesn't always happen. So forget about looking for the bottom. You won't know it occurred until long afterward. Find other ways to do some smart investing. Amid all the hammerings investors have endured since early 2000, the market plunge after September's terrorist attacks would seem to qualify as a bottom. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 7.1% Monday, Sept. 17, the day the market reopened, and doubled the loss by that Friday, posting its worst weekly performance since the Great Depression. In the two weeks following, the market regained a good chunk of the post-tragedy losses.
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