"It changes my view of the market," O'Donnell says. "We've had such a growth period. Now that I'm seeing the other side of it, it makes me more cautious."

Holmes agrees the decline will be a dose of reality. But he does not plan to make major changes.

"[It did] bring me back to reality and remind me that months where I would double the value of my portfolio are going to be few and far between," he says.

He says he still thinks the stock market is a good place to put money. And he emphasizes that just as much money can be made when the market is going down as can be made when it is going up.

That is a lesson Eugene Krupitsky '02 already knows. He often buys put and call options--the right to sell and buy stocks at particular prices--to make the most of market swings.

"I bought puts the day before the crash began and sold them," Krupitsky says. "I was disappointed that I didn't hold those."

He says he looks for huge increases in the market and then prepares for drops.