Is It Safer to Pull Your Money Out of the Stock Market or Keep Investing for Now?

If you're uneasy about the market's foreseeable future, you're not alone. The rebound effort that's been underway since mid-June has been tentative at best. And this week's warning from Walmart about its second-quarter earnings, in addition to IBM's currency-prompted caution, could further rattle already-wobbly stocks. It's an inauspicious start to earnings season.

But before bailing out of stocks in an effort to steer clear of any renewed bearishness, wait. As much downside risk as there seems to be ahead, there's at least as much risk of missing out on important upside.

After tumbling a total of 24% between January's high and last month's low, the S&P 500's (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) 7% rebound in the meantime feels like a gift: a chance to get out with smaller losses than most of us were nursing just a few weeks back. The chance of more downside feels palpable, too, particularly given that summer is usually a slow, bearish time of year for stocks. Rekindled worries of a full-blown recession only bolster the bearish case.

Source Fool.com