Investors Jittery Over Debt Crisis

ATLANTA,None — Georgia investors are jittery over the debt crisis in Washington, D.C., is having a chilling effect on their financial statements.

"We want our money out of the stock market, because we want to keep what we have," investor Mary Ann Fisher of Newton County said.

Fisher spoke to Channel 2's Jim Strickland only hours after she'd been on the phone to her broker with instructions to sell her entire portfolio of stocks.

She won't say how much. It was enough to keep her edgy if she had left it invested.

"We want the money that we have saved to be there and the only thing we can do to ensure that is to take it out of the stock market," Fisher said.

"There's such a calamity brewing and such a stalemate in Washington that it's scaring people," said investment strategist and host of WSB radio's “Money Matters,” Wes Moss.

Moss said this is no time to panic, but it is time to be selective. One name he mentioned to Strickland: Coca-Cola.

"High-quality investments in companies that have great balance sheets may have temporary losses as we go through this Washington crisis, but it doesn't mean they'll be permanent," Moss said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost more than 400 points in less than a week. It touched an intraday level above 12,745 last Thursday.

Fisher said she and her husband have been talking about selling off for a year. The latest rancor from the Capitol over the debt ceiling sealed the deal.

"At our age, we can't afford any more dips," Fisher said.

Moss has a message for jittery investors: "Washington isn't dumb enough, maybe that's an oxymoron, to not have, have sort of compromise go through," he said.

WSBTV