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Advisers say not to worry about stock market loss

ATLANTA — Stocks were down again Monday as Wall Street continues its recent pullback, but experts said people shouldn't worry that this is similar to the financial crisis in 2008.

The Dow Jones finished down 139 points. At one point, the Dow was down nearly 250 points on Monday. The S&P 500 finished down 19 points. This is the biggest pullback Wall Street has seen since last fall.

"This is certainly not a repeat of 2008," said Invesco Portfolio Manager Matthew Miller. "This is more a short term pullback relative to long term fundamentals."

Miller said the pullback is directly related to the Federal Reserve's announcement last week that it might begin tapering off its aggressive stimulus of the economy.

It said it might cease its bond-buying program next year if the economy continues to improve. Those programs have made borrowing cheaper and helped boost the stock markets.

Miller said while the Fed's actions might hurt the markets in the short term, it also signals a welcomed strengthening of the general economy.

Miller pointed out that even with the pullback, the S&P 500 is still up about 17 percent over last year. He said this pullback might be a good time for investors to jump into the market.

"The best time to buy any product is when it's on sale," said Miller. "For investors who have a long time horizon, this is a very prudent time to put more money into the financial markets.

Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard agrees with that assessment. He said a pullback is a good opportunity for employees who are still 20 years away from retirement.

"A stock market decline when you're younger leads to more money later on with something like a 401(k) because every pay period, you're buying shares essentially on sale," Howard said.

He acknowledged that any pullback hurts those closer to retirement age.