So you cashed out when the economy crashed, what next?

Dear Guru,

"When the global economy crashed last year, I cashed out my investments and stuffed all the money into my mattress. But now my mattress is getting lumpy and difficult to sleep on, so I think I might invest in something. Can you suggest anything?"

$$$$
via email

The reply by Malaysian guru Kam Raslan: But I get worried when the stock markets go up like this, because it's probably more wishful thinking than reality. Whenever stock prices crash, the markets will instantly shut down, because people don't want to lose all their money. Why not shut down the markets when prices suddenly go up as well? It might save us all a lot of trouble.

The above was a email and partial reply published by the Edge magazine on January 11, 2010.

There are some lessons to learn from this investor's behaviour.