So how should I handle my investments this comming week?

They say the market is going to be going down this week so what would be the best way to protect/make money in a situation like this?

OK...... You want information from strangers whose qualifications and motives can't be known by you. You're also assuming the market is going down further, when in fact... the experts disagree.

If you get out of the market... how will you know when to get back in? Some feel this is a great time to continue "dollar cost averaging"..... you might consider that.

Others say it's a great time to by Ultra Short Power Shares (S&P500, DOW, Financials etc).

No one on the planet knows the answer to your assumption. But if you truly believe that you know that it's "going down", you can;
Get out of the market.
"Short" the market.
Buy "Puts".
But ETF's that "short" the market.

Good luck. But always understand.... If you truly believe you have a "feel" for the market....... you don't.

Everything I have ever read about times like this, the experts always suggest to stay the course. If you bail now, you will be selling at a loss.
Some financial planners also suggest that now is the time to invest more money. You can get the stocks cheaper now. Hold them for the long run and eventually they will come back up and you will have more shares since you bought when they were down.

Markets are very fickle when they become volitile. It may drop more and on the other hand bargain hunters may generate a recovery. Some securities are attractive currently. If indeed you think there will be another big sell off next week, one way to play it relatively safely is to buy puts in one of the popular index funds. Here are a couple to consider that have performed terribly during the last month.

XHB down 15%
ICF down 11%
RWR down 9%
XME down 5.5%
XLF down 4.0%

The stock market is a long term investment. You should never try to time the market. The S&P was up about 12.7 percent since March and the Dow about 16.5 percent. The long term nominal return in the market is about 10 percent. This is just a reversion to the mean. I would look at it as a buying opportunity.

chk buy sell signal on aptistock freeware

more on my blog

Don't change a thing. We haven't moved into a bear market, and this is really just a minor correction.

If you start moving money around or moving it out into cash or equivalents, you'll incur taxable events, and then have to spend money getting back into the market in a few weeks time.

If you just leave it all where it is, it'll be back to pre-correction levels in a couple of months.

Cash. 5%. Risk free. Can't beat that.

There will be another party. Best to keep your powder dry and build a watchlist.

Jeesum Criminy .... will you people just grow a pair and stop running for the hills! I am so sick of people acting like they are investors only in good times and then retreating like a coward at a 5% drop in the market. Are you an investor or are you a coorporate tool? Man up! IT IS AN INVESTOR'S DUTY TO TAKE LOSSES EVERY NOW AND THEN AND NOT CHANGE HIS PLAN. I know this sounds harsh, but it's exactly what you need to hear. I am actually trying to help you, beleive it or not. So, go ahead and hit your little thumb's down button. But you know darn well that I am right about this.

Let me share some insight from Chapter 16 of my book ( http://www.invest-for-retirement.com ) (And, no this is not Spam, because I give my book away for free and am not affiliated with any investment company. I am not a coorporate tool):

Over a period of several decades interest rates will rise and fall, unemployment will rise and fall, the economy will shift from recession to growth and back, and Michael Bay will make more bad movies. Over long periods of time, these factors partially negate themselves. The end result is a net rise in corporate earnings and general stock prices. The short-term and intermediate-term changes in stock prices are primarily based on active investors trying to outdo the market average. Active investors are responding to these factors in a rational way, but their focus is too short.

What I am saying is that even though your mutual fund shares take a tumble, this is not necessary a measure of their value to you. Their value is the stream of dividends/interest over the next several decades plus any capital gain realized when you eventually sell them. A long-term investor can ignore the short and intermediate fluctuations in the prices of stocks, since she is really concerned with what happens over 30+ years. There may even be lengthy periods of time (like a decade) where stock prices don't seem to move much. But a 30-year investor should not lose heart.

A market crash is a buying opportunity for long-term investors, and infusing new money into cash equivalents is not the way to exploit this. As a young person, you WANT the market to crash and burn, with widespread chaos running amok, the blood of suicidal brokers running in the sewers, doomsday prophets foretelling of the world's end, Jim Cramer going on a shooting spree, and panicky investors selling stocks so cheap that even a bum wouldn't touch them. Then, if you still have the mental capacity to purchase stocks and hold them, despite appearing psychotic in the eyes of family and friends, you will become filthy rich. No guts, no glory.

You should not. (That's my job)

I am a Portfolio Manager with over a decade of experience in the Stock Markets.

Can't you understand what's happening
here? Don't you see what's happening?
Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying!
And why? Because we're panicky and
he's not. That's why. He's picking
up some bargains. Now, we can get
through this thing all right. We've
got to stick together, though. We've
got to have faith in each other.