RE: Investment money drying up....Absolutely, you have deleveraging and the deflationary effects of contracting credit vs. the inflationary effects of printing more money. If banks are cutting back credit from 30 to 1, to say, 15 to 1, will this need to be offset by a corresponding increase in fiat currency in absolute $ terms to offset? That's what I'm not sure about. What I am sure about is that I saw this coming a mile away as did many others and did not cash out! That said I did get rid of all of my pure exploration stories, which was a really good move, because even the ones I kept w/ much more solid stories have been hit hard.
Look I'm not saying I'd sell UMJ at this level because unlike a pure exploration story it has cash flow, but a 'trick' I use to help me feel better is just to say my dog has gone down X, but well, Y which looks WAY BETTER has gone down a similar level, and so if I make this trade to get out of my X to buy Y, it won't be that bad. But the future looks waaaay better w/ Y, and that's what allows me to sleep much better at night because no one wants to sell and go to cash at the bottom right? LOL, what's and WHEN is the bottom, who knows!!!! - but at least Y will be there w/ its balance sheet and production / sales profile. The ones w/ lbs in the ground and NO prospects for raising the necessary $ for that lovely office w/ the view and for drilling are goners.