Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of the just released book: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

The stock market has gyrated wildly lately, up 130 points in one day, down 185 points the next, only to go back up 100 points the following day. Which way is this thing going? Should you hold on or jump off? Or should you be buying now? No one knows where it's going but here are a few ways to lower your stress during these turbulent times.

First, don't over invest. When the market is this volatile, take some of your profits off the table. If there is a clear, positive indicator that the market will do better because of increasing earnings or interest rates are going lower (unless there's a recession in the making), then you can put more money back into stocks. But right now may be a good time to take a more wait-and-see attitude than being fully invested with a lot of hope. Do not, however, get all the way out of the market. Trying to time the market is the same as telling the future: You can't do it (nor can anyone). Always stay in the market with some of your investments.

If you look at a 400+ point drop, it's usually scary. But longer-term investors get to make their picks and entry points on such days. We would look at the CBOE Volatility Index for an inference today and here is a full article from earlier with more details and exact reference to past VIX levels if you like to delve into the minutia that technical traders look into. The DJIA is now down over 400 points, and very few can accurately pick a bottom or a top. Calling for any exact level for a bottom or top is something that very few can do with success. It's finding your comfort zone and trying to get in a trend that is usually what is the most rewarding for investors.

Remember, there is always the "GO DEFENSIVE STRATEGY" in stock buying. If you will recall, we gave a list of many defensive stocks and even hit a list of second-line defensive stocks for a crummy market. If you want to be an aggressive buyer of individual stocks and say, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" then you can probably always go back to Cramer's New Four Horsemen of Tech or can even go look at his top 9 picks for 2007.

Of the 30 DJIA components, six were in positive territory this morning. As of now, Proctor & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is the only one in positive territory. When was the last time you saw Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) down over 6% in a day? Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) shares are down roughly 3% today, but has the outlook for PCs and software really changed in the last week or so? With shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) down almost 4%, you'd think the market is worried that they have subprime woes or super risky derivatives posing risk. Along with other financials Citigroup (NYSE: C) shares are down big with more than a 4% drop. Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) is down over 6.5% to a new year low, although it isn't a DJIA component.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.