What would the late Louis Rukeyser advise investors to do in this market?

First, for those who may not remember him, Rukeyser, the host of the Public Broadcasting Services's weekly show, "Wall $treet Week with Louis Rukeyser," was both the chief pulse-taker of Wall Street and the typical investor's representative for decades. Rukeyser's sole interest was helping his viewers make the right investing decisions.

Think and evaluate your holdings

More than likely, Rukeyser would advise against making any investment decision in a day or a week - - even if the Dow drops another 1,000 points in a day or another 2,000 points in a week. Fear (and greed) cloud investment decisions, hence Rukeyser would more than likely recommend that investors take a couple weeks, perhaps longer, to evaluate their investment goals, their risk tolerance, and each company's prospects.

Further, the sense here is that Rukeyser would sell blue chip stocks only reluctantly, if at all. More than likely, he would hold the likes of General Electric (NYSE: GE), IBM (NYSE: IBM), AT&T (NYSE: T), Coke (NYSE: KO), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), and Exxon-Mobil (NYSE: XOM), among others.

Of all the market changes and losses that Wall Street has witnessed during the United States' decade of errors and descent, perhaps no loss has been as costly for investors, or as lamented, than the passing of Louis Rukeyser.

For those younger investors/readers who may not have heard of him, Rukeyser, who passed away two years ago, was the host of the Public Broadcasting System's "Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser."

At its core, the show, which ran with Rukeyser as host from 1970 to 2005 and was broadcast on Friday nights after the market closed, was the first weekly television series to summarize the week's often-dizzying financial and economic news in plain-spoken terms that the typical investor could understand. Simply, Louis Rukeyser defined broadcast financial news coverage and analysis, and was the face of Wall Street for a generation.

And the key to the show's success and usefulness, along with a no-nonsense format, was Rukeyser. A journalist by training, Rukeyser combined expert-level knowledge of the stock market and economics with the temperament and values of a family doctor, to create a calming, trustworthy source that viewers tuned in to religiously. The show became one of the most popular programs on PBS, at one point airing on more than 300 stations and attracting over 4.1 million viewing households.