With the S&P 500 breaking above previous all-time highs — 1,565 reached on October 9, 2007 — is this the beginning of good things to come for stocks or is it time to lighten up on your stock holdings?

Heading into the week of August 8, 2011 — there will be no surprise to see a notable sell-off, but one that would create the conditions to jump back in and buy large-capitalization stocks that have been sold down too far.

If you followed the market crashes of 2000-2002 and 2007-2009, especially the crash of 2007-2009, the 512-point drop in the Dow yesterday (August 4, 2011) feels awfully familiar.

After the stock market crash on October 19, 1987, both individual and institutional investors were asked about their “Investor Psychology” on “Black Monday” and what triggers kept them in or out of the market that day.

A stock market crash is a sudden drastic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of the market. Crashes are often driven by panic amongst the investors.