What's an investor to do?

The stock market is lurching like a headless rooster, doing a death dance on our 401(k) accounts.

And what about our savings accounts - pathetic as they may be? Are they safe?

What's a worried investor to do?

Yard work is an idea, according to one wealth manager.

It's outdoors. There's no alarming television, and a hand on the rake is not pushing the sell button.

The classic investment advice in a sinking market is, don't sell. If you do, you miss the financial replenishments that come with a rebounding market.

But what if this crisis is different, a collapse that will wipe out your accounts with no rebound for a long time?

Those views and others were offered by a handful of investment and financial advisers interviewed over the last few days.

"Hang tough, don't listen to all the noise and panic that we are hearing out there," said Ellen Jordan, vice president and director of financial planning at Bryn Mawr Trust Wealth Management.

"I didn't change anything," she said. "It is scary to look at. I haven't sold a thing. I haven't bought a thing."

However, once the yard is tidy, there are some things you can do, the advisers say.

One of them is to consider buying - more on that later.

And the other is to make sure that you've protected what you've got.

The first step would be to look at your bank accounts. The general rule, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which protects accounts, is that the government will insure $100,000 per person, per account type, per bank.

So, for example, if you have less than $100,000 in a single account in your name at your bank, that will be protected. It can be in a checking account or savings account, or any combination, as long as it is in just your name and less than $100,000.

If you also have a $200,000 joint account with your spouse, that will be protected. That means up to $200,000 is now insured at that bank. Your spouse's $100,000 share is also protected.

Suppose you also have an individual retirement account, or IRA, of up to $250,000 in your name. That's separately covered, so now $450,000 in total is insured.

You can add protection with trust accounts, which are somewhat more complicated. Ask your banker.

You can also spread your money out over several banks - if you are fortunate enough to have that much money.

The agency's Web site has a useful calculator and tutorial. Visit http://www.fdic.gov/edie/index.html.

The next step would be to consult your broker. On Friday, the U.S. Treasury announced that it would guarantee certain money market accounts for a year. While that does provide some relief, the details are still sketchy.

A third step might be to hedge your bets with your existing shares.

"Let's say you're a retired person and you see your portfolio going down," said Stephen P. Wetzel, of Prometheus Capital Management Corp., of Yardley.

"We don't want to sell stuff that is down, but we want to make sure that you aren't subject to any one stock that would destroy your retirement. So we will put in some stop limits."

If possible, he said, he'd advise holding onto stocks that pay dividends. And, he said, he would advocate cashing out dividends rather than automatically reinvesting them.

"That buys time and gives more cash to fund lifestyles while waiting for the market to return," he said.

Several advisers said it was time to buy. Wetzel is looking at mutual funds to take advantage of the general depressed nature of the market.

"You have some really good buying opportunities because it is really a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater," said Mark Turner, president of Turner Investment Partners Inc., of Berwyn.

Ty Agar of Wisdom Wealth Advisors L.L.C. agreed, saying that it is time to buy good quality stocks that would be unaffordable in other situations.

He also advised hedging through options.

Agar gave an example, looking at shares of a luxury accessories company. The shares were trading at $29.60 Friday. You buy 100 shares at a total cost of $2,960.

For every 100-share increment, you can also buy a "put" contract. One "put" contract would enable you to sell the shares for $27.50 until January 2010, no matter how low they go.

Such a "put" contract, which amounts to insurance, might cost $420 per 100 shares. At the same time, he said, you sell, for $360, a "call" contract that would require you to sell the 100 shares at $40 apiece, even if worth more.

As long as total value of the 100 shares increases by $60, you are ahead and you've hedged your bet.

Of course, all the buying assumes that the market will ultimately rebound - and Fred Amrein, of Amrein Financial in Wynnewood, isn't so sure about that.

Since December 2007, he's had his clients pull back to no more than 20 percent in stocks in their portfolio.

"Capital preservation is important to me," he said. "People say don't run to the exits," but fundamental problems remain in the financial system.

"We haven't fixed the housing market, we haven't fixed all the leveraging. We're paying the piper," he said.

The key now, he said, is to scrutinize goals and living expenses, weighing them against a tolerance for risk. A financial adviser can help.

"It is your money," he said, "and you have to take ownership. If [worrying] is keeping you up at night, you need to do what you have to do."

A look at a week that started with Lehman and saw the markets whipsaw. Go to http://go.philly.com/turmoilEndText