Okay now I am ready for some investment advice

Something I figure no one else has covered.

Every time there is an economic downturn the same things get hammered. BUT also there are some things that don't. Figure out what is getting nailed and what is not. 50 % of what you are going to invest should always be diversely invested in the things that are steady no matter the economic climate.

The other 50 % should be invested like this: When the economy takes a "dump" is actually the best time to invest in the areas where, when the economy comes back, they tend to rise. And the best time to get out of those investments is when they have peaked, as you think they are going to peak. You have to be cold and calculating about those. Also pay attention to economics as a whole. When things get shaky as a whole(do not listen to economic pundits, make up your own mind)get out of your dump investments.

In other words when you think things like the stock exchanges are too high then go liquid with your more risky investments. As a base idea, the stock markets have dropped from 13,14 thousand down to 6 thousand and are now back up to the 10, 11 thousand range. If the market keeps going steady they may reach back into the 13, 14 thousand range at that point, I get out of the recession sensitive stocks and I go liquid so that at the bottom of the drop I can get back in for a bargain. I time my reinvesting(investing in what you may wonder) into a 2 or 3 year cycle which is kind of the average up and down cycle.

Another thing you should do is throw a few penny stocks in there just for fun. It cost almost nothing, and you lose almost nothing if they never pan out, but if one or two of them take off, whammo big money.