You can mitigate some of the damage by having a balanced portfolio including holdings in things that traditionally buck the normal trends (Gold for example).
I think we're pretty close to seeing the bottom of the Nasdaq slide, look for a nice rebound early next year or even second half of this year. Most of the dotcoms with no real business model have started to weed out of the industry or consolidate with 'real' companies. The ones left standing are the ones that have a real model for making money (even if they haven't done so yet).
There's still a ton of money out there 'on the sidelines' that investors are eager to throw into the market but they're afraid to right now. When they gain some confidence, that money will flow into the market and cause some big upswings.
Just my .02 , worth exactly what you paid for it.
