Safety and security are likely on the minds of many members asthe market dips and dives as reaction to the country's creditdowngrade piles up around them.

Scott Powell, managing director of the general account for CUNAMutual Group's MEMBERS Capital Advisors, offered that take on theimpact of the recentstring of investment and government fluctuations.

“For credit unions, this is a perplexing time. I believe membersare swarming credit unions with liquidity. They want safety andsecurity,” Powell said. “At the same time loan demand has been veryweak.”

For members, there could be tremendous buys for people who wantto own stock at the current prices, Powell said. However, hecautioned investors and institutions not to make “knee-jerk,panicked decisions.”

“Paper losses turn into real losses when you sell. This level ofvolatility can also drive people to make decisions that they mayregret in the future with their long-term money. One has to assesstheir time frame,” Powell said.

Meanwhile, the current market volatility, global debt concernsand the country's credit downgrade go back a few years.

“Our view is we've been facing numerous global headwinds sincethe 2008 to 2009 recession. It was deeply driven by leverage asopposed to business cycle adjustments. We haven't had one like the[Great Recession] since the 1930s,” Powell said.

One bright spot is corporations are financially sound for themost part and are in better health than before the last majorfinancial crisis, he noted. But that could change.

“The challenge with recessions is they become self-fulfillingprophesies due to a lack of confidence,” Powell said. “It can leadto consumers not wanting to spend, retail sales fall and the [GrossDomestic Product] slows down. That's what we're trying toavoid.”