The CRUSH IS ON in the stock market.  Yes, I’ll continue our analysis of the RISK of rental property investing… but with what’s happening in the stock market right now… well, America is crying out for leadership where the caving-in of the stock market is concerned, and I’m here to give it to you.  I’m Bryan Ellis.  This is episode #120.---------Hello, SDI Nation!  Welcome to the podcast of record for savvy self-directed investors like you.  Ever wonder why the topics I discuss so frequently find their way onto other financial shows?  It’s simple:  Self Directed Investor Radio is SHOW PREP for everyone else.  We set the table… everyone else sits at it.  And you, my friends, are welcomed guests!Back on August 5, I gave you a warning about the stock market.  I focused on Apple computer, and suggested to you that as Apple goes, so goes the rest of the market.  I told you the reason that I feared for Apple was because of the weakness of China’s economy, and the dependency Apple has on that market for future growth.On that day, I advised:  Consider taking at least some of your profits out of Apple… and fast.And since that day?  Well, it’s a big, fat, I told-you-so.Since then:Apple stock has dropped by 8.3%.The S&P 500 has dropped by over 6%.And, oh yeah… China devalued their currency in the wake of a crash in their stock market… confirming for all the world to see that the great economic power of the east is, at very best, on shaky ground after decades of misrepresenting the truth.And, oh, by the way, as of this moment – about 8am Eastern on Monday, August 24 – Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures were down by over 700 points at one point this morning.  The Nasdaq is presently locked at what’s called “Limit Down”… meaning that traders are pushing the market lower, but the market circuit breakers are kicking in and forcing an artificial stop to the descent.Who knows what will actually happen.  The whole thing could recover before the market opens.  But I doubt it.  There are some really negative indicators going on right now.Now, my friends, I want you to understand the gravity of what’s going on here.If you had $100,000 invested in Apple stock back on August 5 when I brought this up, you’ve now lost about $8,300 if you didn’t take action based on my analysis back then.  Who’s to say that Apple won’t rally and achieve new all-time highs?  Nobody, absolutely nobody.  But here’s the thing:  The chart doesn’t look good……Either for Apple, or for the broader market.Folks, there’s a time and place for everything.  I respectfully submit to you that now is not the time, and this is not the place to be a retail stock investor.There are many companies out there that are very well run, and that represent fundamentally wise plays, if you’re analyzing the quality of those companies in a vacuum separate from the broader economy.  But folks, you know that’s not wise.How do you feel about our economy?  Do you feel like it’s really as strong as the media is telling you?  I told you just a few days ago, in Episode 117, the hard evidence of how the government is very aggressively lying to all of us about the state of this economy.  And as the insanely vicious and racially bigoted preacher Jeremiah Wright one said, “America’s chickens are coming home to roost!”My friends… in the middle of this chaos… in the middle of this concern…  Things have been pretty boring around my house.  Pleasantly so.  We keep getting checks in the mail.  It’s not sexy like the stock market.  We know exactly what the amount of those checks will be every month.  I mean… in one way – the profitability – it’s WAY sexier than the stock market.  But it’s boring.  Checks month after month.  Month after month.  Not volatile.  Not exciting.  Very boring.And PROFOUNDLY RELIABLE.My friends, listen up:  This show is not for the faint of heart.  If you want somebody to tell you some middle-of-the-road advice… if you want to hear ideas that are merely acceptable for everybody but truly gre