When you find yourself in times of trouble ... call Russell Investments. And you'll hear the advice: “Let it be.” Hold steady. Stay diversified. Target the long term.

I spoke today with Stephen Wood, Russell senior portfolio strategist. He was at his office in New York City. I asked him to look toward Wall Street and check the weather. Any clouds?

Nope. Clear skies and sunny.

Beyond the metaphor, Wood repeated what Russell advisers advise when markets tumble.

“Statistically speaking, we know that one out of every five years of the stock market is going to be negative,” Wood said. “It would appear that 2008 is going to be one of those years. This is something we’ve prepared for at Russell by having those well diversified asset-allocated portfolios with long-term investment horizons.”

Weeks like this, months like this, years like this “is why we do what we do,” Wood said. “It may not be pleasant, but it’s not terrible surprising.”

While TV talking heads prophesy doom (“Stay Tuned and Stay Afraid!”), Wood offers caution. “This is an extremely worrisome market, and it’s not unreasonable for people to be afraid,” he said. “I would encourage them not to do anything. It’s not a good market to get overly creative in.”

If you’ve followed previous sensible advice, you’ve already sat down with your financial consultant. You’ve developed a risk profile and you’ve developed a long-term portfolio discipline. “This would be an opportunity to stick to that,” Wood said.

“Waiting for the opening kickoff is a bad time to come up with a game plan.”

It’s a tough time for traders, he said. “It has been and will continue to be a challenging environment for traders. Traders will continue to find themselves under stress. If you’re chasing down those short-term returns, history has not been kind to you, and I don’t think the future will be kind.”

After looking down at Wall Street, Wood looked back in time. “For those who thought they learned the lessons of 1999-2000, cash became king. Yield became king. They were looking at fixed-income portfolios, but they were still attracted to higher rates of return. Should one expect equity-like returns in a fixed-income portfolio? No. I don’t think people asked enough questions.”

Wood did offer some advice for those investors who feel the need to act: Rebalance. “I would tell our clients, do something as boring as that. Rebalance. That may seem very aggressive, but I think it is the appropriate action.”

Your portfolio, which might have been 60-40 with stocks-bonds, could have changed. Today, with all the turmoil, the percentages might be out of whack. Rebalance. Take some profit from the moneymakers and readjust.

Wood’s job at Russell, he said, “is to take you from short-term information and move you into a world of long-term market probabilities.”

The short term might make for interesting TV, but it never lasts.

The long term lasts a whole lot longer.

Don’t blame Washington Mutual employees. It’s not their fault.

I had a note today from a friend of some WAMU workers who said working for the troubled Seattle-based thrift has been difficult - for more than the obvious reasons.

It seems that some customers are coming into the branches either upset or angry about their banking relationship and are looking for a magic fix. They’re being rude. At the store level there is no magic, and the employees “are doing the best they can.”

Yes, the employees know how WAMU is doing. (Actually, today, the stock was up 48.75 percent. Elsewhere, Columbia Bank was up 18.49 percent and Frontier Bank up 50.34 percent. Bank of America and KeyBank were also up, and Wells Fargo hit a 52-week high – up 22.56 percent year-to-date.)

Those WAMU workers watch the news, said the person who wrote me. “Their bosses are telling them to keep up the good work in the face of so much change.” But even the kind and gentle customers can be inadvertently insensitive, as they say (pleasantly, making conversation) things like: "I'm surprised your doors are open today," or "Are you out looking for another job yet?”

Such comments, even though seemingly friendly, can tend to be stressful when there’s enough stress already.

So a word to to the nice among you who happen to find yourself at your WAMU branch: A smile is probably enough.

Three Pierce County cities – Tacoma, University Place and Puyallup – didn't make the cut today when the Community Economic Reinvestment Board gave away of pool of state funds for infrastructure projects.

Yakima, Whitman County, Vancouver and Mount Vernon won grants of $500,000 to $1 million a year for 25 years, according to Rep. Troy Kelley, (D-University Place), and a CERB member.

Who lost? The City of Puyallup, which graded the highest among Pierce County applicants, wanted $1 million a year to improve the transit and pedestrian connections between old downtown and South Hill. University Place sought $1 million to help underwrite its troubled town center development project. And Tacoma wanted $1 million a year to help upgrade the infrastructure and sidewalks in the downtown financial district to aid in the effort to keep Russell Investments' corporate headquarters in downtown Tacoma.

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Laid off at Weyerhaeuser? Surplused at WAMU or rationalized at Alaska?

Sea-Tac Airport and its related business are looking for workers.

You don't have to have been a victim of the economic slowdown. You may just want a better job.

Where to find those jobs? You can check them out at www.airportjobs.org or you can attend the airport's Fall Jobs Fair.

That employment event is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 2 in the south end of the Sea-Tac baggage claims area in the Gina Marie Lindsey International Arrivals Hall.

That's the four-story tall room with the aircraft suspended from the ceiling and the boulders embedded in the floor.

Park in the airport garage and get your parking ticket validated for free parking.

Forbes just confirmed it. Microsoft founder Bill Gates won't be eligible for food stamps again this year.

Forbes once more rated the 52-year-old Medina resident as the nation's richest person with a fortune totaling some $57 billion.

His good friend and bridge partner, investment guru Warren Buffett of Omaha, was second on the list with a $50 billion fortune.

Larry Ellison, not known to be one of Gates' biggest admirers, was third at $27 billion. Ellison is founder of Oracle.

Three other Washington residents, two of them Microsoft billionaires like Gates are among the top 100 wealtiest.

Microsoft co-founder and Seahawks owner Paul Allen is 12th on the Forbes list with a $16 billion fortune.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, is 15th with a $15 billion portfolio.

Amazon.com leader Jeff Bezos comes in 33rd with $8.7 billion.

Other Washington residents on the list of 400 include cell phone pioneer Craig McCaw at 190 with $2.3 billion and James Jannard, Oakley sunglasses magnate, at #134 and a $3 billion fortune. He lives in the San Juan Islands.