“The Rev. Douglas W. Schroeder still believes in technology stocks. His father, the Rev. Paul R. Schroeder, has lost his faith,” wrties Danny Hakim in today’s New York Times.

“On Palm Sunday, they debated over lunch at the New China Buffet here, in the suburbs of Milwaukee, where they had gathered with family members after presiding over two services and a Creationism class.”

“A couple of weeks earlier, Paul Schroeder, 67, sold his technology stocks. All of them. He had absorbed steep losses in the likes of EMC, the data storage company, and Cisco Systems, the networking titan, and used his credit card to pay off loans from his broker that he had used to multiply his bets. He had flourished in a bull market, but had struggled in a bear market.”

” ‘How many times do you have to be hit in the head?’ he asked.”

“Doug Schroeder, 38, has also taken his hits. His Ameritrade account is invested entirely in technology stocks. He lost about half his initial investment, and his account has fallen much further from its peak. He has an equally besieged retirement account, larded with technology sector funds.”

” ‘Diversify?’ the younger man mulled the question. ‘No, I’m going to still stay all tech.’

“After more than a year of market hemorrhaging two types of individual investors are emerging from the wreckage. Some, like the elder Pastor Schroeder, wilt under the assault, fleeing into shelters ignored during the bull market, like bonds and money market funds. He shuffled all his technology investments into old-economy stocks, like Cooper Tire and Rubber and Kmart. For a while, at least.”

“Others, like his son, never contemplated capitulation, and their numbers are surprising.”

“The movement out of stock mutual funds has been relatively slim compared with previous market droughts. And at the first sign of a rally in April, investors piled back into growth funds, and technology stocks surged despite continually gloomy earnings reports. The forgiving mood of investors gives Wall Street money managers pause, because it indicates there is still a disconnect between investor behavior and reality.”