One piece of good news about the economic picture in the United States: Americans are hanging tough, not panicking about their investments. That is the picture drawn by a new Ipsos/McClatchy poll which found few investors selling or planning to sell, or making any other drastic moves that would suggest panic.

The random survey of 1,131 adults across America was conducted last Thursday through Monday, after one of the stock market's wildest weeks in history.

Among the findings: Only 5 percent of those surveyed said they had sold stocks in the past week; 8 percent indicated they planned to sell stocks or bonds, or remove money from a mutual fund or retirement account soon.

Eight percent said they had halted contributions to a 401k or similar plan that buys stocks, bonds or mutual funds, and only 9 percent thought they might do so in the near future.

Moreover, 56 percent said they were more confident about their money since the government increased the limit on insured bank accounts from $100,000 to $250,000.

All this is encouraging.