We have often seen heavy selling commence during the fall. Everyone remembers 2008 when the Great Financial Crisis was burning down the house. Remember Lehman Brothers? That stock went up in flames on Sept. 15 of that year, which started a frenzy of selling in banks, financials, housing stocks and technology. Volatility spiked during that time and really did not settle down for several months later. Who really knew what the outcome would be and how many banks were going to be rattled. As it turned out, the Federal Reserve and Congress came to the rescue and literally saved the financial world from an epic collapse. That was the Fall of 2008, full of excitement but great opportunity!
If you're old enough to remember the crash in 1987 then you remember witnessing an amazing "freeze" or panic among investors. That was called "Black Monday," Oct. 19, as the Dow Industrials fell 26% in one session. It was an amazing collapse where no buyers would step in until the very end to buy shares. The panic was steep as investors just threw in the towel and cut their stocks without hesitation. Of course, that panic would lead to an amazing buying opportunity which continues to this day. That crash happened in the Fall of 1987.
The biggest Fall crash of them all of was in 1929. Of course, that was at the start of the Great Depression, high unemployment, slow housing and residents booted from shelter, soup lines and a slew of bankruptcies. Without much assistance from the government, the people of the U.S. employed a revolution and voted in a Democratic president, Franklin Roosevelt, who went on to win four terms. The stock market was boosted during the "Roaring 20s," but became a victim of its own success. Then the Federal Reserve came in (newly formed) and tightened credit. When the music stopped so did the buying, and that was the end of the bull run. It was more than two decades to recover those losses. That was on October 29th, another Fall day, but plenty of opportunity to buy following the crash.
The theme we are trying to present here is this: If the market crashes and it happens in the fall of this year or any year, there will open up some great buying opportunities, a huge generational buying chance that only comes along every couple of decades. Don't panic, be patient, keep your eyes and ears open and start shopping.
