The stock market wakes up to global risk

Surprisingly--to me, at least--the market has finally woken up to global economic risks.

The signs were there before: commodity prices tanking, emerging markets in heavy decline, state interventions in Greece and China, accusations of broad corruption in places like Brazil.

The question investors will be asking themselves over the weekend is: is this the beginning of a bear market or just a brief pullback to be bought into?

I'll spoil the suspense: no one knows. Only in hindsight is it clear when bear markets begin versus temporary pullbacks.

What I do know is that a significant pullback or a bigger bear market are both opportunities for investors. During such times, psychology takes over as some people panic, and that means something is being sold too cheaply.

To benefit from such situations, the goal is not to pick the absolute bottom in the stock market or a particular stock, but to know what specific securities are worth--after arduous research--and then to buy accordingly.

When people ask me if such pullbacks scare me, I always say "No!"  Such times are great opportunities to benefit from the panic of others.

In other words, I'm excited to go shopping.

Nothing in this blog should be considered investment, financial, tax, or legal advice. The opinions, estimates and projections contained herein are subject to change without notice. Information throughout this blog has been obtained from sources believed to be accurate and reliable, but such accuracy cannot be guaranteed.