It is always essential to be prepared for difficult times. Investments, like life, don't move in a straight line. Believing otherwise ought to be considered insanity. Any seasoned person who has lived for a long time will confirm this.
In stocks, it is important to be well prepared for treacherous times. This means re-evaluating rosy predictions, having a margin of safety, adjusting to conservative holdings, staying with tried and true companies with a long track record of success and adjusting your mental frame of expectations. While this will not totally insulate your portfolio from the storm, it will enable you to survive and "play another day". Quality stocks will go down with the rest of the market, but they'll likely survive to see the next sun rise. Hopium stocks will disappear as they go bankrupt in a difficult economy.
Like Mohammad Ali did when he successfully earned the boxing title, bob and weave, bob and weave… And, avoid that nasty right hook!
Be smart, be well-read, be aware and be successful
