Over multiple decades, Wall Street is fairly predictable. According to an extensive dataset from Crestmont Research that was back-tested to 1900, there hasn't been a rolling 20-year period in more than a century when the S&P 500 didn't generate a positive total return, including dividends.

However, there are no guarantees for the stock market over shorter time lines. In less than four years, the major stock indexes have teetered back and forth between bull and bear markets on a couple of occasions. While short-term traders might be unnerved by this volatility, patient investors understand that "volatility" is just a fancy word for opportunity.

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Source Fool.com