There's no way to sugarcoat it: This has been a difficult year for professional and everyday investors. The first half of the year saw the broad-based S&P 500 produce its worst return in over a half-century. Meanwhile, the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite pushed firmly into bear market territory, with a peak loss of around a third of its value.

While the exceptionally poor performance of the stock market has been an unpleasant reminder that stocks don't move up in a straight line, it's also important to recognize that every single correction and bear market throughout history has proven to be a buying opportunity for patient investors. Eventually, every sizable decline in the major U.S. indexes has been fully recouped (and some) by a bull market rally.

In other words, it's not a question of if you should buy when a bear market arises. It's simply a matter of what to buy.

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Source Fool.com