Article: Could You Handle A Bear Market?

Gasoline gets more expensive, and a national witch-hunt ensues to find the culprit.

"It's just market forces," the oil companies plead. But naturally, nobody buying unleaded is buying that explanation.

Leap ahead a year or so. Let's assume U.S. stocks are in the throes of a bear market and the Dow Jones industrial average is down about 25 percent from its peak of last month.

Nothing out of the ordinary about a decline like that, historically.

"It's just market forces," Wall Street says.

But the public is hopping mad and demanding redress. Lawsuits are multiplying like bacteria. Congress launches inquiries. How could this plunge occur so soon after individual investors pumped ...

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