If You're Young, Root for Stocks to Keep Falling

But younger investors—certainly those under 40—should cheer the news and hope for more of the same, many experts say. 

That's because a major market correction would allow them to buy stocks at prices that will almost surely rise by the time they retire, assuming they buy stocks of solid companies.

An old adage has it that when stocks fall 10 percent, you should swoop in to buy, and when they fall another 10 percent you should swoop in to buy more.

Those in their 20s or early 30s should "pray for a long, awful [bear] market," financial adviser William Bernstein, a specialist on investing for millennials, told Time.com.

The S&P 500 has dropped 5.6 percent from its Sept. 19 record high, closing Friday at 1,906.13.

Many financial advisers recommend that young investors regularly put money into stocks regardless of the market's level, an investment method known as "dollar-cost averaging."

Concern about sluggish economic growth outside the United States has many investors rattled.

"It's been an emotional roller coaster," Mark Freeman, chief investment officer at Westwood Holdings Group, told Bloomberg. "It’s really about investors" degree of confidence on growth outside of the U.S. and that’s what has been called into question."

To be sure, David Kelly, chief global strategist for JPMorgan Funds, told The Associated Press that strong third-quarter earnings may well push stocks back up.

Related Articles:

• Yale's Shiller Remains in Stocks 50 Percent, Stays Cautious
• Nuveen's Doll: 'We Have More Turmoil to Go' in Stock Market