The "Witch of Wall Street" Celebrated Market Downturns – and So Should We

This year, we had one of the worst Octobers in the past decade.

Prices took some huge hits that month, and many folks under 35 have learned, for the first time in their lives, that stocks can actually go down.

It's a little scary if you have never seen this type of price action, but I've seen it so many times that, so far, I have not paid much attention.

The market has not offered a bunch of bargains yet, so there is not much to do at the moment. But personally, I am hoping that changes soon.

At my house, we don't celebrate new highs.

We expect new highs to happen, as we know that human nature itself means we are all going to want to strive to build a better life for ourselves and our families. That striving leads to innovation and growth that provides an upward drift in the equity markets over extended periods of time. It happens all over the world, but nowhere is it more evident than here in the United States.

Instead, we celebrate these occasional violent down moves.

These market downturns cover Wall Street in blood and vomit, while Main Street huddles under the kitchen table in fear, cuddling a bottle of cheap gin.

But that's when fortunes are made.

And that's exactly how one lone, miserly woman, known as the "Witch of Wall Street," made her fortune.

So today, I want to introduce you to that woman, and share with you exactly how you too can spot those opportunities...

The Richest Woman of the Early 1900s Reveals How to Buy Bargain Stocks

Hetty Green, who we will talk a lot more about here in the years ahead, became the richest woman in the world back in the early 1900s.

It was all because of her genius investing strategy.

As she told us, "When I see a thing going cheap because nobody wants it, I buy a lot of it and tuck it away. Then, when the time comes, they have to hunt me up and pay me a good price for my holdings."

This man makes more money than he knows what to do with – and you’ll never guess how…

Smart woman.

As dismal as last week felt, we are nowhere near the bottom yet.

When we get there, the Melvin clan and its associated members will break out the Pappy Van Winkle and Opus One. But we are not there yet.

Will we get there this time? I hope so – but the truth is I don't know.

How will I know?

It's simple, really. The numbers will tell me.

Here's When the Numbers Alerted Me to Buy at the Bottom in the Past

Tim Melvin

About the Author

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Tim Melvin is an unlikely investment expert by any measure. Raised in the "projects" of Baltimore by a single mother, he never attended college and started out as a door-to-door vacuum salesman. But he knew the real money was in the stock market, so he set sights on investing - and by sheer force of determination, he eventually became a financial advisor to millionaires. Today, after 30 years of managing money for some of the wealthiest people in the world, he draws on his experience to help investors find "unreasonably good" bargain stocks, multiply profits, and build their nest eggs. Tim tirelessly works to find overlooked "hidden gems" in the stock market, drawing on the research of legendary investors like Benjamin Graham, Walter Schloss, and Marty Whitman. He has written and lectured extensively on the markets, with work appearing on Benzinga, Real Money, Daily Speculations, and more. He has published several books in the "Little Book of" Investment Series and a "Junior Chamber Course" geared towards young adults that teaches Graham's principles and techniques to a new generation of investors. Today, he serves as the Special Situations Strategist at Money Morning and the editor of Peak Yield Investor.

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